The following may be used as a broad guideline to the categories:

Portraiture (P)

People, portraits and glamour
Portraits need not be a standardized head and shoulders, although it can be that. Environmental portraits are also acceptable, provided that the environment does not compete too much for attention with the person. The main purpose of a portrait is to reveal the character or the personality of the person. The photographer must connect with the subject and extend the connection to audience. Facial expression and body language are two extremely important things in a portrait. Portraits of animals and birds are also be included.

Photojournalism (PJ)

Sport and Action (S)

Sport or Action pictures are also a kind of journalistic photography where action is usually emphasized to good effect. Great sport photos/ action not only convey extraordinary physical feats, but also reveal something of the raw emotion behind them. The image should be striking and may include sport competitions and activities and crowd interaction. Newsworthiness, contemporary relevance, visual impact, information, capturing action or emotion and good technical quality are important criteria for this category.

Nature and Wildlife (N)

Nature scapes (no human/man-made objects). Wildlife subjects may appear in the landscape. Outdoor photography seeking out beauty within our vast natural world, including aspects of botany, geology, insects and floral. Also interaction between living and nonliving things – air, water, soil, trees, plants, waves and insects and much more that make up our greater ecological system. Wild animals in their natural environment. Photographs may contain a pictorial or a documentary value. Birds are included in this category.

Creative, Fine Art and Abstract  (K)

Covering technique, experimental work or contemporary work. Stands apart from the other categories - a form of art - which has effect through form, line, texture and colour alone. Technique should be modern and stimulate the viewer. Reality may be altered. Creative photographs can convey a mood, a feeling, a beautiful arrangement of elements, and could be expressive and pleasing. The primary image must still have a photographic origin.

Photo-travel (T)

Travel photography should be more than mere holiday snapshots. It should present the experience of travel in a positive light, concentrating on the most picturesque aspects of travel destinations. Photo-travel images may not be manipulated.

Open (O)

Any subject that does not easily fit any other category this may include pets, table tops, macros, landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes etc. Can also include manipulated images from photo-travel, photojournalism and sport categories that do not allow manipulation.

Manipulated Nature (M)
Nature images which have been altered to show the image in the way the author experienced it or as it could have occurred in nature. The only stipulation is that all the work or additions must have been done by the author. The final image must represent natural possibility.

Nature scapes, wildlife scapes. The image must focus on the natural world. Anything that is part of the environment can be considered an apt subject for landscape photography.
No manipulation allowed.

Set Subject (SS)

Prescribed themes are set in the Set Subject calendar. Please support this category as it gives you a chance to expand your photographic skills, by shooting subjects that you normally wouldn’t even consider.