A Guide for New Members
Introduction
A very warm welcome to the Dunchurch Photographic Society! We’re delighted you’ve joined us. Our society is a friendly community of people who share a love for photography, whether that’s capturing landscapes, portraits, wildlife—or simply experimenting with creative ideas.
Like any group, we sometimes slip into “shorthand” or assume that everyone already knows how things work. This guide is here to make sure you don’t feel left out, helping you find your way around the club, join in activities, and get the most from your membership.
Competitions
Competitions are an exciting and enjoyable part of our calendar. They give everyone a chance to showcase their work, try new things, and learn from feedback. Some are light-hearted, while others are a little more competitive—but all are fun and welcoming.
We run two main types of competition:
Prints (physical photographs, mounted and handed in at the club)
Projected Digital Images (PDI) (digital files shown via projector)
To enter, you’ll use our online system, PhotoEntry. Once you’ve joined, you’ll receive an email from the Competition Secretary with your username and password. You’ll also find a video tutorial below to guide you through using the system.
A few key points to note:
Closing date: Entries must be submitted online by the Wednesday before the competition. Prints must also be handed in by then.
Prints: Should be mounted, no larger than 50cm x 40cm, and no thicker than 5mm. On the back of the mount, in the top-left hand corner you should put the name of the image along with your name and the club identifier “Dunchurch PS.” The latter is so that the image can be used in battles.
Digital images (PDI): Should be JPEG format, sRGB colour space, and no bigger than 1600 pixels wide x 1200 pixels high. Adding a very thin border (1–2 pixels) can help judges see where your photo ends—and often improves your score.
Competition Names
| Title | Subject | No. Prints | No. PDIs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Challenge | Photos taken during the summer recess | 2 | 2 |
| Gerry Coyle Memorial | Best Colour Print | 3 | - |
| Merit | A competition split over three rounds. Each round has a different subject with the winner being the photographer with the highest score at the end of the third round | 2 per round | 2 per round |
| John Hughes Trophy | Best Monochrome print. | 3 | - |
| President's Trophy | Best Projected Image - Any Subject | - | 3 |
| Toft Trophy / Wally Mills Trophy | Best Nature image. All photos must be 'honest' - no significant editing allowed, other than basic levels, saturation and fixing wonky horizons | 2 | 2 |
Members’ Evenings
Our Members’ Evenings are always a highlight. They’re informal, fun, and a great way to learn from each other. Sometimes members give demonstrations of techniques or equipment; other times it’s more of a relaxed “show and tell,” where people share some of their favourite photos. Everyone is welcome to take part, and it’s a brilliant opportunity to get involved.
Exhibition
As a Society we try to organise an exhibition every year. It is normally at the Floor One Gallery in the Rugby Library. This is an opportunity for the Society to wow the residents of Rugby with the quality of our work and hopefully encourage more members to join. All members of the group are encouraged to submit pictures to be hung on the wall for two weeks. They can be of any subject at all and don’t need to have been used previously. If you’ve taken a photo you like, submit it! We will also need stewards for the exhibition. Each day will be divided up into sessions and we will need a member of the Society to be in attendance to engage with visitors to answer questions.
Tea & Coffee Rota
We always have a Tea/Coffee break in the middle of the evening and we ask that each member put their name down on the Tea rota to take their turn in making the refreshments. That way the work doesn’t fall to the same individuals each week. There will always be two people each night who will be responsible for for making the Tea/Coffee and clearing up afterwards.
Final Thoughts
Most importantly, remember: this is your society. Take part as much as you feel comfortable, ask questions, and don’t hesitate to get involved. We’re really glad you’re here, and we can’t wait to see your images!