An email will go out no later than a week before the opening date of the submission window with information on how to submit and the rules around the competition.
Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)
Scope of Competition
This competition invites photographers to embrace Intentional Camera Movement — deliberately moving the camera during a longer exposure so a scene dissolves into streaks, sweeps, and soft fields of tone and colour. The goal is not accidental blur but controlled, expressive motion: images where the movement itself becomes the subject. It is an invitation to slow down, experiment, and create photographs that feel painted rather than captured.
To keep the focus on the technique, every entry must be created primarily through camera movement made during the exposure. Multiple-exposure and camera-movement blends are welcome. Sharp, static images where movement is incidental — or added afterward with motion-blur filters rather than made in-camera — are not eligible for this competition.
All images must fall within one of the following themes:
Woodland & Trees — “Let the forest dance”
Vertical pans and gentle sweeps that turn trunks, branches, and foliage into rhythmic ribbons of colour. Subjects may include forests, tree lines, reeds, or single striking trees — anything where a steady, directional movement transforms familiar form into flowing, painterly design.
Water & Shoreline — “Rivers of light”
Images that use camera movement to reshape water and coast — surf, rivers, reflections, harbour lights, and shifting tides. Horizontal drags, tilts, and swirls should amplify the flow and mood of the scene, turning ripples and reflections into bands of light and colour.
Urban Rhythm — “The city in motion”
The built environment set in motion: streetscapes, architecture, signage, traffic, and night lights swept into pattern and energy. Movement should draw out the pace and pulse of the place — vertical lines of buildings, streaming lights, or the blur of a crowd — where structure and motion meet.
Fields & Flora — “Painted meadows”
Wildflowers, grasses, gardens, and foliage rendered as colour and gesture. Small, deliberate movements can lift a meadow or a single bloom into an impressionist wash. The emphasis is on natural colour relationships carried by the motion, not on botanical detail.
Pure Abstraction — “Colour, light, and the unrecognizable”
Images where the subject dissolves entirely and only movement, tone, and colour remain. Any subject is permitted so long as the result is a deliberate abstract composition. Reward clarity of intention — a sense of direction, rhythm, and balance — over random blur.
Editing Techniques Permitted
All In-Camera Techniques: Any adjustments made directly within the camera during image capture, including intentional camera movement and in-camera multiple exposures.
On-Camera Techniques: Utilizing on-camera features and settings for image enhancements.
Post-Processing Techniques: Editing the image using post-processing software to refine tone, colour, contrast, and cropping.
Lightroom and Photoshop presets (including adaptive presets) are permitted, as they adjust existing pixels rather than generating content. See CAPA Eligibility Criteria for details.
Editing Techniques Not Permitted
Simulated Movement: Motion, radial, or path blur and similar filters applied in post-processing to imitate camera movement. The movement must be created in-camera during the exposure.
Images without Photographic Origin: Images that are entirely generated electronically with no photographic origin.
Frames, Borders and Mats: Photographs must not contain decorative elements like frames, borders, pin-lines (exceeding 5 pixels), or mats. This includes the edges and markings of scanned film. When the frame is integral to the captured image — for instance a window or door frame captured by the camera — these elements are permitted.
Title of Image
The Image Title is limited to 32 characters and can be in either English or French.
The photographer’s name or the club’s name must not appear in the Title of the image, nor be placed in the Title Field.
The title cannot include special characters or symbols. Examples: / - + = ! ? & $ % * { } [ ] @ #
Choose a simple title that sets the mood or perspective of the image. Do not use “Untitled.” Titles may be considered during judging, so select one that supports the image’s vision or message.
Image File Name
The image file name that you create should also be short and simple, and could be the same as the Image Title. Please do not use long image file names.
Image Size — Dimensions
The image should be re-sized to meet the following two parameters:
Saved as a JPG image with a maximum file size of 1.8 MB.
Dimensions: Maximum horizontal size 1400 pixels and maximum vertical size 1050 pixels.
Images smaller than the maximum dimensions are acceptable only if one of the sides meets the required limit: 1400 pixels on the horizontal side, or 1050 pixels on the vertical side.
Examples: 1050 × 1050 (square); 1400 × 800; 700 × 1050.