The theme competition is designed to challenge members to shoot specific topics. Scores are used to determine the winner of the theme trophy given out at the end of the year. There are two rounds of theme competition, held in conjunction with the in-club submission dates. In each round, up to 2 images may be submitted, and each round has a different theme topic. A separate theme submission form, available on the club’s website, is to be used to document theme entries.

As with the in-club competition, there is no need to submit images to each round in order to participate. Moreover, members may submit simply one image to any round if they so choose. Images entered may be any mix of slides, prints, or digital files.

Ineligible images.

The same image, or nearly-identical (to the point of being difficult to distinguish as different) images of the same subject, should not be submitted to more than one theme round. The competition co-ordinator may disqualify any image they deem to be too similar.

Themes for 2009-10.

The themes for 2009-10 are "Yellow" (December) and "Darkness" (April).

Submission details.

Theme competition submissions follow the same submission guidelines as for the in-club competition. Note, however, that entries for the Theme competition are documented on a separate form. The theme competition is judged separately from the in-club category competitions. Consequently, photographers are strongly discouraged from submitting the same physical image (slide or print) for both the theme and in-club competition in the same round, because of the complications that result in the judging process. Instead, photographers wishing to submit the same image should submit a duplicate image for the theme competition.

Judging.

In all cases, the judges’ scores are final. The judges are instructed to mark down images they deem inappropriate or marginal with respect to the specific theme. However, photographers do have considerable latitude in how they interpret any particular theme.

Scoring.

Scoring is the same as with in-club competitions, although theme competition images do not count towards colour dots, best-of-category awards, or Photographer of the Year.

Trophy.

The Lorne J. Hymers Theme Plaque is awarded to the photographer with the highest scoring theme image from the year. In case of a tie, the next highest scoring images are taken into account.