Each entry must be appropriate for the Category in which it is entered. An image that does not meet the Category criteria (including whether or not it meets the Manipulation requirements) will be disqualified (“DQ”-ed). A member committee, appointed by the Competition Chair at the beginning of each competition evening, shall review each image for appropriateness prior to the actual competition, and will DQ any images that in the Committee’s opinion do not meet the Category criteria.  During the actual competition itself, only judges may (and should) DQ images that, in their opinion, do not meet the Category criteria. Images may also be DQed before, during, or after the competition if they do not meet any of the other criteria defined in these Guidelines, such as if the image is a duplicate of another image that has previously been entered.

An image that has been DQed may be made up (that is, a new image submitted in its place in addition to the regular allowed number of images) in a subsequent Competition in the same Category in the same Competition Year.