Monthly Minicomp Themes for 2026
| Month | Theme | Upload Link |
|---|---|---|
| January | Seallife Portraits | Upload January |
| February | Super Macro | Upload February |
| March | Nudibranchs | Upload March |
| April | Sunbeams | Upload April |
| May | California | Upload May |
| June | Snooted | Upload June |
| July | Black & White | Upload July |
| August | Abstract | Upload August |
| September | School | Upload September |
| October | Ambient Light | Upload October |
| November | Creative (weird lenses, backlit, close focus wide angle, silhouette, colors, flouro, long exposure …) | Upload November |
| December | Minicomp of the year | No upload! |
NCUPS Minicomp Rules
The Minicomp is intended to be a fun and educational competition that encourages all NCUPS members to participate. The goal is not just to win, but to have your work reviewed by an expert to help you grow as a photographer and videographer.
Competition Overview
There are now two separate categories each month. Winners will be selected for each:
Photography (Still Images)
Videography (New!)
General Eligibility & Ethics
Only paid-up NCUPS members may enter. You do not need to be present at the meeting to enter or win.
Your submitted photo or video must have been taken by you.
Photographs/images entered may not have won any award in a previous competition.
Conservation Rules We have adopted the conservation rules established by EPIC®. Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo or video. The judges will be asked to interpret this guideline and disqualify any images that are suspect to poor behavior.
Any Entrant suspected of exhibiting the following behavior will be disqualified:
Diver(s) visibly damaging the environment (e.g., dangling or dragging gear, kicking up sand).
Animals with signs of stress (e.g., puffed puffers, inking octopus).
Animals moved to an unnatural environment or risky location.
Animals being fed.
Marine life being touched (e.g., coral polyps, handling sea snakes).
Diver(s) exhibiting poor buoyancy control.
AI and Manipulation Policy For purposes of this competition, we have categorized AI into two categories:
Generative AI (Not Allowed): This type of AI creates images, video, and audio from the cloud using models trained on other artists' work. Generative AI is not allowed in any contest category.
Non-Generative AI (Allowed): This type of AI uses elements already captured within your image/video (e.g., Photoshop "Content Aware Fill" or Backscatter "Xterminator") to remove unwanted elements by generating content from surrounding pixels in your own image.
Category Guidelines
1. Photography
Format: Files should be full resolution, full quality JPEGs.
Manipulation: Any image may be manipulated electronically or in the darkroom to improve its photographic qualities (subject to the AI policy above).
Metadata: Please ensure your file includes metadata (Camera settings: ISO, Aperture, Shutter). Do NOT include your name in the metadata fields.
File Naming: Please name the file <month number><your name>. (e.g., for September, 09JaneSmith.jpg).
Note: This naming convention is for administrative use only. All files will be renamed and anonymized by the Competition Director before being presented to the Guest Judge.
2. Videography
Theme: The video category follows the same monthly theme as the photo competition.
Format: Please submit videos in MP4 format (H.264) at 1080p resolution.
Length: Submit a video edit of up to 30 seconds and no longer! Less is more.
Audio: Do not use copyrighted music without express permission.
Anonymity: Do not include your name in any text or credits within the video file.
Judging Criteria: Videos will be judged on story creativity, brevity, and shot quality.
Video Specific AI: Generative AI used to create images or video is not allowed. AI tools used to retime audio are allowed if the original audio is royalty-free or licensed.
Submission & Deadlines
Submission Limit: You are encouraged to participate in both categories! You may submit one entry for Photo AND one entry for Video per month.
Deadline: Online submissions via the link close the 15th of the prior month.
That means that the March competition entries must be uploaded by Feb 15.
This early deadline is required to allow the Guest Judge sufficient time to review entries and prepare their critique.
Judging & Points
The Judging Process
Winners will be selected by an invited Guest Judge.
Anonymity: Judging is conducted blindly; the judge will not know the identity of the creators during the selection process.
Critique: The Guest Judge will provide live commentary and constructive critique on the entries during the meeting. This feedback will also be shared on the website after the event.
Annual Awards & Point Distribution Points are accumulated throughout the calendar year to determine our annual champions. The more you enter, the more points you will accumulate throughout the year.
Points are tracked separately for each category:
Photographer of the Year: Awarded to the member with the highest total points in the Photo category at the end of the year.
Videographer of the Year: Awarded to the member with the highest total points in the Video category at the end of the year.
Point Values:
First Place: 9 points
Second Place: 5 points
Third Place: 3 points
Entering: 1 point