2026 Best in Show Photographic Print Competition
Shutterbugs get ready! Best in Show 2026, the largest amateur photographic print competition in the area, is returning to Champaign-Urbana. Download the entry form at 2026 BIS entry pdf. See winners from 2025 and prior years for an idea of the great images found in this competition.
Snap some great pictures & you might snap up one of the 8 top prizes or part of over $2,000 in cash & prizes.
In addition to the Champaign County Camera Club (CCCC) there are eleven great sponsors of the Best in Show competition. The Urbana Park District assists with all phases of the event including submission collection, hanging the show, and communicating with participants. For information about Urbana Park District programs, call 217-367-1544 or visit the UPD website at urbanaparks.org. We gratefully acknowledge Lincoln Square Mall for providing the space for the show and critique. Larry Kanfer Gallery and Illini Studio provide funding for the top image award. Trophy Time donates all place-winner ribbons. Art Coop, Cruisin with Susan Travel, Dixon Graphics, International Galleries, and Prairie Gardens also provide prizes. The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District provides advertising for this event. The generosity of all these businesses is important to making such a popular public event possible. CCCC thanks them all for their generosity!
ENTRY FEE: EarlyBird rates are $5 for the first print and $3 each for the next four prints, to a total of five entries per photographer. After January 21 at 6pm, the entry fee is $10 for the first print and $3 for each of the next four. All entry forms and prints are due, in person or by mail, to the Urbana Park District, Phillips Recreation Center, 505 W. Stoughton, Urbana, IL 61801 no later than Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 6pm. (Sorry there is no online entry availability at this time.)
As aways, all YOUTH category entries are FREE! The youth category is open to children ages 17 and younger and 18-year-olds currently enrolled in high school.
ENTRY DEADLINE: JANUARY 28, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. for both Entry form and Prints.
EXHIBIT DATES AND HOURS: The Exhibit of all entries will be from Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 12 noon until Sunday, February 22, 2026, until 12 noon. Exhibit hours run Monday through Friday - 10am to 8pm, Saturdays - 10am to 6pm, and Sunday - Noon to 5pm, at Lincoln Square Mall.
JUDGING AND CATEGORIES: The Club will hold a public judges’ critique and award presentation at 1pm on Sunday February 22nd, 2026 at Lincoln Square Mall.
For ideas on what makes an award winning image, view the Best in Show Zoom Workshop or the 2024 Best in Show - Judging People on Youtube. You’ll get an inside look at the judging set up and process and what the judges are looking for, as well as tips for formatting and mounting your photos for the Annual competition.
In this competition, only photo-realistic images may be entered, with the exception of the General category. A photo-realistic image, in this case, is one in which the original photographic content of the orginal image predominates, whether the original image was made on film or by using a digital camera.
Alteration of the basic image by the maker is permitted, but alterations must not predominate or be obvious. Combining elements of more than one image is prohibited. Central Illinois Camera Club Association (CICCA) members may only enter the “Club” category. The use of HDR (high dynamic range) in the creation of the image is not considered manipulation, as long as the image still looks photo-realistic.
Categories for this year’s competition:
1. Animals (photo-realistic category) – Main point of interest must be wild or domesticated animals.
2. Architecture (photo-realistic category) – Images may show complete buildings or minute details of buildings. “Building” includes such things as bridges and other man-made structures.
3. Black and White (photo-realistic category) – This category is for prints that are entirely in the gray scale (typically thought of as black and white). In addition to grey-scale images, prints done in sepia tones, colored monotone or infrared are acceptable.
4. Club – CICCA members are limited to entry in this category following the General category guidelines.
5. General – Any image may be entered in this category including those that previously fit in the manipulated category. Manipulated images have been significantly modified via photo-editing software or combine elements from more than one scene, test, abstracts, etc. Youth entering a manipulated image must enter it in this category.
6. Landscape (photo-realistic category) – Includes the visible features of an area of land or water, including the physical elements of landforms, water bodies, living elements of landcover incl. vegetation and human elements (crops, buildings, and roads), transitory lighting, weather elements.
7. Nature (photo-realistic category) – Image must be shot in a natural environment. The hand of man, such as buildings, fences, roads, etc., must not be present. Domesticated animals must not be present. Images containing a plant/ animal found in nature must have been photographed in its natural environment. A beautiful plant found in nature but brought into a studio to be photographed would not fit in the Nature category.
8. People (photo-realistic category) – Main point of interest must be an individual person or a group of people.
9. Youth Division – All youth entries (with the exception of strongly manipulated images which will be judged in the General category) will be judged in a single category. Youth wishing to have their entries judged in the other categories may do so by paying the appropriate entry fees and entering their images in those categories. All youth entrants will be awarded a Certificate of Participation at the end of the competition. The youth category is open to children ages 17 and younger and 18-year-olds currently enrolled in high school.
10. “25” - In honor of the 25th anniversary of Best in Show, this category honors the number”25”. Use your imagination to show us your best representation of “25”!
PREPARATION REQUIREMENTS OF ENTRIES FOR DISPLAY
The exhibit committee requires that all pieces be prepared as follows. If these requirements are not met, your entry will not be displayed.
All prints must be mounted on foam core measuring 11”x14”x3/16”. Limit five prints per entrant. Any size print that fits on an 11x14 piece of foam core is acceptable, but entrants are advised that prints smaller than 8x10 are likely to have less visual impact than competing prints of a larger size. Prints may be flush mounted (all the way to the edge of the form core), matted, dry-mounted or neatly affixed with adhesive (no tape please). No framed pieces will be accepted. Each entered print must have a title (“untitled” is an unacceptable title). Entries must be clearly labeled on the back, in the bottom right hand corner, with the entry title, category, artist’s name, and general location (e.g., city, county, state, or country) where the photo was taken. The artist’s name must not appear on the front of the entry.
OUR JUDGES
The Best in Show competition depends upon having competent and knowledgeable judges donate their services. All of our judges have provided their insight many times for the CCCC, including previus Best in Show competitions.