Frequently Asked Questions

Shutter League is a photography evaluation and skill assessment platform. Every image you upload is evaluated by the Shutter League Apex DDI engine, which reads your photography across 5 dimensions against a consistent standard. No human judges, no bias, the same method every time.

The evaluation is built from five dimensions. It's a composite evaluation from 0–10 based on five dimensions: Depth of Difficulty, Wonder, Disruption, whether the timing was right, and the emotion it creates. Each dimension is weighted differently per interest area.

Your first photograph is evaluated free, with no card required. After that you can buy a Basic pack of 100 evaluations, or join eLevate. Accounts opened before 15 October 2026 keep the 10 free evaluations they signed up with.

Both are welcome. Camera and Mobile photographers participate in separate leagues with their own galleries, Annual Excellence Award tracks, and recognition programmes — same evaluation engine, no gear bias.

Most images are evaluated within 30–60 seconds of upload. During peak periods it may take a few minutes. You'll see your evaluation appear on your dashboard automatically.

No. Each image is evaluated once. This protects the integrity of the gallery and programme results. If you upload a better version of an image, it is treated as a new upload and uses one evaluation from your balance.

The evaluation engine assesses against interest-specific criteria. The evaluation breakdown on your image detail page shows exactly which dimensions evaluated lower and includes an Apex Byline — a specific improvement recommendation. Use that as your guide.

Rookie — 0.0 to 3.9  |  Shooter — 4.0 to 4.9  |  Contender — 5.0 to 5.9  |  Craftsman — 6.0 to 6.9  |  Maverick — 7.0 to 7.9  |  Master — 8.0 to 8.9  |  Grandmaster — 9.0 to 9.6  |  Legend — 9.7 and above

Free: your first photograph, read in full across the five dimensions. No card required.

eValuate, the Basic packs: ₹199 for 20 Basic evaluations, or ₹799 for 100, used within six months. One payment; neither renews. Buy another pack at any time.

eLevate: ₹4,000 a year for 48 Deep evaluations and membership of The League of Photographers, in the Camera League or the Mobile League. It includes your Evolving Eye, the Next Shot advisory, and Annual Excellence Award eligibility. Members can add one more Deep evaluation at any time for ₹100.

All prices are in Indian rupees and include applicable taxes. See Pricing for the full comparison.

Basic pack: six months from your latest purchase. If you buy another 100, it adds to what you have left and your whole balance is then valid for six months from that day. Anything left after the date closes and is not refunded. If evaluations are left a month before the date, we email you. Packs bought before 15 October 2026 have no end date.

eLevate: your 48 Deep evaluations belong to your membership year. Any you do not use do not carry into the next year. Deep evaluations you add for ₹100 stay until you use them.

Your balance, and the date it runs to, is always on your dashboard and your profile.

Yes. eLevate members can add one Deep evaluation at any time for ₹100, from the dashboard or the profile.

Go to your Profile and choose Cancel Membership. It stops the next yearly renewal; your membership continues to the end of the year you paid for. There is no cancellation fee. The Basic pack is a single payment and never renews, so there is nothing to cancel.

Yes — cancel your current subscription and subscribe to the other league. Your photographs evaluated, evaluations, and history are retained.

See our full Refund & Cancellation Policy. In brief: refunds are considered for technical failures, duplicate charges, or unauthorised charges. Requests must be submitted within 14 days.

Shutter League is open to photographers worldwide, but we currently accept Indian payment methods only — UPI, Indian debit and credit cards, and Net Banking. International card support is coming soon. If you are outside India and want to be notified when international payments go live, contact us and we will notify you first.

Every photograph evaluated automatically enters the monthly programme for its interest area and league. No separate action needed. Recipients are determined by your evaluation at the end of each month.

The Annual Excellence Award (AEA) is Shutter League's year-round photography excellence programme. Your AEA standing is the average of your top-6 evaluations in your strongest interest area — you participate in one interest track, the one where your evaluations are highest. A wildlife-only photographer qualifies on wildlife alone. In 2026 you need at least 3 active months with 1 or more photographs evaluated, and a minimum of 6 photographs evaluated in your qualifying interest area. From 2027: 6 active months and 6 photographs evaluated in your qualifying interest area. Camera League and Mobile League participate in separate tracks. Recognition and awards announced to qualifying participants.

An annual programme where Camera and Mobile photographers participate together in the same pool. One recipient per interest area, plus a Grand Open Recipient selected by jury. Participation fee: ₹50 per image per interest area. Requires an active subscription.

A new photography prompt is released every Monday. Submit your best image by Sunday 23:59 UTC. Free to participate. Top performers qualify for Annual Excellence Award tracking.

You do. Uploading to Shutter League does not transfer copyright. We store your images to provide the evaluation and portfolio service. See our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions for full details.

Your original uploaded images are stored on our platform. Contact us at support@shutterleague.com if you need access to your original files.

The platform checks for AI-generated images as part of the upload process. If your image is flagged, it will not appear on the public gallery and your evaluation will be held. You can appeal via the platform — all appeals are reviewed by the admin team.

For high-performing images and top-placed finalists, we may request your original RAW file to verify authenticity. This protects the integrity of the programme. When requested, you will receive an email with a direct link to submit your file. You have 7 days to submit. Failure to do so within the window will result in the evaluation being withheld from programme standings.

No — editing is fully acceptable. Our verification checks only that the uploaded JPEG and your RAW file show the same photograph. The following are all fine and will not trigger a flag:

• Exposure, shadows, highlights, contrast adjustments
• Colour grading and white balance changes
• Sharpening, noise reduction, lens corrections
• Cropping — including significant crops from high-resolution cameras

What will trigger a flag:

• Uploading a RAW file from a different photograph
• Objects added or removed using compositing or generative AI
• The scene or subject is materially different between the JPEG and RAW
• A file that cannot be opened or decoded (corrupt or wrong format)

No. Cropping a high-resolution RAW file to meet upload requirements — or as a creative compositional choice — is completely legitimate and will not flag your image. Our verification engine does not penalise photographers for camera resolution or crop factor. The only question it answers is: is this the same photograph?

No. EXIF metadata is not used as a verification criterion. Some software (Lightroom, Photoshop, certain mobile editors) strips or modifies EXIF on export — this is common and expected. Verification is based entirely on visual content comparison, not metadata.

Subscribers can rate other photographers' images anonymously. Rating others earns credits, which can be used to enter your own images into the peer rating pool. Peer ratings are shown alongside your evaluation but do not change it.

No. Your evaluation is set by the Shutter League Apex DDI engine and is protected. If peer ratings diverge significantly from your evaluation, a jury review is triggered automatically. Your evaluation is never reduced by peer ratings.