Salon Go Round

(available to members only)

by Rick Cloran, HonPSA, MPSA, HonNEC

With the passing of time and shifting of interests one of the things that used to be a constant in GLPA has dwindled to a mere trickle. I am referring to having our members enter international exhibitions. Yes, many of us entered the GLPA international and the Ocean State, but that was often more to support the clubs than to earn those once coveted acceptances.

A few years back we had a fun challenge to see who could garner the most acceptances in a series of international exhibitions. I am throwing that challenge out to the membership once again. Since some members do not do specialties like nature, I will keep the exhibitions to PSA's PID (Projected Image Division) so you can enter pretty much anything you have from scenics to contemporary. I will also keep all of the exhibitions to US sponsers A) because the US exhibition prices are at least reasonable and B) because I have more familiarity with most of them.

For those new to PSA and international exhibitions (aka salons), each maker may enter up to four images in a section. Be sure to check the exhibition rules for the maximum size for an image. Many use 1400 x 1050, the same as we do at the club, however and increasing number are going to full HD or 1920 x 1200 or 1920 x 1280. Many of the exhibitions are also now judging based on a 50 inch HD TV rather than traditional projection. The exhibition may offer sections in multiple divisions of PSA, but we will only use the PID division. There may also be multiple sections for the PID division such as Open and Monochrome, but we will only use the Open or General section. Each exhibition does require an entry fee that you will have to pay if you chose to participate in the challenge. I am trying to select exhibitions where the entry fee for a single section is $10 or less (hence keeping them all US). The circuits are more, but when you factor in the number of judgings the entry fees is within the desired range. You can enter on-line. I will indicate the web links for the exhibitions.

You do NOT need to be a PSA member to enter an exhibition or to participate in this challenge. If you are successful or get bitten by the exhibition bug, you may want to join PSA to accumulate those acceptances toward the Star Ratings and ROPA (Recognition of Photographic Achievement) distinctions you hear about when we introduce judges and presenters.

If you enter an exhibition, be sure to let me know and to let me know how many acceptances you earn. You will get 1 point for a acceptance, 2 points for an HM, and 3 points for a Medal (no matter what the flavor). The person with the most points at the end of the club season will win $100. You should feel free to enter as many sections in an exhibition as you want, however, I will only count the acceptances earned in the PID Open section toward the challenge totals.

With the exception of the Ocean State exhibition judging panels are likely unfamiliar with the majority of the images entered. Scoring is based heavily on impact and the ability to gain the judges' interest. The typical time for an image to be viewed and judged is measured in seconds rather than the prolonged study that our monthly judges put in. New subjects, new treatments, and even a new approach to a common subject are all ways to gain higher scores. Technical excellence and strong pictorial quality are what you are looking for in any image you plan on entering. Scoring ranges are typically 1 - 5 per judge or 3 - 15 overall or 3 - 9 or 10 per judge and 9 - 27 or 30 overall. You will not get feedback on your images other than the score (and any awards you may earn).

Accumulating acceptances toward Star ratings and ROPA (Recognition of Photographic Achievement) distinctions is a good way to stay actively involved in photography and motivated to keep developing your photographic skills. You will also find that you will keep pushing yourself to create new images and enhance your skill set. Over time you will develop a very strong portfolio of images. You may find that you have one or more themes running through that portfolio. Those themes may form the basis for one of the Portfolio distinctions that are another hallmark of photographic achievement within PSA.

As I noted above, you do not need to be a PSA member to start. However if you find that you enjoy this type of competition, you will want to Join PSA. Achieving Star ratings and ROPA distinctions is a testament to your photographic achievement as recognized by a worldwide body for photography.

Remember that you cannot enter images that were previously accepted in that particular exhibition. In other words, if you had two acceptances last year in North American you cannot enter those images again in North American. You can enter them in Grand Canyon if they were not accepted there before. This means that acceptance in any one judging of a circuit means the image cannot be entered in that circuit again even if it was not accepted in the other judgings. Also, most exhibitions will cross check images between sections and will DQ an image entered in a section this year that was accepted in one of their other sections in another year. For example, if you had an image accepted in the Nature section of North American last year, don’t enter it in the PID section this year or you may be disqualified. As always, take the time to read the entry rules and conditions before selecting your entries. Pay particular attention to keeping your titles within and required character limits and your file size within the limit the exhibition may state (e.g., 800 K, 1 MB, etc.)

The selected exhibitions in the Salon-Go-Round challenge are as follows:

Oct 27, 2017 – NORTH AMERICAN (PSA 2017-323) (USA) 2 Sections: Open, Creative, www.northamericaninternationalexhibition.com (image size 1920 x 1200)

Oct 30, 2017 – GRAND CANYON FALL CIRCUIT 2017 (PSA 2017-336) (USA), 3 Judgings, 1 Section: Open, www.grandcanyoncircuit.org (image size 1400 x 1050)

Dec 1, 2017 – DIGA CIRCUIT (USA) (PSA 2017-372) (USA) 2 Sections; Open, Best Friend; http://www.georgiacircuits.com (image size 1400 x 1050)

Jan. 29, 2018 – GRAND CANYON WINTER CIRCUIT (PSA 2018-048) www.grandcanyoncircuit.org (For those entering the Grand Canyon Circuits, I have confirmed that they consider the Fall and Winter circuits to be two entirely different exhibitions like the DIGA and GASO exhibitions run by the Georgia Circuits group. That means you may legally enter images that have been accepted in one of the circuits in the other and any acceptances will count. Please remember that this means you could enter an image accepted in the PID section or Nature section of the Fall circuit in the PID section of the Winter Circuit. Or, if it was a nature image, in the Nature section of the Winter circuit. You cannot enter an image accepted in the PID or Nature section of the Fall Circuit in any other section of the Fall Circuit again. E-mail me at mrcloran@comcast.net with any questions if this is confusing.)

Feb. 10, 2018 – WILMINGTON (PSA 2018-064) http://www.wilmingtoninternational.org

Feb. 16, 2018 – COACHELLA (PSA 2018-068) http://www.coachella-ex.org

Mar 14, 2018 – RIDGEWOOD (PSA 2018-085) http://www.ridgewoodcameraclub.net

Mar. 17, 2018 – SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY (PSA 2018-085), http://www.sjvccc.calisnaps.com

See Rick Cloran at the club if you want more of an explanation about what an exhibition is or how to enter one.