Rules and Entry

49th Smethwick International Exhibition of Photography

PSA Recognised 2023-543

FIAP Patronage 2023/579

PAGB Patronage 2023-031

GPU Patronage L230140

The Exhibition of Prints and Projected Digital Images will be held at the

UK FIAP EXHIBITION CENTRE

The Old School House, Churchbridge, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 2AS, UK

6th to 14th January 2024

The Exhibition consists of SIX (6) sections:

Colour Prints, Mono Prints, Nature Prints, Digital Colour, Digital Mono, Digital Nature

with up to FOUR (4) entries allowed in each section.

With a total of 180 awards of Medals and Ribbons

Each entrant will receive a 100 Page A4 Full Colour Catalogue

Exhibition Chairman and Address for Print Entries

Roger Parry, ARPS, EFIAP, ESFIAP, MPAGB, HonPAGB

25 Wentworth Park Avenue, Harborne, Birmingham, B17 9QU, United Kingdom

E-mail; Chairman@smethwickinternational.com

SIX SECTIONS with a total of over 210 AWARDS.

 

MEDALS	PSA	FIAP	GPU	PAGB	SPS
OPEN MONO PRINTS (PPD-M)	1 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	3 Selectors
OPEN COLOUR PRINTS (PPD-C)	1 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	3 Selectors
NATURE PRINTS (ND)	1 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	3 Selectors
OPEN MONO (PID-M)	1 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	3 Selectors
OPEN COLOUR (PID-C) (PIDC)	1 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	3 Selectors
NATURE DIGITAL (ND)	1 Gold 1 Silver 1 Bronze	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	1 Gold 1 Silver	3 Selectors

 

In addition, there will be a total of over 140 Ribbons.

ENTER ONLINE AT

www.SmethwickInternational.com

By entering this exhibition, you automatically agree to receive notifications of future exhibitions.
Entry Closes 6^th November 2023

ENTRY FEES (per entrant per section)

UK	Overseas
1 Section £12 (GBP) Each additional section £3 (GBP)	1 Section £14 (GBP) Each additional section £3 (GBP)
The entry fee includes mailing the 62 Page A4 Catalogue

PRINT ENTRIES: If you have elected to have your prints returned to you, and not requested that we forward them to the Southampton International Exhibition on your behalf, you MUST add return postage as follows:

Flat Fee £7 PLUS 25p for EACH mounted print. 10p for each un-mounted print

COMPLETE THE ONLINE ENTRY FORMS AND MAKE PAYMENT ELECTRONICALLY

PAYMENT CAN BE MADE ONLINE USING CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS THROUGH PAYPAL (PayPal account not required).

ENTRIES WITHOUT THE CORRECT FEES WILL NOT BE JUDGED AND NO CATALOGUE WILL BE SENT.

EXHIBITION CALENDAR

Closing Date	6th November 2023
Judging	10th to 12th November 2023
Notifications sent by:	18th November 2023
Awards Mailed	26th January 2024
On-Line Gallery -Posted	11th January 2024
Catalogues Mailed	26th January 2024

JUDGES

Adrian Lines MPAGB, EFIAP, FBPE	Ireland	Prints, Mono & Colour, Mono Pdi
Jane Lines MPAGB,BPE3	England	Nature,Prints & Pdi Colour Pdi
Robert Millin MFIAP, EFIAP/d3,MPSA,FBPE	England	Prints, Mono & Colour, Mono, Pdi
Dave Coates, ARPS, MPAGB,EFIAP/p,	Wales	Nature, Prints & Pdi, Colour Pdi
Ray Brammall, ARPS, EFIAP/g, DPAGB, BPE5	England	Prints, Mono & Colour, Mono Pdi
Ralph Snook, ARPS,EFIAP/s, DPAGB,	England	Nature, Prints & Pdi, Colour Pdi

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY ALL SECTIONS

IMAGE AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS This exhibition is open to anyone; however, an entry may be rejected when the Sponsor or the Exhibition Organizers, in their reasonable discretion, believes the entry does not conform to exhibition rules and these Conditions of Entry. Membership in any photographic organization is not required.

Penalties: Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who has put on the PSA Penalties List for Ethics Violation. Entry fees are not refundable in these circumstances.

PSA Star Ratings

To receive proper Star ratings credit from PSA, entrants must provide their names and country exactly the same way in each exhibition. Aliases are not permitted. Please contact PSA in the event of name changes or relocating to another country. Using one’s name differently in different exhibition exposes the entrant to the risk that many of their acceptances may not be recognized by PSA Star Ratings.

Image Creation
Entries must originate as photographs (image-captures of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion or acquired digitally.

Certification:

By virtue of submitting an image, the entrant certifies the work as his or her own. Images may not incorporate elements produced by anyone else (for example: clip art, images or art by others downloaded from the Internet). Aliases are not allowed.

Reproduction

The entrant permits the sponsors to reproduce all or part of the entered material free of charge for publication and/or display in media related to the exhibition. This may include low resolution posting on a website. The Photographic Society of America (PSA) may request specific permission from entrants to reproduce entered images in its educational materials. The terms of that permission will be mutually agreed between the entrant and PSA except in the circumstances where the entered image is found to breach the PSA Ethics Policy. In those circumstances the image may be reproduced by PSA, without the entrant’s further permission, for educational purposes to illustrate serious exhibition rule violations. For those reproductions, the entrant’s name will be withheld. 

Entries will not be accepted from entrants who indicate that their images may not be reproduced in materials related to the exhibition.”   The exhibition assumes no liability of any misuse of copyright

Alteration and Computer Generation Subject to Divisional restrictions (particularly Nature, Photo Travel, and Photojournalism) images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the entrant; adjustments to enhance images or creatively modify images are allowed providing the underlying photograph is retained in a way that is obvious to the viewer. Images may not be constructed entirely with a computer, and must be the sole work of the entrant

Re-use of accepted images: Any image that has been accepted in this exhibition, past or present, may not be entered again in the same Division Star Ratings Class in any future instances of this exhibition. It may, of course, be entered in any other PSA recognised exhibitions but must always have the same title. Re-titling in another language is not allowed.

Entry: An Entry consists of, up to and including, four (4) images entered by a single entrant into the same Section. An entrant may only enter a specific Section once. Entrants may not enter identical or similar images into the same section or different sections of the same exhibition.

Titles:

Each image must have a unique title that is a description of the image. That unique title must be used for entry of that image or of an identical Image into any and all PSA-Recognized exhibitions. Titles must be 35 characters or fewer. No titles may be visible to the judges, and nothing in the image may identify the entrant. Titles may not include file extensions such as .jpg or .jpeg (or any other camera capture filenames such as IMG 471). Titles may not consist of personal identifiers possibly augmented by a number; or include words such as “untitled” or “no title”. Titles may not consist solely of numbers unless those numbers are prominently contained within the image, such as a contestant number in a race.

Color and Monochrome:

Color and Monochrome images from the same capture that share substantial pictorial content in common will be considered the same image and must be given the same title.

ENTRIES AND IMAGE SIZE

All entries must be made online through the entry system on the website www.smethwickinternational.com

Prints:

Two (3) Sections: Colour – Monochrome-Nature

Up to four prints, maximum size – 50cm x 40cm, may be entered in each section.

• Prints can be submitted either un-mounted or mounted Mount size should not exceed 50cmx 40cm. (Overseas prints should be sent un-mounted).

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• Entrants must tick the ‘Destroy’ box on the online entry system to verify authorization for the exhibition to destroy the entrants prints in lieu of returning them, otherwise the full return postal charge shall apply.

A Digital File of all prints must be uploaded with the print title.

The title on the backs of prints must match the titles on the Entry Form.

Only pressure sensitive (self-adhesive) labels may be used on the back of unmounted prints.

The entrant must sign the entry submittal form in the space provided to verify authorization for the exhibition to destroy the exhibitor’s prints in lieu of returning them otherwise the full entry fee shall apply if the exhibition does have separate fees for return of prints and non-return of prints.

Projected Digital Images: Three Sections: Open Colour, Open Mono,

Nature,

Up to four Images may be submitted in each section.

• Images must be in JPEG format with preferred Colour Space sRGB.

• Images will be judged by Projection on a Canon Exceed Projector. Native resolution 1900×1200.

• Required image size: Maximum 1600 pixels horizontal and/or 1200 pixels vertical.

• Image File Name: The online entry system does not require you to change an images filename.

• Image Title: The title must be as you would wish it to appear in the catalogue therefore no other information, special characters or separators should be included in the Title Window.

• Our projection background is black please DO NOT fill empty space or add large borders.

• Images should be submitted on line at www.smethwickinternational.com

ORGANISATION

The Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the PSA and of FIAP

An entrant’s images will not be presented to the judges consecutively. An entrant’s four images will be distributed throughout four rounds of judging in that section. Distribution of images will be in the same round order as submitted by the entrant. At no stage will a judge be able to view all the entrant’s images together.

JUDGING METHOD

Subject to any Corvid19 restrictions judging will be conducted by the jury viewing the images together and marking using electronic means. Should the Corvid 19 restrictions still be in place remote judging will then take place still using the standard judging software but viewing the images remotely on fully calibrated monitors.

DATA PROTECTION

By entering this exhibition, you are explicitly consenting to the personal details you have supplied, including physical addresses, email addresses, being held, processed and used by the exhibition organizers for purposes associated with this exhibition. You also explicitly consent to such information being sent to organizations that have accorded official recognition, patronage or accreditation to this exhibition. You acknowledge, agree and accept that by entering this exhibition, your participation status which includes your first and last name, name of the country used during registration at the exhibition, number of sections entered, and number of photos entered in those sections will be made public in a published status list and that the results of your entry shall be made public in exhibition gallery, exhibition catalog. You also agree and accept the policies regarding Breaches of Rules of the PSA. And FIAP

SUBJECT MATTER AND SECTION DEFINITIONS

Statement on Subject Matter – applicable to all sections

The fundamental rule that must be observed at all times and applies to all sections offered in exhibitions with PSA recognition is that the welfare of living creatures is more important than any photograph. This means that practices such as baiting of subjects with a living creature and removal of birds from nests, for the purpose of obtaining a photograph, are highly unethical, and such photographs are not allowed in any exhibition with PSA recognition.  Under no circumstances may a living creature be placed in a situation where it will be killed, injured or stressed for the purpose of obtaining a photograph. Images that show live creatures being fed to captive animals, birds or reptiles are not permitted under any circumstances.

There are also concerns about the use of aerial photography, drones, helicopters, low flying aircraft. These should not cause any interference with other individuals or animals which causes a disturbance in their normal activity or disrupt the way any individuals or animals interact with their environment.  Entrants in PSA recognized exhibitions should comply with all relevant laws and regulations, associated with aerial photography, in the country in which the image was taken.  

 Entry into PSA recognized exhibitions is conditional on accepting these policies.  The content of images must comply with the General Conditions and with the Division and Section definitions listed in these conditions. Images that – in the sole opinion of the judges or the Exhibition Organizers – do not comply, will be disqualified so the entrant may be aware of the problem when considering entry into other exhibitions with PSA recognition

FIAP definition of Monochrome

A black and white work fitting from the very dark grey (black) to the very clear grey (white) is a monochrome work with the various shades of grey. A black and white work toned entirely in a single colour will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black and white category; such a work can be reproduced in black and white in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage. On the other hand a black and white work modified by a partial toning or by the addition of one colour becomes a colour work (polychrome) to stand in the colour category; such a work requires colour reproduction in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage

PSA Monochrome Definition

An image is considered to be Monochrome only if it gives the impression of having no color (i.e. contains only shades of grey which can include pure black and pure white) OR it gives the impression of being a greyscale image that has been toned in one color across the entire image. (For example by Sepia, red, gold, etc.) A greyscale or multi-colored image modified or giving the impression of having been modified by partial toning, multi-toning or by the inclusion of spot coloring does not meet the definition of monochrome and shall be classified as a Color Work

Greyscale Monochrome images may be entered for Nature, but toned images are not permitted in this division.

Monochrome images may not be entered in PID Color sections.

Monochrome images may not be entered in Pictorial Prints or PID Color Sections. Separate sections must be offered for Color Pictorial Prints, Monochrome Pictorial Prints, PIDC and PIDM.

PSA/FIAP NATURE DEFINITION

Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both animate and inanimate, that have not been made or modified by humans.

Nature images must convey the truth of the scene that was photographed. A well-informed person should be able to identify the subject of the image and be satisfied that it has been presented honestly and that no unethical practices have been used to control the subject or capture the image. Images that directly or indirectly show any human activity that threatens the life or welfare of a living organism are not allowed.

The most important part of a Nature image is the nature story it tells. High technical standards are expected and the image must look natural. Adding a vignette or blurring the background during processing is not allowed.

Objects created by humans, and evidence of human activity, are allowed in Nature images only when they are a necessary part of the Nature story.

Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domesticated animals, human-created hybrid animals and mounted or preserved zoological specimens are not allowed.

Images taken with subjects under controlled conditions, such as zoos, are allowed.

Controlling live subjects by chilling, anaesthetic or any other method of restricting natural movement for the purpose of a photograph is not allowed.

No modification that changes the truth of a Nature image is allowed. Images may be cropped but no other technique that removes, adds or moves any part of the image is allowed.

Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise and lens flare are allowed.

Complete conversion of colour images to greyscale monochrome is allowed. Partial conversion, toning and infrared captures or conversions are not allowed.

Images of the same subject that are combined in-camera or with software by focus stacking or exposure blending are allowed. Multiple images with overlapping fields of view that are taken consecutively and combined in-camera or with software (image stitching) are allowed.

Attention is drawn to the PSA Statement on Subject Matter which applies to all sections

Editing Guidelines

Processing or editing must be limited to making the image look as close to the original scene as possible, except that conversion to grayscale monochrome is allowed.

Allowed editing techniques:

• Cropping, straightening and perspective correction.

• Removal or correction of elements added by the camera or lens, such as dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion.

• Global and selective adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast to restore the appearance of the original scene.

• Complete conversion of color images to grayscale monochrome.

• Blending of multiple images of the same subject and combining them in camera or with software (exposure blending or focus stacking);

• Image stitching – combining multiple images with overlapping fields of view that are taken consecutively (panoramas);

Editing techniques that are not allowed:

• Removing, adding to, moving or changing any part of an image, except for cropping and straightening.

• Adding a vignette during processing.

• Blurring parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.

• Darkening parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene.

• All conversions other than to complete grayscale monochrome.

• Conversion of parts of an image to monochrome, or partial toning, desaturation or over-saturation of color

Borders

For the purpose of this exhibition any border added to a Nature digital file must be a single border of white or grey, no greater than 3 to 5 pixels in width.

Breaches of Rules

FIAP:

The mention that by the sole act of submitting his/her images or files to a salon under FIAP Patronage, the entrant accepts without exception and with no objection the following terms: – that the submitted images can be investigated by FIAP to establish if these obey to FIAP regulations and definitions even if the entrant is not a member of FIAP, – that FIAP will use any means at its disposal for this undertaking, – that any refusal to cooperate with FIAP or any refusal to submit the original files as captured by the camera, or failure to provide sufficient evidence, will be sanctioned by FIAP, – that in case of sanctions following the non compliance with FIAP regulations, the name of the entrant will be released in any form useful to inform the breaches of the rules. It is recommended to leave the EXIF data in the submitted files intact in order to ease eventual investigations. If, at any time, it is determined in the reasonable discretion of the exhibition organizer or the judges before, during, or after the judging of an exhibition that an entrant has submitted entries where one or more images may fail to comply with these Conditions of Entry, including the stated definitions, the exhibition organizers reserve the right to delete the entry from the exhibition and void any or all acceptances or awards in connection with the exhibition. Fees may be forfeited or refunded in these circumstances. The entrant acknowledges that the decision of the exhibition organizers or the judges is final

PSA

Breaches of Rules

Entrants are strongly advised to look at the PSA Ethics Policy which can be found at https://psa-photo.org/page/ethical-practices.

If, at any time, it is determined in the reasonable discretion of the exhibition organizer or the judges before, during, or after the judging of an exhibition that an entrant has submitted entries where one or more images may fail to comply with these Conditions of Entry, including the stated definitions, exhibitions, on behalf of the judges, are allowed to request unedited or raw files of the submitted image

In order to ensure that images comply with the Conditions of Entry and definitions, the exhibition organizers may carry out reasonable measures to verify that:

a) the images are the original work of the entrant and

b) the images comply with the rules and definitions as set out in these Conditions of Entry

These steps include, but are not limited to, questioning any entrant, requiring the submission of RAW files or other digital files representing the original capture of the submitted image(s), confronting the entrant with evidence that one or more submitted images fails to comply with the Conditions of Entry (also known as Entry Rules), and offering the entrant a reasonable opportunity to provide counter evidence to refute the exhibition organizer’s evidence by a set deadline. Such entries that are not cleared or are still questionable after the entrant has presented evidence may be considered in breach of these Conditions of Entry, and declined. Such entries may be referred to PSA for further investigation of possible ethics violations

PSA, on receiving reports from exhibitions of possible breaches, retains the right to investigate in any way all complaints/suspicions of breaches of entry conditions, impose penalties if deemed necessary, void the acceptances of any image found to violate the PSA rules, include the entrant’s name on the list of sanctions provided to Exhibitions, and share such investigations with FIAP. Entrants automatically agree to these terms by the act of entering the Exhibition and agree to cooperate with any investigation.

If another party is submitting images on the entrant’s behalf, the entrant will still be held responsible for adhering to these Conditions of Entry (Entry Rules) and will be subject to penalties for any violations to these Conditions of Entry and PSA’s Statement of Ethics that may result.

If another party is processing images for an entrant or submitting images on the entrant’s behalf, the entrant will still be held responsible for adhering to all Conditions of Entry including the specific conditions in the relevant definitions.

NOTICE: When entrants fills in the Entry Form to submit an entry they will see the following feature to affirm they have read these Conditions of Entry

“I hereby confirm that I have read, understood and agree to the Conditions of Entry of this exhibition. I have read the PSA document to be found at https://psa-photo.org/resource/resmgr/pdf/exhibitions_/exhibition-entrants-agreemen.pdf . I am aware that PSA may apply penalties for breaches of these Conditions of Entry”

“I hereby expressly agree to FIAP document 018/2017 « Conditions and regulations for FIAP Patronage » and FIAP document 033_2021 « Sanctions for breaching FIAP regulations and the red list ». I am particularly aware of chapter II « Regulations for International photographic events under FIAP patronage » of FIAP document 018/2017, dealing under Section II.2 and II.3 with the FIAP participation rules, the sanctions for breaching FIAP regulations and the red list.”

Failure to agree will mean that the application will not proceed.