PURPOSE:

The purpose of the MVPC salons is to provide an opportunity for members to have their images critiqued, providing feedback to improve their photography skills. Salons are Open or Topic. The Topic salons providing a challenge to explore new subjects or techniques for those who choose to take advantage of them

SECTION 1. General Rules and Eligibility

1. Members only: The salon is open to any member who has paid their current year dues to the Minnesota Valley Photography Club (MVPC).
2. Original work by the member:
   1. The original image must be made by the member on photographic emulsion or acquired with a digital camera (or electronically recorded). All images (or image montages) must be original and may not incorporate elements produced by anyone else or content creation tool.
   2. Any modification of the original image must be made by the member. All other print processing, matting, or mounting may be commercially done, if desired.
   3. Any photograph where subject, lighting, arranging, etc., are not primarily the work of the member entering the salon shall not be eligible for entry in the salon.
3. Image modification:  Image modification, manipulation, or enhancement by the member is allowed, unless restricted by a particular topic definition. (For example, image manipulation is often restricted for photojournalism or nature photography salons.)
4. Promotional use: Permission to copy or publish images submitted for salons for promotional use by the MVPC is assumed unless otherwise stated. The original maker retains the copyright to their submissions.
5. Interpretation and Application of These Rules: The Salon committee will interpret and apply these rules at each salon and has the right to reject any entry not properly presented or labeled.
6. The Salon committee may change the rules at any time due to circumstances beyond the control of MVPC

Top

SECTION 2. Salon

1. Salon: There will be six separate salons as follows:
   • Monochrome Prints
   • Color Prints
   • Novice Prints
   • Color Digital
   • Monochrome Digital
   • Novice Digital
2. Salon schedule: The print salons will alternate with the digital salons, except for the December and June meetings.
3. Topic selection process: The Salon Committee shall maintain a master list of topics. Each year the salon committee shall solicit the addition of topic recommendations to this master list from the club membership. The salon committee shall make the list available to the membership. The salon committee shall prepare ballots and/or determine the process to be used for the membership to vote on the topics for the following year. Voting shall be done during the month of February. The Salon Committee shall tabulate the votes and present the results to the Board of Directors.

   The Board of Directors shall:

   • Resolve any ties.
   • Decide which topics will be print or projected image (digital) salons.
   • Assign the topics to a monthly salon.
   The results will be made available to the membership in March.
4. Open and Topic definitions: Each monthly salon will consist of an Open and a Topic category.
   • Open category: Any subject may be entered in the Open category.
   • Topic category:  The subject for the Topic category is selected via the methodology identified in paragraph 3 above. Each entry in the Topic category will be judged partially on how well it adheres to the topic.

   Number of entries:  Each member may submit up to four entries each month The allowed number of entries each month may be divided in any manner among the color salon or monochrome salon as long as the total number of entries does not exceed the allowed number of monthly entries.

   The allowed number of entries in each salon may be divided between the open and topic categories.

5. Members may NOT submit entries in both the regular (color or Monochrome) salons and Novice salon in the same month.
6. Once a member has received four or more Acceptances (image scoring 13 or more points) in any salon year, that member is not eligible to enter Novice salons in subsequent years.
7. Entry due dates:  Salon entries are to be submitted by the date of the monthly general MVPC meeting prior to the salon critique meeting unless the Salon Committee announces otherwise. Print entries are to be brought to the general membership meeting.
8. Re-entering images:
   • Images that have not previously received an Acceptance in an MVPC salon may be re-entered as often as the member desires.
   • Any image receiving an Acceptance in a Minnesota Valley Photography Club salon is ineligible for entry in a future salon in this club. This is regardless of variations or changes made, including color and monochrome versions of the image.
   • The same or similar image may not be entered as both a color and monochrome image
   • Digital and print versions of the same or similar image are considered to be the same image.

Top

SECTION 3. Print Salon Rules

1. The following table defines the image and mount size requirements for all print salons. These may be either horizontal or vertical format.
   
   

   Print Size Minimum	Print Size Maximum	Mat/Mount Size Minimum	Mat/Mount Size Maximum
   None	16×20 inches	8×10 inches	16×20 inches

   
   
2. A ll prints shall be submitted in a manner that protects them from damage or causing damage to other entries. (example – NO exposed sticky glue or loose tape).
   • A backing must be provided (example: mat board or foam core). If not in a clear/transparent protective envelope, then the print shall be firmly attached to the backing.
   • A mat is optional, but recommended.
   • Member's entry information (See #3 below) shall be placed on the back in the upper left corner of the backing in a manner that is clearly visible, legible and oriented to determine the top of the image.
   • The print may optionally be submitted in a clear/transparent protective envelope.
   • No frames of any kind are allowed.
3. All prints must have the following written on the back side of the backing:
   • The title of the entry
   • Member’s MVPC membership number
   • Salon type (color, monochrome Novice)
   • Open or Topic
   The member’s name must NOT appear anywhere on the entry.
4. 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. (PSA definition)
5. A digital copy is required for all print entries. This copy will be used for the salon display and critique. If no digital image is provided, that entry will not be critiqued at the meeting. These digital images are due with the print entry and must follow the size and naming conventions listed in Section 5.

Top

SECTION 4. Digital Salon Rules

1. File Format:
   • Digital images shall be submitted in JPEG format.
   • Images shall not exceed 1920 pixels in the horizontal axis or 1080 pixels in the vertical axis.
   • The JPEG image should be in the sRGB color space (for best possible rendition of colors).
   • There is no file size limitation.
2. The member’s name must NOT appear anywhere within the file name or within the image itself.

Top

SECTION 5. Salon Point System

1. All entries will be judged as an individual image on a 1 to 15 point scale. More than one entry may be given the same score.
2. Entries receiving 13, 14 or 15 points from the judge will be considered an Acceptance and are eligible for submission to the Year End salon. Honorable Mention is for entries receiving 12 points.

Top

SECTION 6. Year-End Recognitions and Awards

1. Achievement Recognitions.  Recognition of a member’s achievement in photographic skills may be earned by having images submitted to monthly salons being Accepted to the Year End salon. Three levels of Achievement are available:
   • Achievement
   • High Achievement
   • Exceptional Achievement

   Achievement definition based on 4 entries per monthly salon.

   Recognition Level	Regular Salon %	Category Acceptances/th>	Novice Salon %	Category Acceptances
   Achievement	50%	4	25%	2
   High Achievement	75%	6	50%	4
   Exceptional Achievement	100%	8	75%	6

2. Distinguished Photographer Award.  This award may or may not be awarded yearly. It is based entirely on an individual's performance. This award may be earned by more than one individual during a salon year (September through May) if the requirements are met. To qualify for this award, the recipient(s) must receive an Acceptance in Color or Monochrome Topic Salons in five (5) different months during the salon year.
3. Photograph of the Year.  Awards will be presented at the annual banquet where a judge or panel of judges will select the Photograph of the Year from each salon as well as first runner-up and second runner-up in each salon. All monthly salon entries that received an Acceptance are eligible to be entered into the Year End salon. The salon committee shall monitor the number of Acceptances eligible for the Year End Salon. If the size of the Year End Salon exceeds what can be reasonably expected for a judge, the salon committee may limit the number of entries per member. In the event that a member has more “Acceptances” than allowable entries, the member may choose which of their “Acceptances” to submit for the Year End Salon.
4. Dick Sheidler Memorial Award:  The Dick Sheidler Memorial Award is to recognize the club member who has best demonstrated exemplary skill in their photographic capabilities in composition, story, and technical skill. The award is given to those club members who earned an Achievement or better level of recognition in each of the MVPC regular salon categories during the current program year: Color Prints, Monochrome Prints, Color Digital, Monochrome Digital.

   In addition, the recipients must submit no more than Season Entries/Regular Salon Categories in each regular salon category. In the current salon season, a recipient of the Dick Sheidler Memorial Award may submit 8 images in each of the four salon categories for a total of 32 images.

   Requirements for the Award with 8 monthly salons, 4 entries per month, 4 regular salon categories.

   	Color Digital	Mono Digital/th>	Color Print	Mono Print
   Maximum Entries	8%	8	8	8
   Minimum Acceptances	4	4	4	4

Top

SECTION 7. Definitions

1. Open – An open salon has no restrictions on subject matter.
2. Topic – The subject of an image in a topic salon will clearly emphasize the topic. It will occupy a major portion of the image.
3. Altered Reality. (adapted from N4C) An Altered Reality or Creative photograph is a combination of your imagination, inspiration, perception and inventiveness. With an Altered Reality image the maker intends (and the viewer easily recognizes) that the image is not a representation of reality.
   1. The Altered Reality image must have a photographic base of the maker’s own creation.
   2. Manipulation of the basic image or images can be done in camera and/or in computer.
   The makers of Altered Reality images should feel free to use a wide range of tools and resources, limited only by imagination.
4. Monochrome: 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. (PSA definition)
5. Nature Photography. (adapted from N4C) Nature photography is simply the recording of our natural world by some photographic means. Included are all branches of nature except Archeology and Anthropology.
   1. No photograph is worth the distress or injury to any wild creature.
   2. The hand of man shall not be present in any nature entry except where wild birds or animals have invaded man’s world such as fence posts and other manmade objects freely adapted for use by wild creatures. Photographs at bird feeders are not acceptable if any part of a man made feeder is shown in the photograph.
   3. Banding or tagging on nature subjects is acceptable.
   4. Photographs taken in zoos, animal farms or game farms are acceptable as long as the setting remains natural and the hand of man is not visible.
   5. Cultivated plants, domestic animals and pets are not acceptable and should be entered in other categories.
   6. There are no restrictions on the image processing except that it must look natural and not obvious that post processing has been performed.
6. Photojournalism (adapted from N4C).  Photojournalism is the process of storytelling using the medium of photography as your story telling device.
   1. The image should be a window into the event, captured in real time and not posed. The type of photograph that one sees in the newspaper or magazine is what is meant.
   2. An element of human interest is important, but not necessary.
   3. Alterations to the image are acceptable, but the image must look realistic and no changing the scene or story by cloning things in or out.
7. Season Entries.  Total number of possible entries in a salon season (32). Due to circumstance beyond MVPC control, individual salons may be canceled and the number of possible entries for a salon category may change. Year end recognition will be adjusted.
8. Acceptance.  Salon submission has been accepted into the Year End salon. Requires a score of 13 or higher from the monthly salon judge.
9. Regular Salon Categories (4)
   • Color Digital
   • Color Print
   • Monochrome Digital
   • Monochrome Print
10. Novice Salon Categories (2)
    • Digital
    • Print

Top

SECTION 8. Document Change History

Version	Change
5/1/2024	Replaced Year End awards based on accumulation of points with achievement levels.
7/1/2021	Number of entries increased from 3 to 4, Novice salon returned
6/24/2019	Remove Educational salon, added definitions
7/7/2018	Reduce number of entries from 4 to 3, replace Novice salon with Educational salon, definition of monochrome, print size limitation same for all salons, Distinguished MVPC Salon Rules Revised: 1 July 2021 Page 6 of 6 Photographer requirements only 5 topic awards
7/9/2017	Digital image size 1920×1080, no limitation on file size. Remove file naming conventions.
1/17/2017	DS Memorial award returned to points
1/24/2013	Distinguished Photographer (new award) and DS Memorial awards based on topics

Top