The International contest of art photography, Spring Symphony, is organized by the photo group Anastatica from Skopje, North Macedonia.

The contest is divided into twelve sections: All digital

A. FLOWERS
B. INSECTS
C. OPEN COLOR (color only)
D. OPEN MONOCHROME (monochrome only)
E. NATURE
F. EMOTIONS
G. PORTRAIT
H. CULTURE
I. TRAVEL
J. PEOPLE
K. PHOTOJURNALISM
L. LINES

Closing date: 24 May 2026
All judging completed by: 07 June 2026
Score Reports sent by: 14 June 2026
On-line gallery posted by: 21 June 2026
Catalog posted by: 21 June 2026

The entry fee depends on the number of sections the participant enters. The fees are as follows:

• 1-3 sections = 6 EUR
• 4-6 sections = 12 EUR
• 7-9 sections = 16 EUR
•10-12 sections = 21 EUR

Payment of the entry fee can be made in the following ways:
Through our website: https://photoanastatica.com/spring/
By PayPal account: [email protected]
Images from participants who do not pay the entry fee will not be taken into consideration.

License agreement
By submitting an entry, the entrant certifies that he is a sole owner of the rights to use sent images, including copyright, pa-tent and/or other applicable rights. All models must be of Legal Age of consent or have guardian permissions issued. The exhibition organizers assume no liability for any copyright misuse conducted by entrants.

Photographs must be in JPEG format, with dimensions 1920 pixels horizontal x 1080 pixels vertical at 300, JPEG compression (if Photoshop used for export): 7-12, file size maximum 4 Mb.
The photographs of participants with the application are submitted in these ways:
- uploading thought our website: https://photoanastatica.com/spring/
- by e-mail: [email protected]

Exhibitions are not allowed to resize oversized images. In such cases the entrant is required to resubmit their entry with properly sized images.

Judging Method
The judging will be done by remote online judging. All judges will be using equipment capable of displaying images at exactly 100% of the image resolution. Judges will be using color calibrated equipment.

Target Range:
- The target acceptance rate will be no more than 30% in each section.
- No image may receive more than one individual award in a section, but in circuits an image may receive an award in different salon sections. Only one award can be given to an entrant in any one section.

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.

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. Membership in any photographic organization is not required.
Image creation and ownership
In all sections of the exhibition, images must originate as photographs made by the entrant. They may not incorporate identifiable images produced by anyone else (for example: clip art, replacement skies, or stock images). Images created in whole or in part by image creation software (frequently called ‘AI’ images) 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. 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.
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. Similar is defined as almost identical in subject, composition, props, lighting, or technique so that a reasonable person viewing the entries together would decide the entrant has duplicated the previous image except for minor changes.
Titles: Each image must have a unique title that relates to the content of the image. 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.

Aleksandar Tomulic M IAAP, EFIAP, DBPA (Croatia);
Sandra Trajkovska C IAAP, KM NPUM (North Macedonia)
Hulki Muradi (Turkey)

At the international exhibition Spring Symphony, the following awards will be presented:
12 x IAAP Gold E-Certificate [1 per section];
12 x IAAP Silver E-Certificate [1 per section];
12 x IAAP Bronze E-Certificate [1 per section];
36 x IAAP E-Certificate [3 per section];
9 x NPUM Gold E-Certificate [1 per section];
9 x NPUM Silver E-Certificate [1 per section];
9 x NPUM Bronze E-Certificate [1 per section];
36 x NPUM E-Certificate [3 per section];
12 x SALON Gold E-Certificate [1 per section];
12 x SALON Silver E-Certificate [1 per section];
12 x SALON Bronze E-Certificate [1 per section];
36 x SALON E-Diplomas [3 per section];

The organizer reserves the right to adjust the number of awards based on the total number of entrants. PDFs are downloadable from the website.

All entries shall conform to the stricter of these definitions for acceptances to be validated by all the international organizations granting recognition or patronage.

IAAP Definition of Monochrome
Black and white photography is an image that displays a range of shades from black to white, encompassing various tones of gray. Such an image focuses on the nuances of light, shadow, and contrast without incorporating any colors. If the entire image is toned in a single hue, it remains within the black and white category. However, if it is modified by partial toning or the addition of any color, it becomes a color work and no longer qualifies as a black and white photograph.

Nature Division
Content Guidelines
Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both over water and underwater.

Nature images must convey the truth of the scene. 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 threatening a living organism's life or welfare 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.
• 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.
• Photographs made where the scene is natural and the animal is unharmed in a carefully managed environment, such as Zoo, rescue centers, and ethically managed natural environment farms are permitted.
• Attracting or controlling subjects through the use of food or sound for the purpose of photographing them is not allowed. Maintained situations such as provided supplemental food due to hardship caused by weather conditions or other conditions beyond the animals' control, where photography is incidental to the feeding of the animal does not fall under this provision.
• Controlling live subjects by chilling, anesthetic, or any other method of restricting natural movement for a photograph is not allowed.
• Human-made elements shall be permitted under the following circumstances:
a) When they are an integral part of the nature story, such as a songbird singing atop a fence post a manmade object used as nest material, or a weather phenomenon destroying a man-made structure.
b) When they are a small but unavoidable part of the scene, such as an unobtrusive footprint or track in the background.
c) Scientific tags, collars, and bands are specifically allowed.
When photographing at a zoo, sanctuary, or rehabilitation center, it would be construed that the photographer ensured that it’s properly accredited and conforms to best practices.

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

Photo Travel Division Definition
A Photo Travel image is a portrayal of the real world we live in, as it is found naturally. There are no geographic limitations.

Content Guidelines:
1. If the image is predominantly or exclusively a land, sea or cityscape, these “scapes” must include characteristic and distinctive physical features, although it is not necessary that the image identify the exact location.
2. Images that predominantly or exclusively depict people and their activities must illustrate a distinctive culture of a country, region, or continent.
3. Images that predominantly or exclusively depict animal populations are allowed if the animals are in their native environment and are characteristic of that country, region, or continent.
4. applicable, must include elements depicting some of the surrounding environment to make it obvious that the image was not taken in a studio setting. Images from events or activities arranged for photography, or of subjects directed or hired for photography, are not allowed.
5. Time exposures are allowed, if they do not dominate the image as a special effect (star trails, for example, are a dominating effect).
6. Highly distorted images such as those produced by fisheye lenses are not allowed.

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 distortionGlobal 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.
Photojournalism Definition
Photojournalism Entries Are:
• images with informative content and emotional impact
• reflecting the human presence in our world
• The journalistic (story-telling) value of the image receives priority over pictorial quality
• Images that misrepresent the truth, such as those from events or activities arranged specifically for photography or of subjects directed or hired for photography, are not eligible

Editing Guidelines for PJ: Processing or editing is limited to making the image look as close to the original scene as possible, or complete conversion to monochrome.
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 or lens distortion
• Global and selective adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast to restore the integrity of the original scene.
• Several images (typically 2-4), each with a small white border, combined into a single image that depicts a progression of events or related activity.

Editing Techniques That Are Not Allowed:
• Removing, adding, moving or changing any part of an image, except for the eligible techniques
• Blurring or darkening parts of the image during processing to obscure elements in the original scene
• Partial color or partial toning
• Unnatural color, extreme saturation or desaturation


Portrait Definition
Portrait photography, also referred to as portraiture, is a type of photography in which the subject is one or more people and the aim is to convey something about the subject's identity, personality, or story.

Notification cards will be sent by email.

CATALOG
All entrants of the event (participants which submitted works and paid entry fee) will receive on-line PDF catalog of the photo event.

Marina Atanasovic
Kumanovo, North Macedonia