Organization: Rising Star Photography Society
Chairman: Dr. Joyce Guojun Ma, SPSA
Website: https://www.rspsphoto.com/
Email: [email protected]

4 sections:
• Open Color (PSA / FIAP PID Color)
• Open Monochrome (PSA / FIAP PID Monochrome)
• Photo Travel (PSA PTD / FIAP Traditional)
• Nature (PSA / FIAP ND)
Each participant can enter up to 4 images per section.
Monochrome images may not enter in the Open Color section.

Closing Date: 01 November 2020
Judging Date: 08 November 2020
Notification Date: 15 November 2020
Catalog Upload Date: 13 December 2020
e-Exhibition Date: 13 December 2020 – 13 March 2021
Exhibition Date: 13 December 2020
Award Mailing Date: 10 January 2020

Online entry only at https://www.rspsphoto.com/
1 section: US$10; 2 sections: US$18; 3 sections: US$25; 4 sections: US$30
Entries received without fee will not be judged.
Payment by PayPal at exhibition website or PayPal to [email protected]
For group entry of more than 10 people, please contact us for group discount.

The exhibition is organized under the approved rules of Photographic Society of America (PSA), The International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), Global Photographic Union (GPU), Rising Star Photography Society (RSPS) and Atlantic Institute of Photography (AIP).
The exhibition is open to anyone; however, an entry may be rejected when the sponsoring organization, in its reasonable discretion, believes the entry does not conform to exhibition rules and conditions.
Submission of an entry signifies acceptance of all our conditions.
Each image must have a unique title. Once an image has been accepted in a PSA-recognized exhibition, that same image, or a like “in camera” or a “reproduction” duplicate of that image:
• May not be re-entered in any section of the same Division Star Ratings class in that exhibition regardless of media, format, or title.
• May not be re-titled for entry in any other PSA Recognized exhibition. All entrants must provide name and country data exactly the same in each exhibition entered to receive proper credit.
Words such as “Untitled” and “No Title” are not acceptable as part or all of an image’s title, nor are camera capture file names.
No title or identification of the maker shall be visible anywhere on the face of an image, print mat or mount.
With 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 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 and 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.
In order to have legal authority on those who do not respect the rules of FIAP, all participants must tick a box next to which the following text is stated:
o “I hereby expressly agree to FIAP document 018/2017 « Conditions and regulations for FIAP Patronage » and FIAP document 017/2017 « 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.”
o The text FIAP document 2014/317 E will be linked to the attached document.
o Participants who do not tick the box will be excluded from the exhibition.
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.
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:
o the images are the original work of the entrant and
o 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 retains the right to investigate in any way all complaints/suspicions of breaches of entry conditions, impose sanctions 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.

Digital image format: JPEG, sRGB color profile, maximum image width (horizontal) is 1400 pixels and maximum image height (vertical) is 1050 pixels, maximum file size must be 1MB or less.
All images will be displayed on the Vizio 55” 1080p LED Smart HDTV for judging in the public.

AUTHOR COPYRIGHT
Each entrant owns the copyright of the submitted images. The entrant certifies the work as his own. The entrant permits the organizers to reproduce the entered material free of charge for promotional purposes related to the exhibition, like catalog and website, unless specifically stated otherwise by the entrant on the entry form.

EXHIBITION
Awarded images will be exhibited to the public at Rising Star Photography Society, New Jersey, USA.
Awarded and accepted images will be exhibit on the exhibition website (https://www.rspsphoto.com/).

ACCEPTANCES
The acceptances from this exhibition are eligible:
PSA Star Rating and Who’s Who in PID Color, PID Monochrome, Nature Division and Photo Travel Division
FIAP distinctions
GPU distinctions
AIP distinctions
Acceptances in PID recognized Color sections shall be credited towards PID Color Star Ratings and Who’s Who Color listings. Acceptances in PID recognized Monochrome sections shall be credited towards PID Monochrome Star Ratings and Who’s Who Monochrome listings.
All acceptance eligibility shall be in accordance with the PID Star Ratings or the Galaxy/Diamond Ratings requirements as appropriate.

Guo Jiang Ou, MPSA, EFIAP
Xin Xin Liang, EPSA, AFIAP
Kah-Wai Lin, EPSA, SPSA, AFIAP

Total of 96 awards includes:
• Best Author – FIAP Blue Badge
• Best Youth Entry
• Best Club Award Trophy
• Chairman Award – GPU Gold
• 4 PSA Gold (1 per section)
• 4 FIAP Gold (1 per section)
• 4 IAAP Gold (1 per section)
• 4 AIP Gold (1 per section)
• 4 AIP Gold for RSPS Youth Member (1 per section)
• 4 AIP Silver (1 per section)
• 4 AIP Silver for RSPS Youth Member (1 per section)
• 4 AIP Bronze for RSPS Youth Member (1 per section)
• 4 AIP Bronze (1 per section)
• 12 PSA Honorable Mention (3 per section)
• 8 FIAP Honorable Mention (2 per section)
• 12 IAAP Honorable Mention (3 per section)
• 12 RSPS Honorable Mention (3 per section)
• 12 AIP Honorable Mention (3 per section)
Each participant can win one medal per section.

PSA definition of monochrome: An image is considered to be Monochrome only if it gives the impression of having no color (i.e. contains only shades of gray which can include pure black and pure white) OR it gives the impression of being a grayscale image that has been toned in one color across the entire image. (For example by sepia, red, gold, etc.). A grayscale 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.
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 color 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 color becomes a color work (polychrome) to stand in the color category; such a work requires color reproduction in the catalogue of a salon under FIAP Patronage.
FIAP and PSA definition of nature: Nature photography is restricted to the use of the photographic process to depict all branches of natural history, except anthropology and archeology, in such a fashion that a well-informed person will be able to identify the subject material and certify its honest presentation. The story telling value of a photograph must be weighed more than the pictorial quality while maintaining high technical quality. Human elements shall not be present, except where those human elements are integral parts of the nature story such as nature subjects, like barn owls or storks, adapted to an environment modified by humans, or where those human elements are in situations depicting natural forces, like hurricanes or tidal waves. Scientific bands, scientific tags or radio collars on wild animals are permissible. Photographs of human created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domestic animals, or mounted specimens are ineligible, as is any form of manipulation that alters the truth of the photographic statement. No techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove pictorial elements except by cropping are permitted. Techniques that enhance the presentation of the photograph without changing the nature story or the pictorial content, or without altering the content of the original scene, are permitted including HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning. Techniques that remove elements added by the camera, such as dust spots, digital noise, and film scratches, are allowed. Stitched images are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural. Color images can be converted to greyscale monochrome. Infrared images, either direct-captures or derivations, are not allowed. Images used in Nature Photography competitions may be divided in two classes: Nature and Wildlife. Images entered in Nature sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above can have landscapes, geologic formations, weather phenomena, and extant organisms as the primary subject matter. This includes images taken with the subjects in controlled conditions, such as zoos, game farms, botanical gardens, aquariums and any enclosure where the subjects are totally dependent on man for food. Images entered in Wildlife sections meeting the Nature Photography Definition above are further defined as one or more extant zoological or botanical organisms free and unrestrained in a natural or adopted habitat. Landscapes, geologic formations, photographs of zoo or game farm animals, or of any extant zoological or botanical species taken under controlled conditions are not eligible in Wildlife sections. Wildlife is not limited to animals, birds and insects. Marine subjects and botanical subjects (including fungi and algae) taken in the wild are suitable wildlife subjects, as are carcasses of extant species. Wildlife images may be entered in Nature sections of Exhibitions.
PSA definition of travel: A Photo Travel image expresses the characteristic features or culture of a land as they are found naturally. There are no geographic limitations. Images from events or activities arranged specifically for photography, or of subjects directed or hired for photography are not appropriate. Close up pictures of people or objects must include features that provide information about the environment. Techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted. The only allowable adjustments are removal of dust or digital noise, restoration of the appearance of the original scene, and complete conversion to greyscale monochrome. Other derivations, including infrared, are not permitted. All allowed adjustments must appear natural.
FIAP definition of traditional photo (apply to travel): A traditional photograph maintains the original image content with minimal adjustments which should not alter the reality of the scene and should appear natural. Rearranging, replacing, adding to or removing any part of the original image except by cropping is strictly forbidden.
All entries shall conform to the stricter of these definitions for acceptances to be validated by all the International Organizations granting recognition or patronage.

Results will be notified by email and all the judging results are final.
Electronic catalog in PDF will be produced and available at the exhibition website for download.

Chairman
Dr. Joyce Guojun Ma, SPSA
Address: 414 Wall Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA
Phone: +1 (609) 216 8607
Website: https://www.rspsphoto.com/
Email: [email protected]