More Success In Dorset Dragons International Salon
We are again really pleased to share some successes of members, this time in the Dorset Dragons International Salon. Many congratulations to Dave, Angela and Debs
We are again really pleased to share some successes of members, this time in the Dorset Dragons International Salon.
We had 3 members entering this salon, achieving acceptances a total of 10 Acceptances between them, impressively three of which were awarded Honourable Mention Ribbons.
Open / Colour
Debra Godwin - 1 Acceptance
- Pink
Open / Mono
Angela Danby - 3 Acceptances (Including 1 Honourable Mention)
- ABBEYDORE
- CHECKING ON WORK IN PROGRESS - Honourable Mention
- PREPARING ENGINE 6998
Dave Houston - 1 Acceptance
- CYCLE RACKS
People - Mono
Dave Houston - 3 Acceptances (Including 1 Honourable Mention)
- COLLECTION BOX - Honourable Mention
- SOLO SAX
- SOUL MAN
Debra Godwin - 1 Acceptance
- CLOWN REVISITED
Travel – Scape & Architecture
Dave Houston - 1 Acceptance (Which was awarded an Honourable Mention Ribbon)
- LIFE ON THE LINE - Honourable Mention
Many congratulations to Dave, Angela and Debs
Club Success In MidPhot 2021
We are very pleased to share with everyone, that the club had 6 members achieving acceptances this year, with 20 images so a big well done to all who participated.
Angela Danby - 6
Mark Kemp - 5
Jay Hallsworth - 3
Debra Godwin - 2
Brian Swinyard - 2
Dave Houston - 2
If you’ve had any acceptances that you would like to share, then please let Jay know.
For those of you who don’t know, MidPhot is the anual exhibition for the Midland Counties Photographic Federation, of which our club is a member. The MCPF covers about 120 camera clubs in the midlands region, from Leek in the north to Abingdon in the south, and from Leicester in the east over to Long Mynd in the west.
Although the figures havn’t yet been released for this year, Last year, the exhibition had almost 3800 entries so it is no mean feat to achieve an acceptance.
We are very pleased to share with everyone, that the club had 6 members achieving acceptances this year, with 20 images so a big well done to all who participated.
Angela Danby - 6
Mark Kemp - 5
Jay Hallsworth - 3
Debra Godwin - 2
Brian Swinyard - 2
Dave Houston - 2
If you’ve had any acceptances that you would like to share, then please let Jay know.
Usually the exhibition is a mixture of print and projected images, however this year of course, due to the pandemic, it was entirely projected images in the following sections.
Open Colour | Open Monochrome | Nature | Scapes | Tryptych
Our successful entries were as follows:
Open Colour
Angela Danby - The Rep comes Calling
Debra Godwin - Gemma
Mark Kemp - Table For One
Open Monochrome
Angela Danby - Any Chance of a Lift 2
Angela Danby - Preparing Engine 6998
Brian Swinyard - Hand Among The Curves
Dave Houston - Peace in Mist
Dave Houston - Solo Sax
Debra Godwin - Man and Baby
Jay Hallsworth - Low Lighthouse At Burnham On Sea
Nature
Angela Danby - Brown Fur Seal
Angela Danby - Coming into Land - straightened
Angela Danby Harvest Mouse
Tryptych
Brian Swinyard - Are You Inspired
Mark Kemp - Forest Light
Scapes
Jay Hallsworth - Bamburgh Castle At Sunrise
Jay Hallsworth - Jetty In The Sea
Mark Kemp - Ice Trees
Mark Kemp - The Wave
Mark Kemp - Trees In The Snow
I’m sure you will all agree, there is some fantastic work from our club members, and I hope that this will inspire all of our other capable members to participate.
If anyone would like any further information about MidPhot, or indeed any other Salon/Exhibition, please do contact Jay
Please feel free to like and share this post on your social media and leave comments below.
Photo Salons & Exhibitions: Post 1 - What is a Salon and Why Bother?
This is a series of posts first published on my personal blog that will discuss some things I hope you will find useful, and encourage people to participate in Photo Salons. I very much hope that you find this, and other posts of interest, use and encouraging. Please do like and share this article using the links at the bottom
This is a series of posts first published on my personal blog that will discuss information about Salons & Exhibitions that I hope you will find useful, and encourage people to participate in Photo Salons. I very much hope that you find this, and other posts of interest, use and encouraging. Please do like and share this article using the links at the bottom
The posts in this series are:
Background
Following encouragement from Mike Watson, I entered a few Salons and Exhibitions over the last year. I only entered about 5 or 6 last year, but I've had several acceptances and even won a commendation ribbon in MidPhot and a Gold Medal in the Cheltenham Salon. It is something that we actively promote as a club, but there are at the moment only a few members I'm aware of that enter external salons and exhibitions (like June, Martin, Deb and Mike for example) I wonder though, if more people knew a bit more about these excellent opportunities to display their photos, they might consider and enjoy participating as well.
To that end, I thought I'd put together this series of articles to share my (albeit limited) experiences in the hope that it inspires other members to give it a shot.
I've written this in a very informal and personal tone in order to make it feel inclusive to all club member rather than just to the advanced workers. There are most certainly some members in the beginners class, whose photos that would do well in Salons. Therefore please don't think this is just something that the advanced members can aspire to.
Last year, Mike said to me, have a go and you'll most likely be surprised, and indeed I was… which is why I'm repeating that advice to everyone.
I guess initially, there are a few questions to be answered... So… First of all...
What is a salon?
Well, in short, it is a combination of a photographic exhibition and a competition. There are many, many salons and exhibitions worldwide and entering them can bring awards and distinctions. While there are many commercial competitions with tangible prizes that you may feel you might like to compete in to win things, these are often initiated by companies, to make a profit from and collect images for commercial gain. Salons however, are usually patronised by photographic bodies, and tend to be more for prestige and recognition rather than for prize gains.
These national and international photographic bodies include:
FIAP - Fédération Internationale de l'Art Photographique - https://www.fiap.net/en
PSA - Photographic Society of America - https://psa-photo.org/
GPU - Global Photographic Union - https://www.gpuphoto.com/
PAGB - Photographic Alliance of Great Britain - http://www.thepagb.org.uk/
BPE - British Photographic Exhibitions - http://www.britishphotographicexhibitions.org.uk/
While there are some salons and exhibitions, including MidPhot, that usually have print sections, with the Covid19 pandemic, most of these were cancelled so I only did Digital Images. There are also usually different sections that you can enter images in to. There are normally Open Colour and Open Monochrome Sections of course, but then there can be other sections with specific general themes and rules. These might include:
Nature - Which has strict rules on nature images like limited editing,
Travel - Obviously travel photos, showing the people and culture in the environment.
Creative - Which is for composites and digital artwork like we see from our particularly creative members like Annie Blick, Brian Swinyard, Deb Godwin, Mike Watson and John Bridgen, as well as the super work Suzanne Mellor shares in the Club Facebook group
Scapes - This can include seascapes, landscapes and cityscapes amongst other things.
This year, MidPhot has also included a Triptych section. A Triptych is THREE images that are related or tell a story or progression and placed on a background.
Why bother...
Well other than the feeling of accomplishment of having images accepted in to national and international exhibitions, and winning awards, medals and ribbons, you may have noticed people in the community (like Lee Sutton and Kylie-Ann Martin) with accreditations like EFIAP and BPE2. These accreditations, or distinctions as they are called, are gained by achieving acceptances in accredited Salons and Exhibitions. I'll talk more about these in a later post.
As mentioned earlier, each salon usually has many sections and each section can have multiple awards, Gold, Silver, Bronze as well as ribbons for commended and highly commended images. There are also often judges awards.
In addition many salons are patronised by more than one photographic body and so can bestow many awards.
For example, the Cheltenham International Salon of Photography (CISP) is affiliated with FIAP, PSA, GPU and the PAGB
Each salon can award a Gold Medal per section for each of these bodies, as well as various Salon Silver and Bronze medals in each section plus several ribbons for each body and section.
This generates for example over 140 awards in the Cheltenham Salon.
Although there are many entries to these salons etc, (last year in the Cheltenham Salon for example, there were almost 8000 photographic entries from over 650 entrants in more than 50 countries worldwide,) About 81% of entrants gained at least one acceptance, and 23% of all entries were accepted so don't be to concerned about the number of entries. You certainly have an equal chance and it's a real sense of achievement having your work recognised as being to such a high quality to appear in an international exhibition.
If you have found this post interesting and useful, please do comment below or like & share it.
The other posts in this series are:
Photo Salons & Exhibitions: Post 2 - How to enter?
In this, the second post in the series, I will continue from the previous discussion on what a salon is and why bother to enter, to share some practical information on how to enter salons and exhibitions.
In this, the second post in the series, I will continue from the previous discussion on what a salon is and why bother to enter, to share some practical information on how to enter salons and exhibitions.
The posts in this series are:
Background
Following encouragement from Mike Watson, I entered a few Salons and Exhibitions over the last year. It is something that we want to actively promote as a club, but there are at the moment only a few members I'm aware of that enter external salons and exhibitions.
Last year, Mike said to me, have a go and you'll most likely be surprised, and indeed I was… which is why I'm repeating that advice to everyone. To that end, I thought I'd put together this series of articles to share my (albeit limited) experiences in the hope that it inspires other members to give it a shot.
How to enter?
Normally, each salon has its own website and entry is online. The salon's page usually introduces the exhibition, specifying which photographic bodies it is affiliated with, detailing the key information including what catagories and sections there are as well as what awards will be made and entry costs. The salons page will also importantly define key dates like the entry closing date, when judging will take place and when results will be published. The page will also have a link to the online entry form.
Here is the page for the upcoming 2021 Cheltenham International Salon of Photography (CISP) - http://www.cheltenhamcameraclub.co.uk/wordpress/salon/
Each Salon usually has a rules page that is important to read, these define the sections in detail, along with the rules for each section etc. Obviously there is no substitute for reading the rules completely, however once you have familiarised yourself with a few, most are quite similar so you will naturally find yourself just looking for the important differences and key pieces of information. Other than the specific rules on the sections you aim to enter, one of the most important is things defined in the rules that you will have to check on all salons are the requirements for image size and dimensions.
Below is a link to the Cheltenham Salon rules. On Page 8 you will see it specifies JPEG files in sRGB colour space, with dimensions of 1920 (max horizontal) x 1200 (max vertical) and a maximum file size of 5MB
The entry is via an online entry form… this is basically a webpage that you sign up to, that you enter your details then the title of each image and upload the image file. You will find that most will not accept images that don't meet the image size and dimension requirements so it's important to size your image files correctly beforehand. You will then be directed to the secure online payment system, often this is done by paypal which is the method I would personally suggest using as it is very secure and can be trusted. Other systems may be available if you prefer those, this will be obvious and most people will be familiar with this kind of method.
(Note: For those interested, I can write a post on exporting image files from lightroom separately)
How much does it cost?
Costs vary from salon to salon, some are cheaper than others, but entries are usually about £1-£2 per image as a guideline.
Usually however there is usually a flat fee for the first four images entered or for each section entered and you can normally enter 4 images per section.
For example, Cheltenham this year (2021) the pricing structure is as follows:
Therefore if all of the four allowed images were entered in each of 3 sections (For example Colour, Mono and Nature) it would equate to £1.25 per image.
How are images scored and accepted?
The scoring is actually rather easy to understand. Normally each section has three judges who independently score the image between 2 and 5. This generates a score of between 6 and 15.
The acceptance mark is us usually 12.
Therefore your image stands a very good chance of receiving an acceptance, and it is an achievement certainly to be proud of.
I very much hope that you find this, and other posts of interest, use and encouraging. Please do like and share this article using the links at the below
If you have found this post interesting and useful, please do comment below or like & share it.
The other posts in this series are:
Photo Salons & Exhibitions: Post 3 - Where to find Salons to Enter?
This is the third post in a series about Photo Salons and Exhibitions. In previous posts I looked at What is a Salon and How to Enter a Salon. This post will cover how to find salons to enter.
This is the third post in a series about Photo Salons and Exhibitions. In previous posts I looked at What is a Salon and How to Enter a Salon. This post will cover how to find salons to enter.
The posts in this series are:
Background
Following encouragement from Mike Watson, I entered a few Salons and Exhibitions over the last year. It is something that we want to actively promote as a club, but there are at the moment only a few members I'm aware of that enter external salons and exhibitions.
Last year, Mike said to me, have a go and you'll most likely be surprised, and indeed I was… which is why I'm repeating that advice to everyone. To that end, I thought I'd put together this series of articles to share my (albeit limited) experiences in the hope that it inspires other members to give it a shot.
Where to find Salons?
Initially Mike told me about MidPhot and Cheltenham last year so I entered those. A short while later I came across an advert for the Neath PS Salon in the Photography News magazine, circulated by Mike in club emails.
Later I found a web service built by Adrian Lines (a well-known member of the photography community,) that lists many national and international salons. (Albeit the accuracy isn't 100% at the moment)
The salons are also published by the regulating bodies on their websites. For example FIAP and BPE.
FIAP - https://www.myfiap.net/patronages
GPU - https://www.gpuphoto.com/salons-with-gpu-license
PSA - https://psa-photo.org/index.php?exhibitions-current-exhibition-list
PAGB - http://www.thepagb.org.uk/
The following British based salons are affiliated with all four main photographic bodies.
Bristol Salon (Closing Date in January) - https://bristolphoto.org.uk/bristol-salon/
Cheltenham International Salon (Cosing date April5th 2021)- http://www.cheltenhamcameraclub.co.uk/wordpress/salon/
Midland Salon (Closing Date in June - 2021 Not announced) - http://www.midland-salon.com/
Welsh International Salon of Photography (Closing Date in August - 2021 Salon not announced) - http://thewpf.co.uk/category/wipis
Smethwick International (Closing Date in November - 2021 Salon not yet announced - https://smethwickinternational.com/
Edinburgh International Exhibition of Photography (FIAP/GPU only - Closing Date in June) - http://www.edinburghphotosalon.org/
Acceptances to these Salons count towards the AFIAP and EFIAP distinctions as well as the GPU Crown distinctions.
The PSA do have their own distinctions however they are not widely regarded in the UK.
PAGB have it's own distinctions, but they are more panel based in similar to RPS distinctions (LRPS/ARPS/FRPS) rather than criteria based like FIAP, GPU or BPE distinctions.
British Photographic Exhibitions are a smaller, often UK camera club based group of Exhibitions, that are not generally internationally affiliated (FIAP/GPU/PSA) so do not count towards FIAP/GPU/PSA distinctions, however acceptances to these exhibitions count towards the BPE Crowns distinctions instead.
The BPE website is here: http://www.britishphotographicexhibitions.org.uk/
There are currently 17 exhibitions per year, with the list of exhibitions posted here: http://www.britishphotographicexhibitions.org.uk/index.php/list-of-exhibitions
January - Clay Cross & Southport
- https://www.claycrossps.co.uk/exhibition
- https://www.southportphotographic.co.uk/exhibition-2021/
February - Evesham
- https://www.eveshamphoto.net/
March - Basingstoke & South Birmingham
- https://www.basingstokecameraclub.co.uk/exhib/index.htm
- http://southbirminghamphotographicsociety.co.uk/exhibition
April - Robin Hood, Neath & Rushden
- http://www.robinhoodexhibition.co.uk/
- http://www.neathphotographicsociety.org/nps-salon/welcome/ (No 2021 Details published yet)
- https://www.rdps.co.uk/open/
May - Midland Monochrome
- https://www.midland-mono.co.uk
June - Winchester
- https://www.winphotosoc.uk/2020/06/wne-2021-introduction/
July - Beyond Group
- http://www.beyondgroup.info/
August – None
September - Dingwell & Shrewesbury (Shropshire)
- http://www.shropshire-photographic.org.uk/Exhibition/Index
- http://www.dingwallcameraclub.com/nationalcompetition.asp
October - Gurnsey & Wessex (Frome)
- https://www.fromewessexcameraclub.com/salon.html
- http://www.guernseysalon.co.uk/
November - Bebbington
- http://www.bebingtonps.org.uk/BEBINGTONSALON.html
December - Solihull
- https://solihullphotographicsociety.co.uk/open-exhibition/
MidPhot
MidPhot is an individual exhibition, that runs annually for members of clubs that are part of the Midland Counties Photographic Federation. Gloucester Camera Club is part of this federation.
Usually there are both print and projected image sections, however this year due to COVID, only digital image sections are included. In previous years, these have been entered en-masse through the club, however this year since it is digital entry is by individuals online.
Closing date for entries are usually around February, this year it is Saturday 13th.
Prints are normally entered as a club rather than individually and are collected on club nights and delivered by our representative Bob Harding, at the MCFP General Meeting.
Full details about MidPhot, including the online entry system can be found here: https://www.mcpf.co.uk/midphot-2/
If there is interest, we could also announce upcoming salons in club meetings and emails to help people enter.
I very much hope that you find this, and other posts of interest, use and encouraging. If so then please do like and share this article using the links at the bottom
If you have found this post interesting and useful, please do comment below or like & share it.
The other posts in this series are:
Photo Salons & Exhibitions: Post 4 - Distinctions: What are they?
So this is the fourth post in this series on Salons and Exhibitions. Previously we have discussed "What is a Salon" then "How to enter a salon" and most recently "How to find salons to enter" In this post I'll discuss the distinctions that can be achieved from entering salons.
So this is the fourth post in this series on Salons and Exhibitions. Previously we have discussed "What is a Salon" then "How to enter a salon" and most recently "How to find salons to enter" In this post I'll discuss the distinctions that can be achieved from entering salons.
The posts in this series are:
Background
Following encouragement from Mike Watson, I entered a few Salons and Exhibitions over the last year. It is something that we want to actively promote as a club, but there are at the moment only a few members I'm aware of that enter external salons and exhibitions.
Last year, Mike said to me, have a go and you'll most likely be surprised, and indeed I was… which is why I'm repeating that advice to everyone. To that end, I thought I'd put together this series of articles to share my (albeit limited) experiences in the hope that it inspires other members to give it a shot.
Distinctions: What are they?
The two common distinctions you can achieve from entering Salons and exhibitions are BPE Crowns and AFIAP/EFIAP Awards.
The easiest to describe is the BPE Crowns:
The criteria for these are simple and application for the distinctions relatively easy from what I have heard. Full details can be found in the link below, but in essence each image accepted in to a BPE affiliated exhibition will count for one point. Distinctions are as follows:
BPE1 Crown Award - 25 Points
BPE2 Crown Award - 50 points
BPE3 Crown Award - 100 points
BPE4 Crown Award - 200 points
BPE5 Crown Award - 300 points
Beyond BPE5* are ABPE (Associate) and FBPE (Fellow) levels - More details of these can be found on the BPE awards page, below:
http://www.britishphotographicexhibitions.org.uk/index.php/awards
FIAP - AFIAP / EFIAP - then EFIAP Levels
The AFIAP (Artist) distinction is awarded when the candidate has:
(1) Taken part in International Salons under the FIAP patronage for at least one year.
(2) Accepted Images in at least 15 international salons in 8 different countries
(3) Obtained 40 accepted images, with at least 15 different works
(4) 10% of acceptances must be gained in Print salons.
- (Although I believe this is waivered at the moment due to CoronaVirus limiting print image salons)
The EFIAP (Excellence) distinction is awarded when the candidate has:
(1) Already held the AFIAP distinction for one year.
(2) Accepted images in at least 30 Salons in 20 different countries.
(3) Obtained 250 Acceptances with at least 50 different works
(4) 10% of acceptances must be gained in Print Salons.
Full details of these requirements can be found here: https://www.fiap.net/upload/files/1522656534-6d37f.pdf
Beyond the basic AFIAP and EFIAP awards, lies EFIAP Levels - Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond 1/2/3 - with MFIAP beyond that. Full details of these are described in the above document.
Global Photographic Union
Not especially common in this country, but works on similar lines to BPE crowns with points for acceptances.
However you can claim points for exhibitions not accredited by GPU and also get more points for achieving honours and medals.
GPU system for CROWNs is based on points.
The photographer collects the points from acceptances, mentions and awards in International exhibitions of any patronage and year.
GPU Crown 1: 200 pts.
GPU Crown 2: 600 pts.
GPU Crown 3: 2500 pts.
GPU Crown 4: 6000 pts.
GPU Crown 5: 15000 pts.
ACCEPTED photo or portfolio (not GPU’s patronage) = 1 pts.
Honorable Mention or Certificate (not GPU’s patronage) = 2 pts.
Medal or Trophy (not GPU’s patronage) = 4 pts.
THESE POINTS ARE DOUBLED IF THE SALONS HAVE GPU PATRONAGE:
Accepted image = 2 pts. ; HM/ Certificate = 4 pts. ; Medal/ Trophy = 8 pts.
IT IS PERMITTED TO APPLY FOR A MAXIMUM OF 2 CROWN LEVELS PER YEAR.
Full details can be found here: https://www.gpuphoto.com/apply-for-distinction
I very much hope that you find this, and other posts of interest, use and encouraging. Please do like and share this article using the links below.
If you have found this post interesting and useful, please do comment below or like & share it.
The other posts in this series are:
Photo Salons & Exhibitions: Post 5 - Competition Image Manager
This is the last post in this series on Salons and Exhibitions. In earlier posts, I covered "What is a Salon?", "How to Enter a Salon", "Where to find a Salon" and "Distinctions". In this short post I'll cover a resource that I've found very useful - Competition Image Manager.
This is the last post in this series on Salons and Exhibitions. In earlier posts, I covered "What is a Salon?", "How to Enter a Salon", "Where to find a Salon" and "Distinctions". In this short post I'll cover a resource that I've found very useful - Competition Image Manager.
The posts in this series are:
Background
Following encouragement from Mike Watson, I entered a few Salons and Exhibitions over the last year. It is something that we want to actively promote as a club, but there are at the moment only a few members I'm aware of that enter external salons and exhibitions.
Last year, Mike said to me, have a go and you'll most likely be surprised, and indeed I was… which is why I'm repeating that advice to everyone. To that end, I thought I'd put together this series of articles to share my (albeit limited) experiences in the hope that it inspires other members to give it a shot.
Competition Image Manager
One resource I have found of great use in managing my salon entries is the Competition Image Manager web site…
https://cimgr.com/launch/main.html
This enables you to track images, that you have entered in to different salons & exhibitions.
You can then record the scores given plus view how many acceptances etc you have achieved, plus which images have been successful and which less so.
A significant benefit is the facility to export images you select for a Salon, to be prepared at the correct resolution, ready to import to the Salon entry mechanism online.
It can also track your progress towards distinctions like BPE and AFIAP
If you have found this post interesting and useful, please do comment below or like & share it.
The other posts in this series are:
Club Blog!
Here you can find useful help articles, items that were mentioned at the beginning of each meeting, plus other important announcements so you don’t miss any important news!
We are very pleased to share with everyone, that the club had 6 members achieving acceptances this year, with 20 images so a big well done to all who participated.
Angela Danby - 6
Mark Kemp - 5
Jay Hallsworth - 3
Debra Godwin - 2
Brian Swinyard - 2
Dave Houston - 2
If you’ve had any acceptances that you would like to share, then please let Jay know.