Rules | LucidaPhoto

Patronage

FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l´Art Photographique) 2025/022

GPU (Global Photographic Union) L250013

MAPA (Montenegrin Association of Photographic Art) 2025

Organizer

SocioMont Photo Club, Podgorica, Montenegro

Chairman of the Photo Contest: Dusica Kalezic

Entry Form: https://sociomont.unlimitedphoto.org/

Contact email: sociomont@gmail.com

Entering exhibition: https://sociomont.unlimitedphoto.org/

Software Provider: Help-Me Soft; email: boceron@gmail.com

Sections

1. Nature (color/monochrome) FIAP, GPU, MAPA

2. Photojournalism (color/monochrome) FIAP, GPU, MAPA

3. Face and Body (color/monochrome) FIAP, GPU, MAPA

4. World in Focus (color/monochrome) FIAP, GPU, MAPA

5. Open Color (only color) FIAP, GPU, MAPA. Monochrome images may not enter Color sections.

6. Open Monochrome (only monochrome) FIAP, GPU, MAPA. Color images may not enter Monochrome sections.

Entry fee and payment

All Sections = 20€ (23$)

For Group participation, we offer a discount:

For 10+ persons = 10% discount

The participation fee is mandatory for all participants of the exhibition.

PayPal is available for payment on-line. The participants paying the participation fee through PayPal must specify their names and surnames. On the condition that there is an inconsistency between sent photos and PayPal payments, the photos will not be evaluated. The works of the authors who did not pay the fee would not be taken into consideration. The entry fee can be paid via PayPal through our web site: https://sociomont.unlimitedphoto.org/ or can be paid directly to the Pay Pal connected email: gerbislav@gmail.com

Other ways of payment

1. Western Union

IN EUROS (€) ONLY, on the following info:
The payment information if you want to pay via Western Union on following email: sociomont@gmail.com

Calendar

Closing date: 02.02.2025.

Start judging date: 04.02.2025.

End judging Date: 13.02.2025.

Entrant notification deadline: 27.02.2025.

Online Catalogs and Public showings: 26. and 27.03.2025.

Awards sending: 01.04.2025.

Public showings: Culture Center of Podgorica, Montenegro

All participants will receive personal report card notifications via e-mail, showing all acceptances and awarded images. Also, Acceptance Certificates (as PDF file) will be posted on personal email addresses. The results of the Exhibition will also be published on the organizers' website.

Jury

The works will be judged by the expert jury:

1. Xrysa Marketaki, EFIAP/g, PPSA, Greece

2. Rade Zivadinovic, EFIAP, ENCC, Switzerland

3. Aleksandar Cvijanovic, Academy Master of Scenography Art, Serbia

Awards

The Jury will assign over 170 awards + FIAP Blue Badge for the best Author as the highest number of acceptances in all themes) + Grand PRIX Award (the best photography of the salon) and 6 Special Chairman Choice Awards as follows:

1. Nature (color/monochrome)

FIAP Gold Medal

MAPA Gold, Silver, Bronze Diploma

Socomont Photo Gold, Silver, Bronze medal

FIAP 2 HM Ribbons

Mapa 8 e-Diplomas

Sociomont 4 HM Mentions

Sociomont 4 e-Diplomas

2. Photojournalism (color/monochrome)

FIAP Gold Medal

GPU Gold Medal

MAPA Gold, Silver, Bronze Diploma

Socomont Photo Gold, Silver, Bronze medal

FIAP 2 HM Ribbons

Mapa 8 e-Diplomas

Sociomont 4 HM Mentions

Sociomont 4 e-Diplomas

3. World in Focus (color/monochrome)

FIAP Gold Medal

MAPA Gold, Silver, Bronze Diploma

Socomont Photo Gold, Silver, Bronze medal

FIAP 2 HM Ribbons

Mapa 8 e-Diplomas

Sociomont 4 HM Mentions

Sociomont 4 e-Diplomas

4. Face and Body (color/monochrome)

FIAP Gold Medal

MAPA Gold, Silver, Bronze Diploma

Socomont Photo Gold, Silver, Bronze medal

FIAP 2 HM Ribbons

GPU 1 HM Ribbon

Mapa 8 e-Diplomas

Sociomont 4 HM Mentions

Sociomont 4 e-Diplomas

5. Open Color (only color)

FIAP Gold Medal

MAPA Gold, Silver, Bronze Diploma

Socomont Photo Gold, Silver, Bronze medal

FIAP 2 HM Ribbons

Mapa 8 e-Diplomas

Sociomont 4 HM Mentions

Sociomont 4 e-Diplomas

6. Open Monochrome (only monochrome)

FIAP Gold Medal

MAPA Gold, Silver, Bronze Diploma

Socomont Photo Gold, Silver, Bronze medal

FIAP 2 HM Ribbons

GPU 1 HM Ribbon

Mapa 8 e-Diplomas

Sociomont 4 HM Mentions

Sociomont 4 e-Diplomas

Delivering Catalog

All entrants will be able to download exclusively prepared PDF catalog.

The catalog will be digitally published with awarded photographs and with certain number of photographs chosen by organizer of the Exhibition, without financial compensation for the author royalties.

Judging Method

The Jury Team will judge the digital images by remote on-line judging.

For the remote judging, the Jury Team will use the high-resolution color-calibrated monitors.

The equipment used will be capable of displaying images at 100% of the image resolution.

Award session will be done at the videoconference by a jury viewing the images together.

The acceptance rate in any single section may not exceed 30%

General Rules

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 fol-lowing 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.

Submission of Works

To participate in the 1st Montena International Salon 2025 authors will apply with black & white or color works. The maximum number of photographs per theme is 4. No title or identification of the maker shall be written anywhere on the face of an image. Photographs are accepted in electronic form only.

Format of photographs: JPG
Size of photographs: The image size should be 1920 x 1080 pixels

The horizontal side of the photo must be 1920px and vertical photo dimension should 1080px

The resolution should be 300 dpi
JPG File compression should be between 7 and 12
The memory size of the file must not exceed 2 Mb

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

File naming

The filename must be the same as the artwork name.
Filename must be in English, unique, NOT containing special symbols. Example: morning.jpg. Only English letters (a-z) are allowed. Words such as “Untitled” and “No Title” are not acceptable as part or all of an image’s title, nor are camera capture filename (ex. DSC_00123)

Entry form

Authors must fill out an online entry form. The entry form and contact info must be written in one of the official FIAP languages.

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.

An image may be entered in only one section.

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS

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.

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. 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. Note: Entrants who indicate that their images may not be reproduced or used “will not be eligible for awards” or inclusion in audio-visuals of the exhibition “and could be subject to disqualification” by the exhibition sponsors. The exhibition assumes no liability of any misuse of copyright.

Alteration and Computer Generation Subject to Divisional restrictions (particularly Nature, Photo Photojournalism) images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the maker. 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 author.
Re-use of accepted images: Once an image has been accepted in this exhibition it may not be entered again in any future instances of this exhibition. It may, of course, be entered in any other FIAP recognised exhibitions but must always have the same title.
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.
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 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 maker. 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.
The Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the 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.

An image may be entered in only one section.

DATA PROTECTION

By entering this exhibition, you are explicitly consenting to the personal details you have supplied, including 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 and accept that entering this exhibition means that the status and results of your entry may be made public.

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 FIAP patronage 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 FIAP patronage. 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. This rule applies regardless of whether or not the creature being killed, injured or stressed is visible in the captured image.

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.
Entry in this exhibition is conditional on accepting these policies. The content of images must comply with these 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 FIAP patronage.

Pictures created by artificial intelligence are not allowed in this salon! All parts of the image have to be

photographed by the author who is holding the copyright of all works submitted. Offenders will be

sanctioned for life!

SECTION DEFINITIONS

FIAP Monochrome Definition

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/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.
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, anesthetic or any other method of restricting natural movement for the purpose of a photograph is not allowed.

FIAP/PSA “Photojournalism Definition”

Photojournalism entries are images with informative content and emotional impact, reflecting the human presence in our world.

Content Guidelines

The journalistic (story-telling) value of the image should receive 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.
When Human Interest is specified, those images depict a person or persons in an interactive, emotional or unusual situation, excluding sports action.

Editing Guidelines

Processing or editing must be limited to making the image look as close to the original scene as possible.

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.

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 should receive 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.

FIAP World in Focus definition

Just as with travel and tourism pictures, this section encompasses the full range of photographic genres from architecture, culture, events, food, landscape, portraits, etc. A “WORLD IN FOCUS” image expresses the spirit of an era, the essence of a place or of a culture whether it is shown in an authentic scene or whether it is arranged. Digital manipulation to optimise an image in terms of finetuning of levels and colours is allowed as long as the image looks natural. The same applies for removal of dust or digital noise. Techniques that add, relocate, replace, or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted.

Face and Body definition

Center of interest is the human face and body in all its forms and manifestations. Portrait and fine art nude photography. Portraits of people of all colors, races, religions, the whole range of human feelings. Live photography, outdoor photography as well as studio portraits. Men, women, children. The human face as a reflection on emotion and life experience. Fine-art photography, taken outdoors or under studio conditions, full of idea, creativity, with a touch of erotic mood, which depicts the nude human body with an emphasis on form, composition, emotional content, and other aesthetic qualities.

NOTICE

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 Circuit, like the catalogue, photo CD/DVD and the website, unless specifically stated otherwise by the entrant on the entry form.

EMAILS SPAM BLOCKING

Confirmations of entry submitting and Report Cards will be sent to entrants. Please be sure that this email address gets included in your “safe” email addresses to ensure receipt of these emails instead of having them blocked by your security system. Also, check your Junk E-Mail or Spam folder to see if your email software placed any messages from the exhibition there.

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

“I hereby expressly agree to FIAP document 040/2023 « Conditions and regulations for FIAP Patronage » and FIAP document 038/2023 « 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 040/2023, dealing under Section II.2 and II.3 with the FIAP participation rules, the sanctions for breaching FIAP regulations and the red list.”