General Conditions

- What You Need To Know!

1. Image Creation: Entries must originate as photographs (image captures of objects via light sensitivity) made by the entrant on photographic emulsion or acquired digitally.
2. 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 permitted. 
3. Alteration and Computer Generation: Subject to Divisional restrictions (particularly Nature, Photo Travel, and Photojournalism - see right column), images may be altered, either electronically or otherwise, by the maker. Subject to the same Divisional restrictions, adjustments to enhance images or creatively modify images are allowed provided the underlying photograph is retained in a way that is obvious to the viewer. Images may not be constructed entirely within the computer.  Images must be the sole work of the author.
4. Re-use of accepted images: Any  image that has been  accepted in this exhibition, past or present, may not be entered again in the same Division Star Ratings Class in any future instances of this exhibition.  It may, of course, be entered in any other PSA recognised exhibition but must always have the same title. Re-titling in another language is not allowed.
5. Entry/Sections: 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 single Section once.
6. 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. 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.
7.  Copyright: The Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any misuse of copyright by anyone.
   
   Additionally, in this Exhibition:
8. Digital Image Format: Digital images must be in JPEG format and not exceed 1,400 pixels in width and 1,280 pixels in height. Images larger than the permitted size will automatically be rejected along, if time permits,  with a request to resubmit a correctly sized image. There are no restrictions of filesize or of names of files (as distinct from restrictions on titles of images - see below).
9. Compliance & Disqualification: The content of images must comply with these General Conditions and with the  Division and Section definitions listed on the right side of this page. Images that - in the sole opinion of the judges or the Exhibition Organizers - do not comply are likely to be disqualified (DQed) - that is, rejected - so the entrant may be aware of the problem when considering entry into other PSA-recognized exhibitions. A reason is given for such Disqualification. See the Coachella Exhibition Policy on Disqualifications for more detail, and in particular that a raw image original capture may need to be provided to counter the exhibition organizers' or judges' decision regarding page disqualification.
10. Identical Images: for purposes of 4 above, images are considered to be Identical Images if they are the same image or a like "in camera" or a "reproduction" duplicate of that image regardless of media, format, or title.
11. Double Entry in Same Exhibition: An Image or an Identical or a near Identical Image - or a monochrome version of an image - can only be entered once in the same Coachella Exhibition.
12. ALL MEDAL-WINNING IMAGES AND RANDOMLY SELECTED OTHER IMAGES WILL BE CHECKED FOR ORIGINALITY OR COPYRIGHT VIOLATION.

- Do's and Don'ts!

1. Unique 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 PSA-Recognized exhibitions.
2. Content of Titles: 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.
3. Monochrome and Color Image Titles: 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.

-Thank You For Entering Our Exhibition!

1. Fees and Payment: The entry fees are: 
   

   US$12 (Exhibition Fee) plus  US$6 per Section.

2. All fees must either be paid via PayPal or by Credit Card using the Sponsor's online payment system. Cash or checks are NOT accepted.
3. Due Date: Fees must be paid on or before the Closing Date of the Exhibition.Any entry without the appropriate fee having been paid will NOT be judged. 
4. Discounts: Subject to certain conditions, discounts are available for combined entries of 10 or more entrants with a single payment. Contact s4cex-info@pcms-photo.org for details.

- Anyone Can Enter (almost)!

1. Eligibility: With exception noted in the following paragraph, 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 (see last section below of these General Conditions for additional detail). Membership in any photographic organization is not required.
2. Sanctions: Entries will not be accepted from any entrant who is currently sanctioned by PSA. Entrance fees are NOT refundable in these circumstances. 
3. Entrant: To receive proper Star ratings credit from PSA, entrants must provide their names and country exactly the same in each exhibition. Aliases are not permitted. Please contact PSA in the event of name changes or relocating to another country. Using one's name differently in different exhibitions exposes the entrant to the risk that many of their acceptances may not be recognized by Star Ratings.

-How We Run Our Exhibition!

1. Exhibition Process: This Exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of PSA.
2. Entry Presentation: An entrant's images will not be presented to the judges consecutively. An entrant's four images will be distributed through four rounds of judging in that section. Distribution of images will be in the same round order as submitted by the entrant. However, in this exhibition, once having scored the images, judges may then jump around the order and re-consider their scores.
3. Image Preview: Every image entered is previewed by experienced members of our team. If they spot an image that does not comply with these Conditions of Entry, the entrant is given the opportunity to replace their image before it reaches the judging stage.
4. Remote Judging: This exhibition is judged remotely over the Internet. First, judges independently score each image from wherever they are located; judges have the time to consider and re-consider their scores over several days. Second, judges collaborate via videoconference to select Medals and HMs. Images are always presented full size to each judge.
5. Acceptance Range: No more than 35% of all images entered into a given Section will be accepted. This Exhibition also sets as a target that no fewer than 29% of all images entered into a given Section will be accepted.
6. Judge Viewing: Images are viewed by the judges on computer monitors with resolution at least 1400W x 1280H pixels that can display the images in their native resolution without re-sizing. That is, monitors  must be capable of displaying the images at 100% of the image's resolution, and the images must be displayed at exactly of their resolution (that is, the images will not be enlarged beyond 100% of their resolution).
7. Monitors: Judges are required to use color-calibrated monitors.
8. Exhibition Catalog/Gallery: The official catalog of the Exhibition will be in the form of a PDF downloadable from the Exhibition website. Other catalogs containing images or with links to images will also be made available. These catalogs will also constitute on-line galleries. For examples of catalogs and on-line galleries from prior year Coachella exhibitions, click here.
   
   Additionally, in this Exhibition:
   
9. Medals: Medals will be sent by first-class mail by the date specified in the Overview. At most 2 attempts will be made to deliver the medal at Exhibition expense in the event of failed deliveries.
10. Honorable Mention (HM) Certificates: HM awards will be in the form of electronic certificates in PDF format distributed online by the same date. Entrants may choose to print these HM certificates locally or store them in electronic format for later viewing.
11. Judge Recusal: Image scores by judges who are close relatives or partners of the entrant will not be counted in the total score of that image. An average of the other judges’ scores will be used. Such images are also not eligible for medals or honorable mentions, although they may be accepted into the Exhibition. Judges may not enter any Division/Section that they are judging.

-What You Are Agreeing To!

1. Breaches of Rules: 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:

   a) the images are the original work of the entrant and

   b) 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.

   If another party is submitting images on the entrant’s behalf, the entrant will still be held responsible for adhering to these Conditions of Entry (Entry Rules) and will be subject to sanction for any violations to these Conditions of Entry and PSA’s Statement of Ethics that may result. If another party is processing images for an entrant or submitting images on the entrant’s behalf, the entrant will still be held responsible for adhering to all Conditions of Entry including the specific conditions in the relevant definitions.

2. Posting: By virtue of submitting an entry, the entrant permits the Sponsor to reproduce all or part of the entered material free of charge for display and/or publication in media related to the exhibition. This may include low resolution posting on a website. Entrants who indicate that their images may not be reproduced or used will not be eligible for awards and they and the offending images will not be eligible for inclusion in the audio-visuals of the Exhibition. Furthermore the offending images could be subject to disqualification at the sole discretion of the Exhibition Sponsors.
   1. Image Disqualification: Images may be disqualified (DQed) from competition and not scored or accepted if the Exhibition Organizers or the Exhibition Judges decide that the image does not conform to these Conditions of Entry. In such cases no refund of fees will be made to the entrant. The Exhibition Organizers make reasonable efforts to review entered images for conformance to these Conditions of Entry and may give the Entrant the opportunity to submit replacement images if the Exhibition Organizers believe that the original submission should be disqualified. Such opportunity for resubmission may only be offered if the image is submitted in ample time before the Closing Date of the Exhibition.
   2. Email List: By virtue of submitting an entry, the Entrant further accepts that his/her email address will be used for communicating information about this Exhibition; may be used for announcements of future PSA-recognized exhibitions sponsored by either the Sponsor or by the PSA Council of which the sponsor is a member (the Southern California Council of Camera Clubs); and may be used by PSA as indicated in the next paragraph. The Entrant may opt out of this email list after the Exhibition by notifying s4cex-info@pcms-photo.org.
      ALERT: opting out before the Exhibition catalogs are posted can result in the Entrant not receiving important Exhibition status information such as scorecards and the posting of the Catalog.