YPS International Salon 2026

Exhibition Specific Rules

• Images accepted in previous YPS International Salons, or images considered by the organizing committee to be substantially the same, are ineligible for entry in any of the sections. 
• Nudity: Due to social sensitivities, images containing nudes will not be accepted into this salon. This includes pictures of women/men in partial or full nudity that may be inappropriate for viewing by children.
• Images of nesting are not allowed. This includes pictures of bird nests, birds feeding young ones and other similar pictures that may endanger the lives of the subject.
• Medals and Other Awards: Medals and ribbons will be sent by first-class mail by the date specified on the exhibition website. It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that the address they supply when entering the exhibition is a valid postal address. Failure to do so may result in awards not being delivered.
• Email Address requirements: It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that they are readily contactable by the Salon Chair via their email address that is supplied when registering on the Salon website.  
• Warning: opting out of this exhibition’s email list before the salon catalogues are posted may result in the entrant not receiving important information about the salon.
• Pictures that have close resemblance to another picture of the same author that has already been accepted in a past YPS salon or has been submitted by the author under another section in the same salon will be disqualified. Pictures that have only minor differences to the point that one picture could be easily mistaken for the other fall under this category.

Exhibition Specific Terms and Conditions

• Photographers from all countries can participate - Photographers of any country or origin are allowed to participate in this Salon.
• Jury members and Members of the Salon Committee shall not participate.
• Only one registration per person is permitted - Each person can participate under only one identity. Creating multiple log-ins under different emails of the same person is prohibited and will cause all entries to be disqualified.
• Persons in Sanctioned Lists will not be allowed to participate - Persons found to be in the sanctioned list / red list / barred list of PSA, FIAP, FIP and any of the bodies providing patronage to this salon will not be allowed to participate. A notification is shown when the user registers. If you think that you have been wrongly matched, please get in touch with us for review.

Useful features

The Salon software has certain useful features that help you maximize your participation.

• At the time of upload, you can see at the bottom, the pictures that have been accepted in past YPS Salons.
• Pictures can be deleted and replaced and title can be updated any time till the last date.
• In case a picture selected for upload does not conform to size specifications, a resize guide is displayed suggesting how to resize.
• A back-end review team reviews each picture uploaded. In case the picture does not conform to the Salon rules an email notification is sent. Please replace the notified picture or reply if you are not in agreement. We may not be able to do this for pictures uploaded in the last minute.

Digital Entry Requirements

Entrants must fill out an Online Entry Form on the official website and submit entries online: salon.ypsbengaluru.in

• At the time of registering please make sure that the details entered are complete and correct. YPS will not be responsible for inconveniences caused on account of incorrect details entered while registering.
• Photos must be submitted in JPEG file format following instructions at salon.ypsbengaluru.in. Title of each image cannot exceed 35 characters. Titles do not need to be translated to English but must be given in English characters.
• Maximum Horizontal length is 1920 pixels Maximum Vertical length is 1080 pixels at 300 dpi. Compression 7-12, maximum 2MB.
• 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

• Judging is to take place remotely.
• Equipment to be used will be color-calibrated and images will be displayed at exactly 100% of their resolution.
• Award session will be held with all of the judges together remotely.
• Distribution of images shall be in the same round order as submitted by the entrant, but they shall not appear to the judges’ consecutively. Remote judging will take place and all judges shall use their own color calibrated equipment capable of displaying submitted images at 100% of their resolution.
• At no stage will exhibition software allow a judge to view all the entrant’s images together.
• Target Acceptance Range: 19 - 30%

Result

Result can be downloaded from the website and individual scorecards will be emailed.

Catalog

The Catalog can be downloaded from the website salon.ypsbengaluru.in. A printed catalog is offered, and the actual cost of the catalog and method of ordering will be communicated to the participants through emails.

General Terms & Conditions Prescribed by PSA

• Applicable Rules: This exhibition will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the PSA. 

• Entry Requirements: This exhibition is open to everyone; however, an entry may be rejected when the exhibition chair believes the entry does not conform to PSA exhibition rules and these Conditions of Entry. Membership in any photographic organization is not required. Neither awards nor acceptances will be granted to any entrant who is on the PSA Penalties List for Ethics Violation, and entry fees are not refundable in these circumstances. Throughout this document, entrant, author and photographer are used interchangeably, and each term refers to the person who is the original creator of a submitted image. Entrants are required to submit their own entries with properly sized images.

• PSA Star Ratings: To receive star ratings credit from PSA, entrants must provide their names and country exactly the same way in each exhibition. Aliases are not permitted. Please contact PSA in the event of a name change or relocation 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 in PSA Star records. 

• Reproduction: Entrants grant sponsors free reproduction rights for exhibition-related media, including low-resolution web posting. Entries will not be accepted from entrants who restrict reproduction rights. PSA may request specific permission for educational use under mutually agreed terms. If an image violates PSA’s exhibition rules or its Ethics Policy, PSA may reproduce the image without permission for educational purposes or to illustrate rule violations, with the entrant's name withheld. Neither PSA nor the exhibition assumes liability for copyright misuse.

• 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 be entered in any other PSA recognized exhibitions but must always have the same title. Re-titling in another language is not allowed.

• Entry: An entry consists of up to 4 images per section, with each image limited to 20 total acceptances per star path. Identical or similar images are prohibited within the same exhibition, and if similar images are uploaded, all will be disqualified across all sections. While similar images may be entered in different exhibitions, they may later be disallowed during star/diamond/galaxy application reviews. Similar images are those which are practically equivalent, as defined on the page available at https://psa-services.org/ES/#entrants . To avoid disappointment, do not enter images that are practically equivalent. Watermarks, copyright text or any other visible markings are prohibited.

• Titles:
  • Each image requires a unique name that contains a maximum of 35 characters.
  • Each title is to be used consistently across all PSA exhibitions, without variations introduced by typographic errors or punctuation.
  • Nothing in the image title can identify the photographer.
  • A title should be an interpretive or meaningful title that transforms a visual document into a deliberate artistic statement. Titles entered as file numbers such as IMG_6608, DSC-76499 or in any other camera file format are prohibited.
  • Meaningful Titles may be followed by numbers, for example, Ballet Dancer 34.
  • Titles may use Latin1 or Latin2 character sets which allow diacritical marks (é, ñ, ü, ą, ę, ś, etc), however non-Latin writing systems (العربية, русский, ελληνικά, 中文, カタカナ, देवनागरी ) may cause problems in Catalogs, Galleries and Star applications.
  • 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. 

• Protection of Entrants' Personal information: By entering this exhibition, you agree to comply with PSA rules and policies, and consent to the exhibition chair and recognized organizations holding and processing your personal details for exhibition purposes, and accept that your participation status (name, country, sections/photos entered) and results will be made public in status lists, galleries, and catalogs.

Target Acceptance Range

• The acceptance target range will be no more than 30% in each section except 3D, which cannot be more than 45%.
• No image may receive more than one individual award in a section of any salon. In circuits an image may receive an award in different salon sections.
• The organizer is required to adjust the number of awards based on the total number of acceptances.
• For sections with more than 250 images, no more than 10% of the acceptances can receive awards, and for sections with 250 images or less the chair will allow a maximum of 7 awards. 

Subject Matter and Subject Definitions

While the following section provides summaries of PSA definitions, entrants must refer to the PSA website for the authoritative definitions for each Division: https://psaphotoworldwide.org/page/exhibitions

Image Creation and Authorship
Summary: All submitted images must be entirely the photographer's original work, including post-processing, with every pictorial element captured by the submitting photographer. Images must not incorporate or present other artists’ work as the photographer's own, in whole or in part (clip art, stock images, replacement skies, photos of others’ artwork, AI-generated content, etc). The term author refers to the person who is the original creator of a submitted image; photographers may own the rights to use purchased content, however authorship requires that all visual elements in the submitted photograph be personally created by the photographer. Photographers must retain copyright ownership of all visual elements contained within any submitted image, including composites. A violation of this rule constitutes plagiarism, a serious PSA ethics offense.

Artificial Intelligence
Summary: Recognizing the rapid evolution of AI software, this rule is subject to change. For the latest rules, consult the AI Statement on PSA’s website. AI photo editing tools which enhance, adjust, or intelligently modify what was already captured in your photograph are permitted, provided they use only visual information already present in your photograph. Outpainting tools (generative fill) which allow you to expand a cropped image using a context-aware extension of the original photo are permitted, unless restricted by the Division’s definition. Other generative AI tools that generate new synthetic visual content based on external image data not originally present in the author’s photograph are prohibited, regardless of how small the edited area. Any person who violates this AI rule shall be banned from PSA exhibitions for a period ranging from 3 years to permanent exclusion. See additional AI notes in the editing matrix below.

Subject Matter 
Summary: PSA's fundamental rule prioritizes animal welfare over photography, prohibiting baiting with live creatures, nest disturbance, endangering subjects, or depicting feeding of live prey to captive animals. Aerial photography must not disturb individuals or animals and must comply with local regulations. The images must comply with the division and section definitions listed on the PSA website; images that do not comply will be disqualified by the judges. Participation in PSA exhibitions is conditional on entrants accepting these policies. 

Color versus Monochrome (Black and White)

Within photography an image is either monochrome or color; there is no third option.

• A Color image is defined by the presence of more than a single color or hue. If an image is treated with two or more colors in any manner or any amount (spot coloring, duotone, etc), it is a color image.
• A monochrome image is defined by the presence of exactly one color or hue; it can display unlimited variations in that single color’s intensity, tints, and shades but may not include additional colors (partial toning, split-toning, spot coloring, etc). Black and white images (also referred to as grayscale) are considered monochrome, though technically they are achromatic images which may span the full tonal range from black to white. Monochrome images may not be entered in color sections of PPD or PID.

Pictorial Image Division (PID) Definition

https://psaphotoworldwide.org/page/division-definitions#pid
Summary: PID allows open photography with no subject or editing technique restrictions, other than those listed in the PSA guidelines that apply to all Divisions (i.e. authorship, AI, etc). The division includes both unrestricted open sections and themed sections with specific definitions to guide judges and participants. PID includes 2 Star paths: color and mono

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 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.

PSA/FIAP Nature Division (ND) Guidelines

https://psaphotoworldwide.org/page/division-definitions#nd
Summary: Nature photography truthfully documents nature stories, both over water and underwater, while maintaining high ethical and technical standards. The 2024 rule allowing human-made elements when "necessary to the nature story" has been replaced with three specific categories: integral story elements, small unavoidable background features, and scientific equipment on animals. Attracting subjects with food or sound is prohibited (unaddressed prior to 2025), though incidental photography during hardship feeding remains acceptable. Zoo photography must now be at accredited facilities following best practices, and includes rescue centers and ethical farms. Images eligible for a Wildlife Award or entered in a ND Wildlife theme must follow all Nature rules with additional restrictions: all animals must be living freely in their natural habitat without human control or captivity, botanical subjects cannot be removed from their environment, and no staging is permitted for photography purposes. Readers are reminded that Wildlife photography is restricted to natural habitats only, removing the 2024 allowance for adopted habitats. Nature photography does not include anthropology and archaeology.

COLOR ABSTRACTS Section Guidelines

The “Color Abstracts” section invites photographic works that emphasize color, shape, pattern, and form rather than representational subjects. Images may originate from any subject matter but must be presented in a way that abstracts the scene from its literal context. The primary expressive element should be color, used creatively to evoke mood, rhythm, or visual harmony.

Literal or documentary representations of recognizable subjects should be avoided or minimized. The emphasis is on visual impact, design, and originality rather than identifiable content.

Monochrome images are not permitted in this section.

Notes: Understanding which techniques are prohibited is crucial to avoiding low scores, disqualification and potential penalties. Always refer to the PSA website for the complete and current rules and definitions governing exhibitions: https://psaphotoworldwide.org/page/exhibitions

1. Permitted AI-enhanced editing: includes editing tools that perform transformations, enhancements, or corrections based exclusively on the existing pixel data captured in the author's original photograph without introducing externally-sourced content.
2. Prohibited AI editing: includes any AI-assisted processes for synthetic image generation that incorporate external image data, visual elements, textures, objects, or scenes not originally present in the author’s photograph are prohibited

Agreement to Terms & Conditions

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.

When an entrant fills in the Entry Form to submit an entry the entrant will see a feature to affirm, he or she has read these Conditions of Entry when he or she fills out the entry form. If the entrant does not so affirm the entry will not be submitted.

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

Non-Compliance to Salon Terms and Conditions / Breach of Rules

The following paragraphs describe the outcomes of not following the terms and conditions of the Salon as specified by the Patronage houses. YPS will be obliged to comply with any measures proposed by the Patronage houses.

PSA 

PSA reserves the right to investigate complaints, void acceptances, impose penalties, and add violators to the shared Penalty List.

• Chairs or judges may request raw/unedited files to verify compliance and authorship; for composite images, all component files are required;
• Non-cooperation with investigations results in penalties.

Participating in this exhibition constitutes automatic agreement to these terms. Entrants are requested to read the PSA's Ethics Policy and statements on Subject Matter and AI for compliance guidelines.

FIAP REGULATIONS

FIAP Statement regarding pictures generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
PICTURES CREATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THIS SALON! It is reminded that 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!

FIAP Breaches of rules:
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 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.

As mentioned in II.2 of the FIAP document 048/2025 participants must leave the EXIF data in the submitted files in tact 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.

FIAP - CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

Each entrant to FIAP salons must observe the rules of FIAP and conform to the regulations of document 048/2025 and document 038/2023 E.
Each entrant to FIAP salons must observe the rules of FIAP whether or not he is a member of FIAP.

FIAP NOTICE

During the entry process all entrants will be required to tick a box to agree to
the following statement.
“I hereby expressly agree to FIAP Document 048/2025 Conditions and regulations for FIAP Patronage and FIAP document 038/2023 E. 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 048/2025 dealing under Section II.2 and II.3 with the FIAP participation rules, the sanctions for breaching FIAP regulations and the red list. Failure to agree will mean that the application will not proceed".