I'm behind on reporting contest results, so let's take a step toward resolving that with a trio of Photographic Society of America salons.

The first is PSA's Reality Division Exhibition (June 7), which I won't dwell on since it focuses on Photojournalism and Travel rather than figurative art. I went out of my way to submit some of my best images, based on previous contests, to this contest; even so, none of my four entries in the Travel division were accepted. The Photojournalism judges were much friendlier, with two out of four images in the main category accepted, and all four of my entries in the Human Interest sub-category.

I'm pleased that my photojournalistic images have been generally successful, since I really enjoy candid photography of events as they unfold -- parades, festivals, volunteer projects, etc. -- and even my fine art photography tends to follow a more observational style than one that is highly controlled and scripted.

The DPA Circuit (June 20) was a more traditional photo salon, hosted by the Republic of Ireland but with judgings in Montenegro and Serbia as well. This circuit had four categories that I entered: Open Color and Monochrome, Life, and Woman, so a total of 16 images.

Like the recent pattern that I've already posted about, my results were terrible. The Ireland judges only accepted a single image. Montenegro accepted two, and Serbia four. So even the most favorable judges only took 25%, and overall my record was 15%, less than half of the average acceptance rate. Three of those acceptances were a single image that all three judges liked, a recent image of Astrid Kallsen from our fantastic photoshoot in Seattle this spring.

1. "Of Earth" (Open Monochrome PIDM), Astrid Kallsen, Discovery Park, March 2023: Accepted in all three judgings, in Ireland, Montenegro, and Serbia
2. "Pan's shadow" (Open Monochrome PIDM), Olinka Lickova, Seattle, February 2019: Accepted in Serbia
3. "Ice and stone" (Open Monochrome PIDM), Haven Model, Mount Rainier National Park, August 2018: Accepted in Serbia
4. "Gamekeeper" (Open Monochrome PIDM), Kit Ashton, Seattle, April 2023: Accepted in Montenegro
5. "Reflecting Tahoma" (Open Colour PIDC), Mazama Ridge, August 2023: Accepted in Montenegro

Of Earth (Open Monochrome PIDM): Accepted x3 Pan's shadow (Open Monochrome PIDM) Ice and stone (Open Monochrome PIDM): Accepted Gamekeeper (Open Monochrome PIDM): Accepted Reflecting Tahoma (Open Colour PIDC)

As a complete aside, I was up on Mazama Ridge yesterday, about a week earlier in the season than I was there to photograph Invy Rose last year, and the same time that I captured the above photo of Mount Rainier. This year is completely different. Last year there were still patches of snow on the ground, and the wildflowers were in many places just emerging, after a snowy winter and a cool spring. This year no only was there no snow, but the wildflowers are already waning, despite a slightly above average snowpack but a very hot and dry spring.

The final salon was the ALP Circuit in India (June 26), with five judgings but only two categories that I entered (Open Color and Open Monochrome). So that's a total of 40 possible acceptances, of which I had 7, an acceptance rate of 17.5%, so very similar to DPA. And like that contest, only a few individual photos were actually accepted, one of them four times, another twice, and a third only once, leaving five photos that weren't accepted by any of the five judges.

1. "Leverage" (Open Monochrome PIDM), Marzipanned, Seattle, January 2019: Accepted in four of the five judgings, including two Merit Awards
2. "Gloves on" (Open Monochrome PIDM), Kit Ashton, Seattle, April 2023: Accepted in two of the five judgings
3. "On track" (Open Color PIDC); Skye; Boxcar Canyon, Eatonville, Washington; January 2023

Leverage (Open Monochrome PIDM): Accepted x4, Merit Award x2 Gloves on (Open Monochrome PIDM): Accepted x2 On track (Open Colour PIDC): Accepted