Description
PVMIC was created in 2026 to provide a space for members to share photographs made to satisfy personal interests or shot on a freelance basis. It is judged by peers as with the MIC.
- The PVMIC is open to all active members - Full, Student, Life, Associate, and Retired.
- You may enter only 2 images into this competition.
- Your entries are not required to have been published or displayed by your academic institution.
- Submitted images must have been captured during the previous month – 1st to end of the previous month.
- Add a caption and title to your entry. Do not add your identity/photo credit in the title or caption field.
- Submissions are limited to single, finished images. You can utilize multiple exposures, layering of elements, etc. as long as the finished entry is presented as one still image.
- Submitted images must have been captured during the previous month – 1st to end of the previous month.
There is 1 category in the competition
PERSONAL VISION: Open to photographs made to satisfy your personal interests or shot on a freelance basis. (eligible to all members in good membership standing).
Entering
- To enter, navigate to your dashboard (MY ACCOUNT in the dropdown menu), scroll down, select Enter Contest Now in the PVMIC box.
- Each image is to be sized 1600 pixels on the long side, maximum at 72 dpi. Cropping within these dimensions is at the discretion of the participant.
- Images must be in 24-bit JPEG format (RGB, 8 bits per channel), sRGB is the best color profile for web.
- Images in CMYK cannot be displayed in the competition even if accepted by the server. It is the member's responsibility to verify uploaded images displayed in their preview submission screen and ensure images have been converted to a RGB profile, sRGB preferred.
- You must click on the “Submit Another Entry” button to register your image in the competition.
- You can change any of your entry’s written fields or delete your entry by choosing "View My Entries" and then making appropriate changes.
- Changes / Deletions to submissions can be made up until the closing of the submission phase, noted on your member dashboard; the system automatically submits at that hour whatever was the latest edit of selections entered.
- Keep in mind that you will be judged by a diverse group of people who may deduct points if they believe your photo is in the wrong category.
- Unless otherwise notified submissions will be accepted from the 1st day until the 15th or 16th (depending on your timezone) of each month regardless of what days these dates fall on. This time block is referred to as the MIC submission phase and the submission window will vary slightly depending on the timezone in which you live. Please plan accordingly.
- Dates and Times for entry and voting are displayed on your member dashboard and based on the timezone set in your member profile. Check that this is set correctly by choosing "Edit My Profile" at the very bottom is the timezone option. Click "Save" when finished.
- You may submit up to 2 images per month, each taken in the previous month.
Image Viewing and Voting
Voting with integrity and without bias is vital for the feedback and growth of the UPAA membership. Please vote in a way that best reflects the score you feel an image deserves. Be aware of your potential favoritism, conscious or unconscious. This helps the MIC and other competitions be a reliable tool to measure our success and areas of potential growth.
- All members in good standing are eligible to vote.
- Voting members will rate EACH image in each category on a star scale of 1 to 7, with seven being the highest score. Members will not be required to complete the voting in one session, and can return multiple times prior to the end of the month to complete their voting.
- Depending on how you choose to view the entries, the entries will “disappear” after you’ve voted. To view entries you’ve already voted on, select the “View all entries” from the viewing options dropdown.
- Entries will be available for voting from the 18th until the end of each month (referred to as the voting phase) regardless of which days they fall on.
- Once the voting phase is open, members can view the galleries multiple times.
- Your vote can be changed at any time up until the end of the voting phase, and you do not need to vote for every image entered for your votes to count. That said, please do your best to vote on every image.
- The database will calculate the scoring and determine 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.
- Personal Vision will be awarded 1st and 2nd place only on a monthly basis. It will not count towards the member's accumulated points or Best of Show for this competition.
Competition Schedule
The PVMIC will run from September 1st until June 15th. The opening and closing time to enter is midnight Central, which will effect your opening and closing time if you live in a timezone other than Central. Check your dashboard for specific entry deadline times and plan accordingly.
September 1st - 30th: images from June 1st through August 31st.
October 1st - 31st: images from September 1st through September 30th.
November 1st - 30th: images from October 1st through October 31st.
December 1st - 31st: images from November 1st through November 30th.
January 1st - 31st: images from December 1st through December 31st.
February 1st – 28th or 29th: images from January 1st through January 31st.
March 1st - 31st: images from February 1st through February 28th or 29th.
April 1st - 30th: images from March 1st through March 31st.
May 1st - 31st: images from April 1st through April 30th.
June 1st - Early June, check your membership dashboard for exact dates: images from May 1st through May 31st.