
The American Rose Society exists to promote the culture, preservation and appreciation of the Rose, and to improve its standard of excellence for all people, through education and research.
2022 AMERICAN ROSE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
**OFFICIAL RULES**
Contestants are permitted to enter a maximum of three digital photographs per class in
all classes - excluding Novice, Master, and Youth classes unless otherwise specified.
Contestants may enter only one photo of a variety in ANY class EXCLUDING 13-8
Duplicate photos may NOT be entered in different classes.
Youth who qualify for the Youth class, may submit a total of six photos in the Youth
class. Contestants may enter the Youth class or the Regular show, but not both.
Novice contestants can enter four photos per class in the Novice classes.
“Masters” are defined as any contestant who has won a total of five or more blue
ribbons in previous ARS American Rose Digital Photo Contests (excluding Novice, and Youth classes)
Digital photographs must be .jpeg files and must be high resolution files. FILE SIZE should be no smaller than 1 MB. The high resolution is necessary to ensure that winning entries will print properly in the magazine. Any photos considered to be low resolution digital files will not be considered for awards.
The entrant must be a current ARS member at the time of the deadline for entries and
must have taken all photographs entered. Any contestant whose membership has
lapsed prior to the deadline date will be ineligible.
Photographs which have won any awards (1st – 4th place) in previous ARS American
Rose Digital Photo Contests are not eligible.
While the same photo cannot be entered by more than one person, entries from the
same garden may be exhibited by multiple members of the immediate family as
Exhibitor Grown.
All roses photographed must be outdoor garden grown roses.
With the exception of seedlings, rose varieties photographed MUST be entered under
ARS approved exhibition names (unless otherwise specified) as listed in any of the following official ARS publications: Modern Roses 12 (book and database), the Official List of Approved Exhibition Names for Judges & Exhibitors, the Handbook for Selecting Roses, or “Recent Registrations” on the ARS website. In cases where a variety is not listed in any of the above ARS publications, a listing in the Combined Rose List is acceptable.
Digital photographs shall be saved in the following format: class number with the letters
a-c for multiple pictures in the same class, last name of the contestant and the approved
exhibition name of the rose. An example would be 10c-Aumiller-Gemini. Only one entry
would be 10a-Aumiller-Gemini. Any added text that is on the photo itself will be cause
for disqualification.
If the rose(s) being photographed was/were also grown by the exhibitor, the designation
“EG” should follow the name of the rose, garden, or arrangement. An example would be
10c-Powers-Gemini-EG. This will put the exhibit in the running for medal certificates.
Digital photographs may be enhanced using any graphic program, such as Photoshop,
Elements or Photo Impact for the purposes of cropping, rotation, lightening, darkening,
minor clean up corrections for camera sensor dirt or sharpening of the image ONLY.
Classes which require or encourage the use of photo editing software for photo
enhancement allow any other types of enhancements to be used.
The exhibitor may place nothing identifying the photographer on the front of the
photograph. This means no watermarks, copyrights, or imprinted date/time stamps.
Photographs with such identifiers will be disqualified.
The chair of the committee reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not
conform to the stated rules prior to the entries being judged.
ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY NOVEMBER 5, 2022. Entries can be
submitted via Dropbox. The files should be uploaded and the link sent to
americanrosephoto@yahoo.com . Please make sure if you send the photos via Dropbox
that you include a copy of the entry form.
Mailing Instructions:
Send all mailed digital photographs directly to: Pam Powers, 14106 Rock Canyon Dr., Centreville, VA 20121 • Email:americanrosephoto@yahoo.com.
When submitting digital pictures, they must be placed on a Thumb Drive, or via Dropbox (NO CDs ACCEPTED) in one directory. Make sure they can be read by a Windows compatible computer and mailed entries are properly packaged for safe delivery. Photos that are in a “program” to be viewed will be disqualified. Emailed photos will NOT be accepted.
All entries MUST be accompanied by the completed entry form. Entries received
without the completed entry form will be disqualified.
The Thumb Drive will not be returned and should have the contestant’s name, e-mail
and address printed on the drive.
All rights to the submitted photographs are retained by the owners of the photographs.
However, by submitting a photograph to the contest, the exhibitor (1) warrants that he or
she owns the copyright of the submitted photograph and is not legally prohibited from
submitting it to the contest, and (2) agrees to allow the American Rose Society to
publish the photograph in American Rose. Any individual that enters this contest also
gives express permission for the American Rose Society to reproduce their photographs
for educational and/or display purposes with a credit line to the photographer whenever
possible. The American Rose Society may use the photograph in any publication or
magazine but will not sell the photograph. Any inquiries about sale of the photograph
will be referred to the photographer.
Judges judging the photography section of the show and members of their immediate
family should not exhibit except in classes specified for the judges. Under no
circumstances shall any winner from a class for judges or members of their immediate
family be considered for any show award other than an award the Show Committee
may designate for the judges’ class or classes.
Classes
1: One bloom, no sidebuds, of Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, Miniature, Miniflora, and
Floribunda classifications of roses. Roses designated as “single” (eg. Single HT, etc.)
must be entered in class 2.
2: One bloom, fully open, no side buds, stamens must show. Roses classified by the
ARS as “singles” ARE permitted in this class. Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, Miniature,
Miniflora, and Floribunda classifications of roses are in this class.
3: One spray, two or more blooms, Hybrid Tea, Grandiflora, Miniature, Miniflora, and
Floribunda classifications of roses are in this class. This class does NOT include
collections.
4: One bloom or spray of an Old Garden Rose, Shrub, Species, Polyantha, or Large
Climber. Spray photos do NOT include collections.
5: A photo of a Traditional arrangement, miniature or standard, following the American
Rose Society Guidelines for Judging Rose Arrangements. Roses do not need to be
identified. The name of the arranger MUST be listed.
6: A photo of a Modern arrangement, miniature or standard, following the American
Rose Society Guidelines for Judging Rose Arrangements. Roses do not need to be
identified. The name of the arranger MUST be listed.
7: A photo of an arrangement in the Oriental Manner, miniature or standard, following
the American Rose Society Guidelines for Judging Rose Arrangements. Roses do not
need to be identified. The name of the arranger MUST be listed.
8: Abstract or Impressionism: The photograph should evoke a sense of originality; a
new and different way of imagining the rose or roses with the mind’s eye. This may
include processes used to alter the original image such as colorizing, black & white,
texturizing, dodging, burning, dithering, painting, shadowing, blurring, layering, cloning,
filtering, merging, cropping, etc. The name of the rose is NOT required in this class but can be used.
9: Garden: A photo of any rose garden. Photographs should show the use of roses
within the structure of a garden, which can be widely variable. Roses should dominate
in the photograph, and some layout of the garden should be visible. Roses do not need
to be identified. If a public garden is used, the name of the garden MUST be listed.
10: Seedling: A photograph of any seedling which is not currently registered/named.
This can be any type of rose. Example of naming the entry would be 10a-Mark Jones
Seedling-Aumiller. The name of the hybridizer MUST be listed.
11: Macro Photography: Photographs should be EXTREME closeup photo of any part of
the rose or rose plant. This would include prickles, leaves, etc. Color, Black & White,
Sepia, or combinations of these are permitted in this class. Roses MUST be identified.
12: Novice Class: Open only to those ARS members who have not previously won an
award (first through fourth place) in the ARS American Rose Digital Photo Contest.
Eligible contestants may enter either the novice or the regular classes, but not both.
Those entering the novice class may enter any class, 1-11 by preceding the class
number with the number 12 (Class 12-1, 12-2, 12-3, etc.). There will be four winners
(first place through fourth place), and the first-place winners will be eligible for the Best
in Show Award.
13: Master Class: Eligible contestants may have six entries each in the following four
classes by preceding the class with the number 13 (Class 13-1, 13-2, 13-3 etc.). There
will be six winners (first through sixth place) in each class (13-1 through 13-6) and the
first-place winners will be eligible for Best in Show award. Contestants who qualify for
this class are ineligible to compete in other classes. Only one photo per variety
permitted in each class. Contestants may only have one entry in class 13-8 and there
will be only ONE winner in this class (this is Challenge Class).
13-1: One bloom, any classification. No sidebuds are permitted.
13-2: A spray of roses (2 or more blooms) of any classification. This class does NOT
include collections.
13-3: An arrangement, either standard or miniature, following the American Rose
Society Guidelines for Judging Rose Arrangements. Roses do not need to be identified.
The name of the arranger MUST be listed.
13-4: Abstract or Impressionism: The photograph should evoke a sense of originality; a
new and different way of imagining the rose or roses with the mind’s eye. This may
include processes used to alter the original image such as colorizing, black & white,
texturizing, dodging, burning, dithering, painting, shadowing, blurring, layering, cloning,
filtering, merging, cropping, etc. The name of the rose is NOT required in this class but can be used.
13-5: A photo of any rose garden. Photographs should show the use of roses within the
structure of a garden, which can be widely variable. Roses should dominate in the
photograph, and some layout of the garden should be visible. Roses do not need to be
identified. If a public garden is photographed, the name of the garden MUST be listed.
13-6: Macro Photography: Photographs should be EXTREME close-up photo of any
part of the rose or rose plant. Color, Black & White, Sepia, or combinations of these are
permitted in this class.
13-7: Seedling: A photograph of any seedling which is not currently registered/named.
This can be any type of rose. Example of naming the entry would be 10a-Mark Jones
Seedling-Aumiller. The name of the hybridizer MUST be listed.
13-8: Portfolio: Contestants may use five photos that are eligible for entry in classes 1-11 in the regular classes. Entries should be listed as 13-7-1a, 13-7-1b, etc. Contestants can have multiple photos from the same class or single photos from multiple classes but each must be a different variety. The entire body of work will be judged as one entry. This class is NOT eligible for the Best in Show award.
14: Youth Class: A photo of one bloom, any classification or a spray of roses (2 or more blooms) of any classification. For all entrants under the age of 16. Exhibitor must list their age on the entry form.
15: Judges Class: This class is open to judges of the ARS Magazine Digital Photo
Contest each year. Judges can enter 2 photos that could be entered in the regular
show (classes 1-11). This class is NOT eligible for the Best in Show award.
Judging
Judging shall be in accordance with the current ARS Guidelines & Rules for Judging
Rose Photography. Judges may bestow or withhold any award, including ribbons, as
they see fit. Judging for ARS awards and major show awards should be shared by
all the judges judging the show. The decision of the judges is final.
1. The following scale of points will be used for judging
entries:
CONFORMANCE ........................................................ 5
SPECIFIC SECTION ................................................. 50
COMPOSITION ......................................................... 15
TECHNIQUE .............................................................. 15
DISTINCTION ............................................................ 15
TOTAL 100
Awards
Awards will be announced via a webinar. The date and time of the webinar will be
announced ahead of time to all those who entered. Contestants will not be individually
notified of any winning photos except via the webinar. The webinar will be recorded so
that others can view it later if they wish.
There will be four ribbons in each class IF warranted. The judges reserve the right to
not award a first-place award if the entries do not merit such an award. The blue-ribbon
winners in each class will be eligible for ‘best in class”. Medal certificates will also be
awarded for those individuals who have photographed roses in which the photographer
was also the individual who grew the rose.
The best in class winners, along with the names of all winners, will be published in
various issues of American Rose throughout the year. All best in class winners will be
eligible for the Best of Show Award unless otherwise stated above.