The Purpose of a Salute
The purpose of a salute is to confirm that the person in your photos is actually you, not stolen photos of someone else. Many cults require salutes, as does the VF Admin when reporting fakes. Here we will explore the difference between a valid salute and invalid salutes.

Valid Salute

The reasons it's valid:

It shows a clear view of the face
It has my username@VF written in the picture
It's readable

By being able to see my face and easily reading my username@VF, you can see that the person in the rest of my photos is the same person that's in the salute. Since the salute is made to my username for vampirefreaks, it shows that I am the one using that account.

Invalid Salute Type 1
Paint

The reason it's invalid:

I added my username@VF using a paint program

Any idiot with the basic knowledge of adding words in paint can do this and it doesn't prove that you are real.

Invalid Salute Type 2
Illegible
These are all lumped together for one reason, you can't read them. If we can't clearly read that it's your username on the salute, then it isn't proving anything.

This one is far too dark to read.

This one, you can hardly read the salute because it's too light.

This one you can't read because, well, you can't read it.

This one is too small to read, therefore, it can't be counted.

Invalid Salute Type 3
Can't See Entire Face
This lovely bunch of salutes are invalid because the entire, or most of, the face is not visible. If we can't see your face, how do we know it's you?

Obviously, this is too dark. You can't see my face at all.

This one is extremely bleached out, not to mention it's a bad picture, and it washes out some of my facial features. If you can't clearly make out your nose, mouth, eyes, and eyebrows; don't use the photo.

In this one, half of my face is covered. It isn't showing my entire face, so therefore, it's not valid.

The worse of them all, the hair in the face. Unless it's your hair's profile, it should not be the only thing seen in a picture; salute or not.

Invalid Salute Type 4
Missing Parts
In order to be valid, a salute not only has to be readable and show your face, but it also has to include your full username@VF. If it doesn't, it isn't valid.

This is not a salute, it's a sign. If it only has your username, how are we to know that you didn't ask someone for a sign and then steal their pictures?

This one isn't valid because it doesn't have my full username, only part of it. Even if you have a bunch of dashes and underscores, you still have to include every one of them in your salute. If you can't fit it all in, maybe you'll learn to make a shorter username next time.

I hope this helps to clarify the confusion between what is and what is not a valid VF salute.