Photography Contest

Submission Guidelines

• Photographs must be in digital format. The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files must be 10 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG, PNG, HEIF or JPG format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image). Mobile photographs are exempt from this size requirement, but must be submitted at their highest resolution upon request.

• Finalists will be asked to submit an original, unedited digital file (contains EXIF data) or an original negative, print or slide. Original negatives, prints or slides will be returned to finalists. The organizer reserves the right to disqualify incomplete entries and/or contestants who are unable to submit, upon request, a high-resolution photograph.

• Photographs must not previously have won any award in any photo contest.

• Only minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable, as is cropping. For more information, please read our photo contest guidelines. Any changes to the original Photograph not itemized here (including in the photo contest guidelines) are unacceptable and will render the Photograph ineligible for a prize.

• Photographs that include sculptures, statues, paintings, and other works of art will be accepted as long as they do not violate any applicable laws; provided entrants must be prepared to provide a release form as described in “Release” in the bylaws of the Contest. When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person’s art.

• The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, that the photograph does not breach the contract with any third party and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph, nor does the photograph violate any applicable law.

• The photograph must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsor, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content.

• The caption must be complete and accurate, sufficient to convey the circumstances in which the photograph was taken. Disguising or misrepresenting the origin of your content is cause for disqualification.

• Captive, baited or manipulated subject is not accepted for wildlife category.

• Watermarks are not acceptable. If Sponsor does not receive a non-watermarked version of the entry within ten (10) days following its request, the entry will be disqualified.

• The Sponsor reserves the right to the original and the source of the photographs verify it is qualified for this Contest.

About Digital Manipulation

• We want to see the world through your eyes, not the tools of Photoshop or AI, or setup photography.

• Please do not digitally enhance or alter your photographs (beyond the basics needed to achieve realistic color balance and sharpness). If you have digitally added or removed anything, please don’t submit the shot. We look at every photo to see if it’s authentic, and if we find that yours is in any way deceptive, we’ll disqualify it. Finalists will be asked to submit an original, unedited digital file (contains EXIF data) or an original negative, print or slide.

• DODGING AND BURNING: Dodging (to brighten shadows) or burning (to darken highlights) is fine, but please don’t overdo it. Your goal in using digital darkroom techniques should be to adjust the dynamic tonal range of an image so that it more closely resembles what you saw.

• COLOR SATURATION: Just as with dodging and burning, your goal should be to make it real. Please avoid significant over- or under-saturation. A lot of photographers make the mistake of over-saturating color, making their images look cartoonish.

• SOLARIZATION, MEZZOTINT, DUOTONE, ETC.: These are discouraged. There are a myriad of alteration “filters”; available in digital photo software; please avoid them. They may be cool and fun, but they won’t help you in this contest.

• BLACK-AND-WHITE IMAGES: Acceptable.

• CROPPING: Acceptable.

• Image stacking (such as stitched panoramas, star trail photos): Not accepted.

• HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) IMAGES: NOT Acceptable.

About Photographs that are utilizing Drone / Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)

• Given the increasing trend in utilizing Drone / UAS in photography, the Sponsor has included the following guidelines, to remind the participants to submit photographs of this type taken in a responsible manner.

• Photographs taken with Drone / UAS need to be in full compliance with local aviation laws or guidelines (published in the same year of the photograph when it was taken). Otherwise, the Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify entries and/or contestants.

• Participants may be asked to provide the GPS information for the Drone / UAS photographs submitted to the contest. The Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify entries and/or contestants who are unable to provide the required information.

Releases

• The winners will be asked to submit a high-resolution file before the official announcement of the final results and must not renounce their awards once the winner’s list is announced. The entrants who attend the Mobile Photography need to provide IMEI or MEID number upon request.

• If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in the rules promulgated for the Contest, including but not limited to the Rules of Contest, this Contest Bylaws and the description provided for the contested prizes (the “Official Rules”) and for Sponsor and any person designated by Sponsor (individually “Authorized Party”; collectively “Authorized Parties”) to exercise its license provided hereunder, without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any photograph is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.

• Upon Sponsor’s request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Sponsor’s request) a signed release from all persons who appear in the photograph submitted, authorizing the Authorized Parties, in pursuant to Official Rules, to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known and authorizing Authorized Parties to exercise its license in the “License” section hereunder. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification at any time during the Contest and selection of an alternate winner.

• Similarly, upon Sponsor’s request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Sponsor’s request) a signed written license from the copyright owner of any sculpture, artwork, or other copyrighted material that appears in the photograph entry, authorizing any Authorized Party, in pursuant to Official Rules, to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known and authorizing Authorized Parties to exercise its license in the “License” section hereunder. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

• Finally, upon Sponsor’s request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Sponsor’s request) a signed written license from the owner of any private property included in the photograph entry, authorizing any Authorized Party, in pursuant to Official Rules, to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known and authorizing Authorized Parties to exercise its license in the “License” section hereunder. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

• For the purposes of these Official Rules, the entrant will be deemed to be in receipt of Sponsor’s request or notification, (a) in the event that Sponsor sends the request by postal mail, five business days after the request was sent by Sponsor, or (b) in the event that Sponsor sends the request by email, on the day that the email was sent by Sponsor. If the entrant does not timely reply, the entrant may be disqualified at Sponsor’s sole discretion.