The Official Rules

2007 MASNA Photo Contest

Please read the following rules and terms, complete the Photo Entry Form and Photo Release Form and submit these forms along with your photos.

1. The Marine Aquarium Societies of North America, Inc. (MASNA) proudly announces that it is again sponsoring a photo contest of marine life.

2. Twelve digital photos will be selected for the 2008 MASNA Wall Calendar.

3. Three winning photos from each of the following categories will be selected by our judges:

• Corals
• Fish
• Invertebrates
• Macro

4. Contest winners will receive a cash prize and the winners will be announced at MACNA XIX in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Contest winners do not need to be present to win. The contestant's name will appear along with their winning photo in the 2008 MASNA calendar.

5. Contest winners in each category will be awarded the following cash prizes:

• $100 for 1^st place
• $50 for 2^nd place
• $25 for 3^rd place

6. Contestants must be either:

a)       a current member of a current MASNA club (winners will be subject to verification) or

b)       a current MASNA Individual member (to become a member for just $5 click here ).

7. Contestants may submit up to a total of twenty (20) digital photos for this contest. If more than 20 are received from a contestant, then only the first 20 received will be considered to have been entered into the contest provided that these 20 meet all of the other contest criteria. If any of these first 20 fail to meet the other criteria, then all photos will be disqualified and none will be substituted.

8. Contestants must be eligible to enter this contest in their state or country.

9. For inclusion in this photo contest, photos entries:

• must be submitted in digital format. Printed photographs will not be accepted.

 

• pictures that are taken with a digital camera should be taken with a 4 megapixel or better camera, set to its highest quality, with little to no cropping to produce an 11” x 8.5” print.  300 DPI is ideal (3300 x 2550 pixels), however a digital photo at 200 DPI or above (2200 x 1700 pixels) is acceptable.

 

• must be submitted as jpeg or jpg since they are preferable.

 

• must include a caption for each digital photo. This caption may appear as the caption on the calendar.

 

• may be taken with a film-based camera and scanned, but the contestant must submit them in digital format.

 

• must be photographed and submitted in color

 

• must be submitted in landscape (i.e., horizontal) format.

 

• are permitted to have had minor digital enhancements for cropping, filters, and corrective functions, but images that have been judged to be significantly altered will be disqualified

 

• are not permitted to have borders or frames around their images, or contain 'watermarks', signatures, dates, or copyright notices on their images.

 

• must be assigned to a specific category by the contestant and can only be entered into one category.

 

10. All emailed contest entries must emailed to masnacalendar@gmail.com no later than 11:59 PM (PDST) on Wednesday, July 31^st, 2007.  For emailed submissions, contestants may request verification by email that their photos were received. Some digital photos in a larger format may be too large to email and must be placed on a CD and mailed to the MASNA Photo Contest Coordinator (refer to rule 12).

11. Emailed submissions must include the information in the Photo Entry Form. By emailing your photos, you thereby agree to the statements, releases, and assurances that are outlined in the Photo Release Form (see rule 12 for forms).

12. Mailed (USPS) submissions must include BOTH a completed Photo Entry Form for each digital photo submitted and one Photo Release Form. A link to these forms is provided below. Mailed entries must also be post-marked no later than Wednesday, July 26^st, 2007 and must be mailed to:

MASNA Photo Contest Coordinator

Attn:  Scott Cline

P.O Box 352665

Toledo, OH 43635

USA

13. Photographers retain copyright to their photographs.

14. The contest judges will base their decisions on the following qualities: image quality, impact, creativity, lighting, composition.

15. A contestant may win a prize in up to two categories but may not be awarded first place in more than one of these categories. If such an instance should occur, then the MASNA Contest Committee will determine which of that contestant’s photos will be switched with the second place photo of that same category and awarded accordingly.

16. Winners will be contacted by e-mail within ten (10) business days from the completion date of the judging which will indicate that their digital photo has won a place in the calendar, their winning placement and prize and category.

17. Mailed entry materials will not be returned unless the entry is accompanied with a SASE with appropriate postage.

18. Entries that fail to comply with these Official Contest Rules will be disqualified.

19. This contest is void where prohibited.

20. The decisions of the MASNA Contest Committee will be final in the case of a dispute, interpretation or any other circumstance requiring a decision related to this contest.