Guidelines for Photo of the Month Contest

[Cirsium]

All members are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Any subject that would be appropriate for the forums is appropriate for the contest. It would be appropriate to note in posts containing invasive species that the subject is an invasive species.

Photos should be taken in the month in which they are entered (the same month in previous years is also acceptable; e.g., Aug '07 and Aug '08 are acceptable in the Aug '09 contest). We are hoping to create a visual diary of what is going on all over North America in each month.

Members may comment on the photo entries in the photo contest thread; but please do not post any photos that are not intended to be entries.

We encourage you to enter even if you only have one photo that you like; the judges will be looking for quality, not quantity, so that one photo could be a winning photo.

Wildlife Gardeners’ editing rule:
Altered Images—Photographs manipulated for artistic purposes by applying digital and/or traditional special effects (i.e. hand coloring, toning, bleaching, collage and photo composites, etc.) will be disqualified.

Clarification of the above:
Minor alterations such as cropping, rotating, and resizing will be permitted.
Adding or replacing elements in an image will not be permitted.

FW, where does WG stand on basics like enhancing contrast? Assuming nothing is added or subtracted and keeping in mind much outdoor photography is done in poor lighting conditions.

Did the basic enhancement help reflect the subject matter as it originally appeared? Yes or no?

What we need to avoid is crossing that line by allowing any images that would otherwise be unattainable without digital manipulation. This is a photo contest not an art contest. We don’t want to end up in a position where we are forced to define art. All members are on their honor to submit what they believe represents what was really there. We’re keeping it simple to rely on everyone’s integrity and for the sanity of the judges.

Occasionally, some member(s) or organization(s) may donate prizes for the monthly contest. These will be announced in the appropriate month's thread.

All decisions of the judges on placements and prize winners will be final.

By entering, participants grant permission for their winning photos to be used as an anchor photo in a forum on the Wildlife Gardeners.

Good luck with your entries, and we hope you enjoy the photo contest!

Supplemental rules for the Photo of the Month Contest per Dave Stiles and Sage:

#1 - Image submitted by the last day of the month
Images for current month's contest may be added by the fifth of the following month, as long as the pic is taken in the month of the thread.

#2 - HDR is not permitted

#3 - No more than four five images per person per month.

#4 - Only enter the image once per year. There is always next year for the month the image was taken.

#5 - Submit what you feel is right. I don't always judge on technical perfection of the image - I look for what 'looks' right.

#6 - Sorry - No Domestic Pets or Livestock - Orphan bears are not pets...

#7 - Leave nice comments about other images in the thread if you feel the urge to do so.

#8 - See Rule #1

[Fearless Weeder]

There were a few discussions where Dave Stiles stated the POM was to be a representation of photos taken in that month regardless of the year in which they were taken. Those comments were lost along the way.

We will attempt to take care of this by modifying the above to avoid sending mixed signals.

Our apologies for omitting the above.

[turttle]

Is this contest still on hold? If I have a great picture of a dragonfly but haven't ID'd it yet, does that count?

[Cirsium]

Originally Posted by turttle

Is this contest still on hold? If I have a great picture of a dragonfly but haven't ID'd it yet, does that count?

The Photo of the Month contest for July is open for entries. It's not necessary to have an ID to post a photo. Welcome to Wildlife Gardeners!

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by turttle

Is this contest still on hold? If I have a great picture of a dragonfly but haven't ID'd it yet, does that count?

Originally Posted by Cirsium

The Photo of the Month contest for July is open for entries. It's not necessary to have an ID to post a photo. Welcome to Wildlife Gardeners!

...but, it is likely that someone will help you ID it. I think there is a special thread just for insect identification.

[havalotta]

WELCOME......Turtle!
It's nice to see you're joining in on the fun.......
July 2010 Photo of the Month Contest - Post Entries Here
I'd LOVE to see your entries.....

[havalotta]

I think we should eliminate this part from rule #3 - Beginning in August, No more than four images per person per month.
It's a bit out of date. Could Staff ? delete Beginning in August from the original draft.
It would help eliminate some of the confusion on quantity limits to the newer members.

[Cirsium]

Originally Posted by havalotta

I think we should eliminate this part from rule #3 - Beginning in August, No more than four images per person per month.
It's a bit out of date. Could Staff ? delete Beginning in August from the original draft.
It would help eliminate some of the confusion on quantity limits to the newer members.

I removed the Beginning in August phrase. The "no more than four images per person per month" rule still applies.

[havalotta]

Thank you.....

[TheLorax]

Please note that two of our supplemental rules for our Photo of the Month contest have been changed.