2009 Photo Contest Rules

Photo Contest Rules

Please read the following before submitting your entry. Entrants are deemed to have accepted these rules and agreed to be bound by them.

1. Each entry must be accompanied by an official entry form. The photographer's submission of the form confirms acceptance of all the contest rules and regulations.

2. All entries must be received by July 1, 2009 at 6pm EST. Images and entry forms may be submitted by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Images may also be send on CD or DVD to Verge Magazine, PO Box 147 STN MAIN, Peterborough ON, K9J 6Y5, Canada.

3. Should your image be short-listed a hard copy of the entry form, bearing your signature, will be required.

Eligibility
4. Images must be previously unpublished. Any photograph that has previously won a competition with a prize value of over $100, or been published, or sold to any party for reproduction, cannot be entered.

5. The contest is open to all Canadian residents and international subscribers at the time of entry. Directors and employees of Verge Magazine and any of the sponsoring companies or affiliated companies are not eligible to enter.

6. Only the photographer has the right to submit a photograph. Prizes will be awarded to the photographers.

7. Each photographer may submit up to 4 entries for each category. Each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry form.

Format
8. All entries must be submitted in digital form. Scans made from prints or slides are acceptable. Images may be submitted in colour or black-and-white.

9. The original, uninterpolated image size must be a minimum of 1500 x 2100 pixels or 3.1 megapixels.

10. You may use digital adjustments to optimize digital images. The following adjustments are allowed: levels, curves, brightness, contrast, shadow and highlight levels, saturation, sharpening and noise reduction, and selected burning or shading. Any other techniques or filters, including combinations of images and compositional changes, are not acceptable.

11. E-mail entries must be sent individually, with ‘photo contest’ and the photographer’s name in the subject line.

12. Electronic images and forms MUST be clearly labelled. FAILURE TO LABEL FILES PROPERLY WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION. Image files must be labelled with the contest category number, the photographer's name, and photo number (1-4) as follows: category#-LASTNAME-INITIALS-photo#. For example, if Jane Courtney Smith submits one image to category 1 (environments) and two images to category 3 (photojournalism), her image file names should be: 1-SMITH-JC-1, 3-SMITH-JC-1, and 3-SMITH-JC-2. Her entry form should be labelled identically, but end in the letter F. In the case above, the forms would be: 1-SMITH-JC-1F, 3-SMITH-JC-1F, and 3-SMITH-JC-2F.

Rights
13. Short-listed entrants’ names and photographs will be exhibited at the 2009 Go Abroad Fairs and other selected venues, published in a future issue of Verge Magazine and published on the Verge Magazine website. Verge Magazine reserves the non-exclusive right to publish any entry and/or use any entry in related promotional material and related Verge Magazine products.

14. All copyright and title to all entered photographs remains with the photographer in its entirety. However, the photographer grants to organizers and the competition sponsors non-exclusive rights to reproduction and exhibition of all images submitted. These rights include but are not limited to: publishing photographs in print and electronic form, use of the images for related promotional purposes without further compensation, and the right to use the photographer’s name in a credit alongside the photograph.

15. Shortlisted images will be printed and mounted for exhibition. The photographer grants Verge Magazine the right to donate, sell or auction this single copy of the image.

16. By submitting images for consideration, the entrant also confirms that s/he is the photographer and owns all rights to any photograph entered in this contest. Accordingly, the entrant hereby agrees to compensate Verge Magazine fully regarding any claims arising out of the use of the photograph(s).

17. The photographer consents to the entry of his/her submission and agrees to abide by the contest rules.

Judging
18. Short-listed entries will be selected by a panel of judges appointed by Verge Magazine. Short-listed photographers will be notified by telephone or email by August 15, 2009.

19. The winning photographs in each category will be selected by a panel of judges appointed by Verge Magazine. A travellers' choice award will be determined by votes cast by members of the public attending the Go Abroad Fairs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, in September 2009, and online. Images will be available on the Verge Magazine website for voting by the general public. Decision of the judges is final; no correspondence will be entered into. All winners will be notified by telephone or email on or before November 30, 2009.

Prizes
20. Before being awarded a prize, short-listed photographers will be required to sign a statement declaring that (a) the photograph submitted is his/her original work, (b) the photograph was taken at the location specified on the entry form; (c) the image has not been previously sold or published; and (d) the composition of the image has not been altered.

21. Prizes must be accepted as awarded and no alternative will be given.

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