PURPOSE
The Burlington Conservation Commission wants to encourage everyone to get outdoors and enjoy and appreciate the natural areas in Burlington, Massachusetts. The 2018 Photo Contest will encourage the entire community to be involved and better showcase these wonderful areas which are filled with beautiful plants, trees, wetlands, and wildlife.
SPONSOR
The 2018 Natural Burlington Photography Contest is sponsored by the Burlington Massachusetts Conservation Commission and Department. Information about the Burlington Conservation Commission and Conservation Department can be found here.
ELIGIBILITY
The contest is open to all photographers ages 8 and over. Contestants must be able to prepare digital files according to the guidelines below, fill out an online entry form which includes uploading the photograph files, and be willing to provide, if requested, an 8x10 printed photograph to the Burlington, MA Conservation Commission for display at the Photo Exhibit and Awards Night. Contestants must also have access to a valid email address for communication with contest officials. There are accommodations for persons wishing to participate who do not have internet access.
THE JUDGES
The 2018 contest will be judged by a panel of volunteer judges who have a professional background in the arts and photography.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Each photographer may enter up to five (5) images taken in Burlington, Massachusetts. Images must be of nature or wildlife and taken in Burlington, Massachusetts by the submitting photographer. No images containing people will be accepted. Images must meet the Submission Requirements to be eligible. Entries not meeting these requirements will not be considered. The Contest reserves the right to request unaltered or RAW images to verify image integrity as it pertains to submission requirements.
Eligible submissions:
- Images must be the sole work of the submitting photographer
- Images must be depicting nature and wildlife.
- Images must be taken in the town of Burlington, Massachusetts
The following submissions are ineligible:
- Images taken outside of Burlington, Massachusetts
- Images of humans.
- Images of captive animals or pets.
- Images that involve the willful harassment of wildlife, or damage to the environment by the photographer.
- Images that involve putting any individual or animal in danger.
- Photos that contain explicit, obscene, violent or other objectionable or inappropriate content.
Submissions may be watermarked if desired, but the watermark should be inconspicuous enough to not interfere with the judging of the photo. A watermarked photo might not be honored by the competition (at the judges’ sole discretion) if the photographer is unable or unavailable to provide a pristine, watermark-free version of the image when asked.
The Burlington Conservation Commission shall determine entry eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion.
Divisions
There are two divisions:
- Adult: age 18 or older, or out of high school
- Youth: ages 8 to 18, or still in high school
There are several categories under which you may submit your photos:
- Nature (General/Artistic)
- Fall Foliage
- Landscapes
- Water/Wetlands
- Wildlife
Recognition & Prizes
Each division will have an overall first place and second place contestant as well as a People’s Choice Award. There will also be a judge’s choice award for each of the categories.
In addition:
- Winning and finalist photographs will be displayed on this website along with the photographer's name.
- Prints of the winning photographs will be displayed in Burlington.
- Contestant's name and the photograph's title will be included on display tag.
- Winners will be named in a news release.
- Winning photographs will be printed in the 2018 Annual Town Report.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The Burlington Conservation Commission is excited to showcase the wonderful natural areas and wildlife in Burlington. For our 2018 Photo Contest, we want to see Natural Burlington through your eyes.
Images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit.
To ensure functionality on our submission platform, please submit files no more than 4 MB at the time of entry. Higher resolution files will be requested should an entry be preselected to be shown at the exhibit and/or awarded a prize. Images submitted electronically in a .JPEG .jpg, or.png format. HDR images are acceptable.
Filenames should be constructed as follows:
D-Title-Photographer_#.jpg
where:
D = Division (A for Adult or Y for Youth)
Title = title of photograph (for example, Green Frog)
Photographer = your full name.
Entrants will be asked to provide the following information in the contest entry process:
- Full Name
- Division (Youth or Adult; if Youth, please note current age)
- Title of the photo
- Caption: Briefly describe what we see and where it was taken.
- Select a category: Nature/General, Fall Foliage, Landscapes, Water/Wetlands, Wildlife
- Location where the photo was taken (must be taken in Burlington, MA)
Images can be submitted in person at the Burlington Conservation Department. Entrants will be asked to submit the same information listed above, with the submitted photograph. Photos must be printed in final format and no smaller than 8x10. Photographs will be scanned into a digital format for judging purposes. All other submission guidelines and requirement apply.
The conservation department is in the Burlington Town Hall Annex, 29 Center Street, Burlington, MA. Directions and hours of operation can be found here.
Copyright
The photographer retains full copyright to his or her images. However, participation in the contest requires the contestant to give Burlington Conservation Commission permission to use the photographs without compensation on the Contest Website as well as on other Town of Burlington websites and in news releases which may appear in print or on third party websites for the purpose of publicizing the contest. Burlington Conservation Commission will always include the photographer's name when using a photograph for any purpose.
TIMELINE
- Submission: You may submit starting September 1, 2018. The deadline to submit is midnight, October 23, 2018. (Eastern Time)
- Judging: Photos will be judged by the panel on an ongoing basis and photographers may be made aware that their photograph has been chosen as a finalist. Finalists must provide a printed copy of their photograph (no smaller than 8x10) to the Conservation Commission to be displayed at the Natural Burlington Photo Exhibit & Awards Night on November 6th. Final judging of photos for overall and category winners will be completed by November 2nd. The People Choice Award will be chosen by guests at the Natural Burlington Photo Exhibit and Awards Night on November 6th.
Finalists and Winners Announced:
November 6th, 7:30PM at the Natural Burlington Photo Exhibit & Awards.
Winners will be published online on the Burlington Conservation Department Website by November 9, 2018.
The Sponsor is not responsible for entries that cannot be processed due to network, hardware or other technical failures or lost e-mails. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to close the Contest if it becomes technically corrupted or because of unauthorized human intervention. In the event of cancellation, the Sponsor reserves the right to judge the eligible entries received prior to date of cancellation and award the prizes outlined.
