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Rules
Rules, Terms and Conditions
The Organic Mechanics Soil Company invites photographers to enter its 2010 digital photography competition. Please read the following rules, terms and conditions before submitting any photos.
This contest is open to all photographers at least 18 years of age, except employees of Organic Mechanics, members of the independent panel of judges, and their immediate families. Submissions by anyone under 18 must include the permission of a parent or legal guardian. There is no limit to the number of unique photos that can be submitted. Duplicate entries submitted to multiple categories will be disqualified.
Your rights
You will retain all rights to any photography you submit, including ownership, other than the rights licensed in the next sentence. By entering the contest, you hereby grant to the Organic Mechanics Soil Company a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, distribute, and publicly display the photographs you submit to the Organics Mechanics Soil Company, and the right to use your name, city and state in promotions and other publications.
All photographs will be credited with the caption “© Person’s Name.”
What to enter
The purpose of the contest is to illustrate the horticultural benefits of quality soil. Your entry form will ask you to verify that you use Organic Mechanics products in your garden.
We are looking for striking digital images of plants and garden scenes in the following categories:
• The Veggie Garden
• People in my Garden
• Container Gardening
• Along the Garden Path
• Flowers and Pollinators
• Creatively Recycled Garden Ornaments
Click here for a description and the intended scope of each category.
If you choose to include people in your submission, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary releases from the individuals depicted, and must be able to provide copies of those releases to the Organic Mechanics Soil Company upon request.
All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization (removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color and contrast, etc.) will be disqualified. Multiple exposures that have been combined to produce a single “High Dynamic Range” image are acceptable. Images that do not meet these requirements may or may not be judged at the judging panel’s sole and absolute discretion.
How to enter
Each photo must be submitted electronically via Flickr®
(Click here for simplified rules and “how to enter” instructions.)
• To submit you photos via Flickr, use your Yahoo!® ID to log in to
www.flickr.com. If you do not have an account, you can sign-up for free on
the Flickr site. Flickr and Yahoo! Are trademarks of Yahoo, Inc.
• After logging in, upload your images using the mechanism provided. If you
are not already a member of the Organic Mechanics group on Flickr, join by
clicking “Join this Group?” on the group’s homepage.
• Browse to the image you wish to submit for the contest, and use the
“Send to Group” function to add your images to the Organic Mechanics’
photo pool. Once added to the group, tag each photo with
OMPhotoContest-2010[category code here] indicating the appropriate
category for that specific image. If you do not tag your photo correctly, it will
not be considered for the competition.
• If you have trouble using Flickr, please consult their online help files. The
Organic Mechanics Soil Company is not responsible for any issues or
problems you encounter while trying to upload a photo on Flickr.
Eligibility and Judging
To ensure eligibility for the contest, entries must have a resolution of 6 million pixels or greater (6 megapixels). Resolution can be calculated by multiplying the pixel width of the image with the pixel height. For example, a photograph taken with a 6 megapixel camera set for the highest resolution and best quality produces images approximately 2832 pixels by 2128 pixels, which are acceptable under the rules (2832 x 2128 = 6 million). Images that do not meet this standard may or may not be judged at the judging panel’s sole discretion.
Entries may originate in any format – including, but not limited to digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints – so long as they are submitted electronically. Previously published material for which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as you still maintain the right to grant us a license (see “Your Rights” above). You must be able to disclose when and where the photo appeared previously to the Organic Mechanics Soil Company upon request.
Images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact, artistic merit, and interpretation of its selected category. The judges are an independent panel with expertise in photography and horticulture.
The Organic Mechanics Soil Company shall determine winner eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion. All decisions made by the judges are final. Each entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Organic Mechanics Soil Company and its officers, agents, and employees against any liability on the part of the Organic Mechanics Soil Company arising out of that particular entrant’s association with this contest, together with costs and reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees, which it may incur or pay in defending against any such asserted claims. Entrants waive any right to bring suit against Organics Mechanics Soil Company for claims arising out of the discretion exercised by Organics Mechanics Soil Company in determining a winner.
Deadlines
Deadline for submitting entries is 11:59 pm EST on August 31, 2010.
Entrants may be asked to submit a paragraph about the story behind the photo anytime on or after September 16, 2010. Finalists will be announced on October 1, 2010. Public voting for the grand-prize winner will be held for a three-week period in October. The Grand Prize image will be announced on or before November 1, 2010.
Winning photos and prizes
The judging panel will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place Finalists from each of the six categories. The general public will select the Grand Prize Winner from among the 1st place winners from all six categories during a period of open voting on the Organic Mechanics website from a pool of Finalists determined by the judging panel.
All Finalist images will be printed in the 2011 Organic Mechanics full-color calendar. All entrants featured in the calendar will receive a copy of the calendar. Additional copies of the calendar will be available through the Organic Mechanics website. The retail value of the calendar is $12.99.
In addition, the First Prize winner in each category will receive an iPod. The Second Prize winner in each category will receive a hat embroidered with the Organic Mechanics logo. The Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 gift card.
Questions?
Questions and inquiries about the photo competition or the contest rules can be emailed to: Jim at Organic Mechanics.
