National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2016

The categories for Submissions are: (1) Nature, (2) Cities; and (3) People.. There is no limit on the number of entries per person. Each Submission must comply with the Sponsor Your Shot Photo Guidelines, located on the Website as well as the following requirements (the “Submission Requirements”):

1. Photographs must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible. No print or film submissions will be accepted for entry into this Contest. The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files must be 20 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG or .jpg format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image).
2. Photographs must have been taken within two (2) years before the date of entry and may not previously have won an award in the National Geographic International Photography Contest, the National Geographic Photography Contest, or any National Geographic Traveler photo contest.
3. Only minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable, as is minor cropping. High dynamic range images (HDR) and stitched panoramas are acceptable. Any changes to the original photograph not itemized here or in the NGS Your Shot Photo Guidelines are unacceptable and will render the photograph ineligible for a prize.
4. Photographs that include sculptures, statues, paintings, and other works of art will be accepted as long as they do not constitute copyright infringement or fraud; provided entrants must be prepared to provide a release form as described below in "Release." When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person's art.
5. The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph.
6. The photograph must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsor, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content.
7. The caption must be complete and accurate, sufficient to convey the circumstances in which the photograph was taken. Disguising or misrepresenting the origin of your content is cause for disqualification.
8. Watermarks are not acceptable. Unless Sponsor receives a non-watermarked version of the entry within ten (10) days following its request, the entry will be disqualified.
9. Each Submission must be the submitting entrant’s own, produced work and may not feature or focus on any material owned or controlled by third parties (unless the entrant can provide written documentation of permission to use any materials owned by a third party as set forth below or in a form and substance determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion).
10. The entrant must provide upon request all appropriate clearances, permissions and releases (including but not limited to releases from all persons appearing in the Submission, location releases, and releases from all creative consultants or others who assisted in the creation of the Submission) for the Submission in a form and substance determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion (in the event an entrant cannot provide all required releases, Sponsor reserves the right, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, to disqualify the applicable Submission, or seek to secure the releases and clearances for Sponsor’s benefit, or allow the applicable Submission to remain in Contest)

Any Submission that, in Sponsor's good faith judgment, violates the Submission Requirements will be disqualified. Submissions must be received by the end of the Promotion Period. The Website’s database clock will be the official time keeper for this Contest. No substitutions of new versions of Submissions will be accepted under any circumstances once the original Submission is submitted for consideration. Any Submission that is considered by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion to be obscene, pornographic, libelous, hate speech or otherwise objectionable, in whole or in part, will be disqualified. In the event a dispute regarding the identity of the individual who actually submitted a Submission cannot be resolved to Sponsor’s satisfaction, the affected entry may be disqualified. The Promotion Entities shall not be responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry information whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing or transmission of the Submissions in the Contest. The Promotion Entities assume no responsibility or liability for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to, or alteration of Submissions. The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below. All Submissions must be submitted and received by May 27, 2016 at 12:00:00 p.m. EDT. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt. Submissions must be made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, internet domain owner, or other person or organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Sponsor reserves the right to examine the original photograph/source material in order to confirm compliance with these rules.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Any entrant who incorporates any intellectual property or material owned by a third party into his or her Submission does so at his or her own risk. Without in any way limiting, expanding or amending the Terms of Use policy residing on http://www.nationalgeographic.com/community/terms, which Terms of Use policy shall remain in full force and effect, if Sponsor is duly notified that any element of an entrant’s Submission infringes upon the rights of another person and/or receives a legally valid request to remove the affected Submission from the Website because of such infringement, such Submission may be removed from the Website and/or disqualified from the Contest, as Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion. Further, no entrant will be eligible to receive a prize unless Sponsor determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that such entrant’s Submission has been or can be sufficiently cleared for legal purposes.

The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below. All entries must be submitted and received by June 30, 2015 at 12:00:00 p.m. EDT. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt. Entries must be made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, internet domain owner, or other person or organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Sponsor reserves the right to examine the original photograph/source material in order to confirm compliance with these rules.

JUDGING

Once a Submission is uploaded to the Website it may be made available on the Website and/or Sponsor’s social media accounts for viewing by the general public and any such posting will be deemed made at the direction of the entrant. Judging consists of two (2) rounds of evaluation. In round one, a panel of judges selected by Sponsor in its sole discretion (at least one of whom will be independent of Sponsor) (“Judges”) will select up to ten (10) entries from among all eligible Submission based on the following criteria (“Judging Criteria”): (1) Creativity 20%; (2) Photographic quality 20% and (3) Composition. The Submissions selected in round one will proceed to round two. In round two, the Judges will collectively select a winner for each prize level based on the Judging Criteria. In the event of a tie, the tied entries will be re-submitted to the Judges for a re-judging between the tied entries alone. In the event that a tie remains after re-judging, the Submission with the highest score in the creativity criteria will be declared the winner. Winners will be chosen early to mid-July and will be notified by e-mail. Decisions of the Judges are final and binding and not subject to appeal. Sponsor shall have no liability for any winner notification that is lost, intercepted or not received by the potential winner for any reason. If, despite reasonable efforts, a potential prize winner does not respond within five (5) days of the first notification attempt, or if a prize or prize notification is returned as unclaimed or undeliverable to such potential prize winner, such potential prize winner may forfeit the applicable prize and an alternate prize winner may be selected. If any potential prize winner is found to be ineligible, or if he or she has not complied with these Official Rules or declines the applicable prize for any reason prior to award, such potential prize winner may be disqualified and an alternate winner may be selected. Sponsor may successively attempt to contact up to two (2) potential prize winners of in accordance with such procedure, and if there is still no confirmed prize winner after such attempts have been made, if any, the applicable prize may go unawarded.

RELEASES

If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in these Official Rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any photograph is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.

Upon Sponsor's request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Sponsor's request) a signed release from all persons who appear in the photograph submitted, and/or from the owner of any material that appears in the Submission, authorizing Sponsor and its licensees (”Authorized Parties”) to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the Submission in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification at any time during the Contest and selection of an alternate winner.

Similarly, upon Sponsor's request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Sponsor's request) a signed written license from the copyright owner of any sculpture, artwork, or other copyrighted material that appears in the Submission, authorizing any Authorized Party to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the Submission in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

Finally, upon Sponsor's request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Sponsor's request) a signed written license from the owner of any private property included in the Submission, authorizing any Authorized Party to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the Submission in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

For the purposes of these Official Rules, the entrant will be deemed to be in receipt of Sponsor's request or notification, (a) in the event that Sponsor sends the request by postal mail, five business days after the request was sent by Sponsor, or (b) in the event that Sponsor sends the request by email, on the day that the email was sent by Sponsor.