1. British Photography Awards: General Information

1.1 By entering the British Photography Awards competition (hereafter 'Competition') the entrant agrees to these binding terms.

1.2 THE PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS LIMITED (Company Number: 10115882), Trading as British Photography Awards is full operator of the competition, and their team administers all of the proceedings (hereafter referred to as 'Admin').

1.3 The Competition is not open to anyone involved with the British Photography Awards organisation, this includes: employees or staff members, consultants, sponsors, judges and event hosts.

1.4 All entries must be submitted electronically, and directly through www.britishphotographyawards.org

1.5 All contact from entrants regarding the competition or these terms must be made through office@britishphotographyawards.org

1.6 All entrants into the 2018 Competition must be full time resident of the UK, or hold a UK Passport.

1.7 The Competition is open to all British photographers over the world, and those of other nationalities who are full-time resident in the UK. Admin reserve the right to seek proof of such status.

2. Image Rights

2.1 All entries must be in the sole ownership of the entrant and not infringe on the copyright of any other party.

2.2 All entries must be made by the individual whose details are presented with the submission.

2.3 The copyright ownership will remain with the owner after submission and will not be transferred to Admin.

2.4 The owner of the copyright will be credited in any instance of publication in any media form using their names as provided by them in their submission(s).

2.5 If applicable to the instance, the Admin may also add a 'link' or web pathway to the credit text for the photographic website of the copyright owner. These links will always be the same as those submitted on entry and Admin are under no obligation to update such information. This responsibility rests solely with the entrant.

2.6 The owner of the copyright agrees to grant Admin a non-exclusive licence to reproduce, publish and exhibit their images upon entering the Competition. This licence specifically applies to ONLY instances that directly involve the Competition and displaying of the photographs at public events. This licence extends but is not limited to cover usage on the Admin website, publicity, email transmission, print media and Admin operated social media.

2.7 No merchandising or profiteering will be undertaken without seeking separate agreement from the entrant.

2.8 Instances where Admin requires the transmission of copyrighted material for the printing of publicity posters, banners or leaflets & guides as well as associated publicity is also to be accepted under this agreement.

2.9 The copyright owner also gives permission for the Admin to send their copyright property (image files and captions) to judges on the Admin's systems to facilitate the judging process.

2.10 In cases of inadvertent unaccredited disclosure to the public of any material the Admin can take no responsibility. Every effort will be made to ensure that this does not become an eventuality.

2.11 Admin will offer full refund at any time to any entrant who wishes to withdraw their entry from the competition. The request must be sent though office@britishphotographyawards.org and must include proof of I.D. and address that correspond to our information on file for it to be granted.

3. Conditions of Entry

3.1 All entries must be received by the deadline as specified in the BPA timetable.

3.2 By entering the Competition the entrant acknowledges that this in no way grants them any intellectual property rights over the BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS or the Competition itself. They agree to not use any names, logos or any other intellectual property or make any public statement regarding either Admin of the Competition without gaining prior written consent from Admin.

3.3 Admin places full responsibility with the entrant to having read these terms at the time of entry. Entering the Competition is considered as acceptance of these terms.

3.4 Admin retains the right to disqualify any entrant at any stage and for any reason. These reasons may include, but are not limited to intellectual property theft, crude or abusive behaviour, dishonest representation, unethical treatment of animals, contravention of local/national bylaws and failure to abide by the rules laid out here.

3.5 In the event of disqualification from the Competition the entrant will be offered no prizes, or compensation and the Admin reserve the right to waive the returning of the entry fee in every case.

3.6 The decision of the Admin is final in all matters pertaining to the Competition and no negotiation will be entered into with any entrant or associated parties.

3.7 The Admin reserve the right to waive a breach of any of the rules at their sole discretion after examination of the case in question.

3.8 By entering the Competition, all entrants agree to maintain the highest standards in all matters relating to the Competition and not bring Admin into disrepute. Behaviour that causes damage to the reputation of the Competition, other entrants, partners, charities, supporters, sponsors or associated parties may lead to the entrant's disqualification, lifetime banning and further legal action depending on the scale of the infraction.

4. Fees and Charity Funding

4.1 All entrants must pay an entry fee per image using credits purchased on Admin's website. The price is set at 5 GBP per credit.

4.2 At the end of each competition cycle half of every entry credit's value will be donated to the charity or NPO that the entrant selects at the time of submission.

4.3 All cash-flow related to the Competition is made public upon ending of the cycle.

4.4 Each entrant is permitted up to forty (40) images submitted into any one category.

4.5 Entrants may choose to submit to multiple categories and support multiple charities.

5. File Upload Specifications

5.1 All entries must be submitted in digital JPEG format, scans of film negatives or high resolution transparencies.

5.2 All entries submitted to each category of the Competition should be 1920 pixels at the longest dimension and be no larger than 3 MB.

5.3 Entries should be saved at a quality level of at least 7 in Photoshop or Lightroom in the colour format of Adobe RGB (1998).

5.4 It is left to the entrant to ensure that the image meets with these requirements by saving the files with no watermarks, stencil, borders or signatures on the image file itself.

5.5 Failure to adhere to these rules may lead to immediate disqualification of the infringing images with no further notice or reasoning given.

5.6 After judging has been completed, entrants whose submissions have been selected by the judges and Admin MAY be required to submit the RAW camera file (or original film negatives, untouched JPEGS or transparency). Accepted RAW data ( .CR2, .ORF, .NEF, PEF etc) DNG files are now permitted (even if it is not the native format of the camera and it was essential for editing). This is to ensure ethical standards are maintained and the file will not be circulated. This only applies for certain categories where evidence of animal baiting/cruelty, misrepresentation of reality or an attempt to disguise unethical behaviour is suspected.

5.7 Once judging is completed, high resolution files will be requested of entrants who have been selected by Admin. These files should be in TIFF format if possible, or JPEG and should be in 8-bit Adobe RGB. They should be cropped the same, and in the same colour gamete as the original JPEG entry. Entrants are requested not to upscale their work.

5.8 Entries that cannot be authenticated, or are not of an acceptable quality may be discounted from the Competition by Admin at any time.

5.9 Entries deemed by Admin to have been entered into the wrong category may be moved category without notice given.

5.10 Entries into this Competition do not have to have been taken in the Competition year, and can be from any time in the past.

5.11 Photos entered previously into other competitions are allowed, providing they did not win prizes in the competitions in question a time of entry. This is the sole responsibility of the entrant to ensure.

6. Image Manipulation and Authenticity Assurance

6.1 Image manipulation of digital files that include, HDR, focus stacking,cropping,  noise reduction, dodging, burning, dust spot removal, sharpening, contrast, tone, and multiple exposure layering (provided that they were all taken in the same session in the same location) are permitted.

6.2 Images submitted must not distort reality and may not have any items or objects, or parts of objects added or removed from the main image. The one exception to this is dust spot removal, as granted in 6.1.

6.3 All EXIF data should be kept intact on the files submitted if possible.

6.4 Image-wide contrast and brightness adjustments, saturation, exposure lens profiling and colour temperature tweaking are exempt from necessary mention in the caption submission and should be considered as commonplace tweaking, and are permitted.

6.5 All entries that Admin suspects to have been tampered with, falsified or are found to be illegal (under the above rules) may be disqualified from the Competition.

6.6 All entries must be free from the addition of false or unrelated data that does not originate from the initial picture.

6.7 All entries must be a complete record of all that was in the picture to begin with. With the exception of dust spot removal, this pertains to the removal of people, animals, items, objects or parts of objects being forbidden.

6.8 Panoramic stitching is permitted, and should be referred to in the caption.

7. Caption Submissions

7.1 Captions should be submitted every image entered into the Competition. Failure to do so may result in the image's disqualification.

7.2 Captions should be in English where possible except in special circumstances. These can be discussed with Admin via office@britishphotogrpahyawards.org.

7.3 Captions should include a bit of background information, any motivations the entrant may have held for the picture, special circumstances surrounding the moment/image.

7.4 Captions should also include as precise a location as possible for where the image was captured. Should your camera have GPS, and it was enabled at the time of shooting, please leave this file data intact.

7.5 Caption data included should also make clear the photographic equipment used and camera settings.

8. The Judging Process

8.1 The judging is preformed by a panel of independent judges. These judges are selected by Admin and are appointed to their role by Admin. 

8.2 Once Admin have presented the vetted folders of images, the judges decide on the photographs that score highest in each category. These images are stored securely.

8.3 The numerical scores having been tallied, the top selection of images are then opened to the public for voting. This process is heavily monitored. Any fraudulent of suspicious voting practices will be flagged for inspection by Admin.

8.4 Admin reserves the right to disqualify images for any reason throughout the Competition, this includes, but is not limited to explicit or inappropriate imagery, ethical breaches, improper formatting and behaviour of the entrant in matters regarding the competition.

8.5 The category awards are the highest prize awarded and no ultimate winner will be selected across all categories.

8.6 Judges may be placed under a non disclosure agreement that lasts for the duration of the Competition, and their association with the Admin. Under this agreement, they are forbidden to discuss the competition mechanics, internal image sharing systems, administrative particulars or divulge private personal details of those involved with anyone (including: entrants, sponsors, persons relating to press or media outlets.) Any permission to do so must be properly obtained from Admin in writing ahead of time.

8.7 Notification that an entrant's photography has been selected for an award is done so in the strictest confidence. Entrants are forbidden to disclose any details of any winning entries to any third party in any way including social media until the Admin grants them written permission to do so, or until Admin makes a public announcement of the same.

8.8 Admin retains the right to add to, or replace any number of the Competition judges at their sole discretion at any stage.

9. Ethical Requirements

9.1 Admin respects the rights of nature, and laws of the UK. As such any and all breaches of these codes may be grounds for removal from the Competition on a permanent basis without appeal or negotiation offered.

9.2 Entrants are expected to be honest and genuine with their submissions.

9.3 The entrant retains full responsibility for obtaining any permissions needed to display the content of their picture in the Competition, or on the Admin website. This includes abiding by national and international law, seeking permits and permissions for accessing the land on which the photograph was taken and the rights to any and all brands, faces or persons featured in their work being legally sought. Admin accepts no responsibility for those entrants that fail to do this and as such is freed of liabilities associated with such infractions.

9.4 Entrants to the Competition must ensure that their entries do not attempt to mislead the judges, Admin or, eventually the public about the nature of reality.

9.5 All entrants must ensure their submissions have been ethically obtained. This includes respect for nature, habitat, animals, personal property and trespass laws. Any suspected destruction of habitat or personal property that is suspected in an attempt to capture an image will not be tolerated and will result in the submission and the entrant being removed from the competition.

9.6 All content within the mandated associated caption of any entry must be truthful, complete and accurate. It must not mislead or omit details that may later be detrimental to the judging process.

9.7 The use of live bait to lure any animal, and the intentional torment of creatures is unacceptable and any suspected breach of this law will be taken extremely seriously. The correct authorities shall be informed should this eventuality arise.

9.8 All entrants agree that the images that they have submitted to the Competition have not involved the intentional physical or mental torment or injury of any animal in order to capture the image, or set up the events that led to them being able to capture the image. Any suspected breach of this rule will not be tolerated and will result from the individual, being removed from the Competition.

10. Data Protection

10.1 All personal data collected by Admin will be managed and protected in accordance of the Data protection Act of 1998 and GDPR regulation.

10.2 Personal Data will be collected in a way pertinent to the facilitating of the national Competition, and Event as laid out on the submissions form.

10.3 Entrants contact email address and name data will be stored and added to a mailing list that will solely involve the competition itself and event activity.

10.4 Entrants may contact the Admin at any time to delete or update their details on Admin record using office@britishphotographyawards.org. Should they simply wish to unsubscribe from the mailing list then this facility will be made available to them.

11. Publicity

11.1 By entering into the Competition the entrant acknowledges that Admin reserve the right to use their name and, in some cases, likeness for the purposes of advertising and publicity for the competition.