The Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition 2012 is now open for entries!

Whether you are a beginner, enthusiast or seasoned professional your wildlife and nature images can win you some amazing prizes including a trip for two to the Masai Mara in Kenya to photograph the Great Migration in 2013.  The competition will run from 6 January 2012 until 31 December 2012 and there is no charge to enter.

Each month an international judging panel will select a winner and two runners up from images that have been posted to the Wild Eye Gallery.  Apart from winning great monthly prizes, the winner and two runners up each month will progress to the grand finals where they will be in the running to fantastic prizes.

All the information, rules and other competition information is listed below so please make sure to check all the details.

If you do not want to enter the competition but would like to follow along you can visit the Wild Eye Gallery to see all the monthly competition entries.  Also, to stay up to date with all competition updates, announcements of winners and other information make sure to sign up for the official Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition 2012 newsletter by using the link below.

We look forward to sharing a fantastic competition experience with you.

To view the competition entries click here!

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• The Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition encourages ethical wildlife and nature photography through respect for the subjects being photographed as well as the amount of digital manipulation of the final images.

• The competition will be run and managed by Wild Eye Destinations and Photographic.

• The monthly winners, and runners up, will be chosen by an international judging panel who will consider technical quality, composition and originality of submissions.

• The monthly winner and runners up will be announced no later than the 12^th of the following month.

• Monthly winner and runner up images will be posted on the Wild Eye website and shared on various social media platforms.

• Monthly winner and runner up images may be used to market and create an awareness of the Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition.

• The overall winner will be chosen by a panel of 12 judges including the Wild Eye staff members, international judges and well-respected South African wildlife photographers.

1st Place - A Photographic Expedition for Two People to the Masai Mara in 2013

The first prize winner will, along with a partner, have front row seats to the greatest spectacle on earth - the Great Wildebeest Migration in August / September 2013. 

The prize, valued at around R90,000, includes:

• Return airfares from Johannesburg to Nairobi

• Return scenic flights from Nairobi to the Masai Mara

• Six nights accommodation in the Wild Eye Mara Camp on the banks of the Mara River

• All meals and game refreshments 

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2nd Place - Three Nights for Two People at the 5 star Kapama Karula Lodge

The overall second prize for this is a weekend for two people at the fantastic Kapama Karula Lodge.

The 5 star Kapama Karula lodge is situated on the banks of the perennial Klaserie River.  The river glides smoothly through the camp, forming sparkling pools that attract smaller riverine animals and a myriad of birds in every seasonal birders paradise.

The prize, valued at R45,000, includes:

• Three nights for two people at Kapama Karula

• All meals and game drive snacks

• Two game activities per day

• Return transfer from Hoedspruit Airport (if applicable)

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3rd Place - Camera equipment to the value of R30,000

The overall third prize for this competition is a R 30,000 ORMS voucher with which the winner can purchase the camera gear of their choice.

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There are a few more prizes that will be added for the grand final in the pipeline so make sure to check back often for updates. 

Should you wish to sponsor a prize for this competition please contact us.

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1st Prize

• ProBody Sport Back pack from Clik Elite SA

• Coffee Table Book from Hannes Lochner

• R 1,000 equipment rental voucher from Wild Eye

• 8GB SanDisk Memory Compact Flash Memory Card

• Wild Eye Baseball Cap

1st Runner Up

• Traveler Shoulder Bag from Clik Elite SA

• R 500 equipment rental voucher from Wild Eye

• 8GB SanDisk Memory Compact Flash Memory Card

• Wild Eye Baseball Cap

2nd Runner Up

• Memory Card Valet and Wrist Strap from Clik Elite SA

• R 250 equipment rental voucher from Wild Eye

• Wild Eye Baseball Cap

The winner and two runners up each month will progress to the grand final to stand a chance to win the overall grand prize!

• The competition is open to all wildlife and nature photographers – amateur and professional – from all across the globe.

• Entry to this competition is free and each entrant is responsible for ensuring that they have the right to submit the photos and that he or she understands the competition rules.

• Employees of Wild Eye Destinations and Photographic and their immediate family (spouse, parent, child, sibling) are not eligible to enter the competition

• The competition will run on a monthly basis with entries being accepted from 09h00 (SAST) on the first day of each month.

• Monthly submissions will close on 20h00 (SAST) on the last day of each month.

• Monthly winners, and runner's up, will be announced no later than the 12th of the following month.
  

• Entry to the Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition is free.

• Entrants may submit up to 4 images per day throughout each month.

• All images that are submitted must be the entrants own work.

• Please see How to Enter and Image Requirements for details on uploading your images.

• We are looking for striking images of the natural world that highlights the beauty and diversity of our planet’s natural places.

• Images may be taken anywhere in the world.

• Images may show, but is not limited to:

  • Animal Behavior

  • Animal Portraits

  • Bird Behavior

  • Bird Portraits

  • Macro Images

  • Landscapes

  • Weather Phenomena

  • People Interacting with Nature

• Image should not involve the willful harassment or baiting of wildlife, damage to the environment or put any individual or animal in danger.

• All photos must accurately reflect the subject matter as it appeared in the viewfinder when the image was captured. Nothing should be added to an image, and aside from dust spots, nothing may be removed.  For more detail please check ‘Digital Processing and Manipulation of Images’.

• Images of pets, domestic animals and animals in zoos and other captive animals are not allowed.

• The Wild Eye NPC will be hosted on the Wild Eye Gallery.

• If you have not yet done so, register at - http://gallery.wild-eye.co.za/register.php

• When registering please use your real name and surname.

• Images submissions can be made by clicking on Upload Photos on the top right of the screen.

• Images have to be uploaded to the specific monthly competition category.

• Please note that images not uploaded to the correct category will not be considered.

• Should you wish to also include your image in another sub-category, and we urge you to do so, this can be chosen during the second step of the upload process.

• Each competition image must be given a title by the photographer during the upload process I.e.  RAW_33345.jpg or similar names will not be accepted.

• Competition entries should not contain any watermarks, copyright symbols or other text on the image.

• Competition entries should not have any borders added before upload.

• Uploaded images must be saved as JPEG and in sRGB color gamut.

• Competition entries need to be uploaded to the correct monthly category on the Wild Eye Gallery.

• Uploaded images must be a maximum 800 px at the longest side at 72dpi.  Uploading images at the largest size is advised.

• File size should be no larger than 500kb per image.

• Should a competition entry include a person in the image, it is the responsibility of the entrant to obtain the necessary releases forms from the individuals depicted.

• All monthly winners and runners-up will be required to submit their original RAW files for judging in the Grand Finals. 

• For details please check ‘Digital Processing and Manipulation of Images’.

• All photos must accurately reflect the subject matter as it appeared in the viewfinder when the image was captured.

• All images that are submitted should not be digitally enhanced beyond the basics needed to achieve realistic color balance, sharpness and contrast.

• The following guidelines should be considered when processing competition entries:

  • Saturation – The goal is to create realistic looking images.  Please avoid over- or under-saturation.

  • Contrast – Selective dodging (brightening) and burning (darkening) is allowed to adjust the tonal range of an image so that resembles closely the scene or subject that was photographed.

  • Sharpening – Sharpening is allowed but both over- and under-sharpening will be considered during the judging process.

  • Filters – Digital filters that create various ‘arty’ or ‘cartoon-like’ results is not allowed.  The goal of this competition is to create natural and realistic images.

  • Cropping – Cropping is acceptable but keep in mind that you don’t want to crop in too much as image quality will degrade when images are shown at larger size.

  • Monochrome – Black & white and soft sepia images will be allowed.

  • HDR Images – High Dynamic Range image are allowed but all info with regards to various exposures and post processing to be shared when uploading.

  • Panoramas – Panoramas or stitched images are allowed but all info with regards to various exposures and post processing to be shared when uploading

Monthly Judging

• A panel of judges from Wild Eye will asses all monthly entries and then select five images which will be sent to an international judging panel.  

• The international judging panel will score all images and based on a cumulative scoring system the monthly winner, with the most points, and two runners up will be chosen.

• The monthly winner and two runners up will receive the monthly prizes as stated in the rules and regulations.

• The monthly winner and two runners up will all progress to the grand final where their image will be considered for the overall prizes.

• The judges decision is final and no communications will be entered into.

• The Wild Eye judges, who will choose the five images to be judges by the international judging panel, will be:

  • Gerry van der Walt

  • Andrew Beck

  • Villiers Steyn

  • Jono Buffey

• The international judging panel will be:

  • Andy Biggs (US)

  • David Lloyd (UK)

  • Greg du Toit (SA)

Overall Judging

• All monthly winners and runners up will progress to the grand finals which will take place in January 2013.

• All final image will be judged on merit and no weight will be given to previous results in the competition.

• The judging panel will consider the image submission alongside the original RAW files when looking for the overall winner.

• The judging panel for the finals will be made up the Wild Eye and international panel alongside five other wildlife photographers from South Africa.

• Dates and further details for the grand final presentation and coplete judging panel to follow.
  

• The submitting photographer must be the owner of the copyright of photos entered in to the competition.

• Wild Eye does, and will not, claim copyright for any images that are submitted to this competition.

• The copyright of all of the photos submitted to the Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition shall remain with the copyright holder.

• By participating in the Wild Eye Nature Photography Competitions each participant grants Wild Eye a non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, communicate and exhibit his/her photo(s) in all types of media, exclusively in relation to the Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition and the possible exhibition, including all use in the context of:

  • Judging of the competition 

  •  Inclusion in a possible public exhibition

  • The inclusion in promotional material related to the Wild Eye Nature Photography Competition and/or the possible public exhibition.

  • Inclusion within interactive elements, either currently known or later created, on the Wild Eye website related to the competition and/or the possible public exhibition.

  • Inclusion in a possible portfolio book, magazine or similar material

• The submitting photographer will retain full copyright for all their own competition entries.

• Whenever an image is posted on a website or various social media platforms for the purpose of marketing the competition, the submitting photographer will be credited.

• By entering this competition, the submitting photographer agree that any winning image that is submitted may be used by Wild Eye solely for the purposes of the promotion of this competition or future competitions.   This includes displaying the image on the competition website, cropping and re-sizing the image as necessary to fit pre-defined formats for the competition.

• The sumbitting photographer grant Wild Eye a non-exclusive, irrevocable licence for each entry, as described above, for one year following the date of announcing the winner.  Thereafter the image may only be used for archival purposes on Wild Eye.

• Wild Eye assumes no responsibility and will not be held liable for any image misuse.

• Should any image uses beyond those described above arise, the submitting photographer will be contacted and given the opportunity to negotiate any future usage with the parties concerned independently of the competition.

• Wild Eye reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition or competition rules and terms at any time without prior notice.
  

• Any changes will be posted either within these Terms and Conditions.