USArts Feature City Photo Contest

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OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES

No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win

Photo Eligibility
To enter, you must be a USArts official candidate, a current USArts trainee, or a past USArts trainee. Photos can be in color or black and white. The photo subject must be relevant to the US city of your training or your home city or town.

Photo Formats
Entries must be digital images or scanned prints.

Photographer/Copyright
Entries must be submitted by the original photographer. Do not submit a photo taken by someone other than yourself. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any image submitted. Your submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Number of Entries
If your submission is selected for first place, you cannot submit another photograph until the following calendar year.

Photo Subject Restrictions
Photos must be appropriate for posting on a public resource website. Obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable content will not be considered. USArts retains sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content. Photos containing recognizable people must be submitted by regular mail and accompanied by written permission from any recognizable person in the photo. .

Return of Photos
Photos, regardless of the medium, will not be returned. Please do not send your only copy of a photo.

Ownership/Use Rights
Photographers retain the copyright to their photographs. By entering the contest, photographers agree to have their submitted photograph displayed on the www.usartstraining.org website without any fee or other form of compensation, and agree that USArts may display winning photos in a "past winners" photo gallery, in the USArts Bulletin, and in the USArtstraining.org "e-postcard" service. USArts may also make and retain copies of the photograph for archival purposes. Photos will be credited to the photographer named in the entry form. Entries (including non-winning entries) may be selected for display or use in other USArts web pages, with permission from the photographer. Entrants agree that USArts may contact them to obtain permission for use of photos in this way. Entries will never be used by USArts in any manner for advertising or sale. In the event that ownership of any photograph submitted to USArts is contested in any manner, USArts retains the discretion to disqualify that photograph and discontinue use of the photograph.

Judging
Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity and photographic quality. A USArts panel will judge the entries and all contest decisions are final. Entries that fail to comply with the Official Contest Rules will be disqualified.

Winners
USArts staff will select a first and second place winning photo for each of the contest categories. If fewer than ten eligible photographs are entered in a category, USArts may choose to name only a first place winner. In addition, one or more honorable mention winners may be selected in categories with especially large numbers of entries, at the discretion of the USArts staff. Winners will be notified approximately 2-3 weeks after the contest deadline by phone or email using the information sent with the photograph. Winning photographs, along with the photographer's name, and information about the photo, will be emailed to USArts candidates, trainees and past trainees in a special e-bulletin. The photos will also be displayed on the USArtstraining.org website and also archived there for viewing indefinitely.

Submitting Digital Images

Digital images should be submitted attached to an email. Images should be 1MB maximum.

Image Modifications:
Minor digital enhancement is permitted, but images that have been significantly modified or appear unnatural will be disqualified.
Not Permitted:

• No borders or frames may be added to images.
• No watermarks, signatures, or copyright notices may be added to images. All winning images will be displayed with the photographer's name.
• Adding or replacing elements in an image is not permitted.
• Artistic filters are not permitted.

Permitted Modifications:

• Images may be cropped and rotated as necessary as long as the rectangular format is maintained and the size is within the specifications above.
• Images may be resized as long as the aspect ratio is maintained
• Red-eye removal and spot editing
• One-step enhancement (such as "AutoFix", "QuickFix", "Auto Levels", etc.)
• Use of filters to sharpen, soften, blur, despeckle, or remove noise.
• Use of corrective functions to improve the natural appearance of the image, such as levels, contrast, brightness, curves, intensity, tone, hue, saturation, lightness, value, color balance, and tint.

Additional Terms and Conditions

USArts is not responsible for computer system, hardware, software, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, or delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Furthermore, USArts is not responsible for: (i) lost, misdirected, misplaced, illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, or late entries or (ii) any act, failure to act, or delay regarding the transmitting or processing of entries. USArts reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend all or any portion of this contest without notice if factors beyond USArt’s control, including technical difficulties, disrupt or corrupt the fair or secure administration or operation of the contest. Void where prohibited. USArts is entitled to interpret these rules as needed and its decisions are final. USArts reserves the right to disqualify any entrant that USArts has reason to believe is not the original work of entrant, or does not otherwise meet the contest rules. If a winner is disqualified or determined to be ineligible, an alternate winner will be selected using the same judging process/criteria described above. Alternate winners are subject to all requirements set forth in these Official Rules.
By participating in the contest, you agree to release and hold harmless USArts and its employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind resulting from your participation in this contest, including infringement of intellectual property rights. USArts and its employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies assume no responsibility or liability for any damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind arising in whole or in part from this contest.