Terms & Conditions

2023 Calhoun County Photo Contest

Rules, Terms and Conditions

This summer, we call on anyone with a camera to share your view of Calhoun County. We are looking for original photography that captures the faces, wildlife, landscape and critters that can be found visiting or calling Calhoun County home.

Winners will receive cash prizes and their photos will appear in a Calhoun County 2024 Calendar. One winning photo will be selected as the cover of the next Calhoun County Life magazine. Other photos will be featured in marketing and promotional material for Port Lavaca and Calhoun County.

Winning photos and prizes

In addition to a full page photo feature in either the calendar or magazine, winners will receive a cash prize.

  • Grand Prize: 300
  • First Prize: $200
  • Second Prize: $150
  • Third Prize: $100
  • All category winners: $50


People’s Choice Honoree:

The photo contest will provide an opportunity for the public to view the photos that have been entered into the photo contest and vote for their favorite. The photo receiving the highest number of votes will be named the People’s Choice Honoree.
The People’s Choice recipient will receive a $100 prize and will be featured in the Calhoun County Life Magazine.

Agreement to release your photos to the Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce

Your entry in the contest constitutes your agreement to allow the use of your photos in future Port Lavaca/Calhoun County communications and promotions. This use may include calendar, printed postcards, website, collections of winners, online photo features, promotional cards, educational presentations, resources, and publications both online and in print, emails and e-newsletters. Entrants retain ownership and copyright to their photographs. Credit will be given to the photographer where possible.

Eligibility

The Calhoun 2023 Photo Contest is open to everyone, except employees of the Port Lavaca Chamber and the Port Lavaca Wave and their immediate family. Photos must have been taken in 2022 or 2023. Photographers of all ages are encouraged to enter. Contest administrators will have the sole right to judge entrant eligibility and to verify this eligibility for the purpose of selecting contest winners.

Format

Photos must be submitted in horizontal or landscape format to be considered for the calendar. Vertical photos are best for magazine cover.

✓ Photographs should be submitted electronically as high quality jpegs, at a minimum of 72 ppi and 1008 pixels wide using the submission form on the Calhoun County Photo Contest website.

✓ File size for each photograph submitted should not exceed 4MB

✓ If chosen as a finalist, images must be submitted in 300 ppi maximum quality at 12x9 or 9x12 inches for printing.

✓ All photos must be submitted in either JPEG or TIFF format

✓ Only color photos will qualify; no black and white photos will be accepted

✓ Photos must be free of watermarks or other text

✓ Photos that have been digitally altered or manipulated beyond standards will be disqualified

✓Any images not following the above formatting will not be considered

Other Considerations

✓ Previously published material for which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as you still warrant that you retain full rights to the photo. You must disclose when and where the photo appeared previously upon submission.

✓ Photographs must be taken within Calhoun County in 2022 or 2023.

✓ Contestants must be the original photographer and/or owner of the copyright of each photo submitted.

Release required for identifiable people

If people are identifiable in the photo, the contest participant is responsible for the consent of the parties involved. If a photo is selected for print that includes identifiable persons, the photographer must submit a release form from the person or persons in the image with the name, address, and signature of the parties on the release form.

Judging

Images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition and ability to capture the uniqueness of Calhoun County. Decisions made by the judges will be final. The judges will be a qualified panel of photographers and regional leaders.

The photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it actually appeared.

Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standards will be automatically disqualified.

Acceptable are adjustments to color, contrast, brightness and sharpening; removal of dust and scratches; cropping; and use of HDR (high dynamic range), where multiple exposures of the same scene are combined for a greater tonal range. Long or multiple exposure photos of night sky imagery are permitted – and encouraged!

Not acceptable are photo composites (combination of two or more photos, not of the same scene); or the use of artistic digital filters and effects which do not show the scene in its natural way.

Deadline

Online entries can be uploaded to the 2023 Calhoun County Photo Contest website starting June 1, 2023 and no later than midnight on August 31, 2023. Finalists will be contacted in September and will be requested to submit high resolutions images and release forms if applicable. Winners chosen from the list of finalists will appear in the 2024 calendar and/or Calhoun County Life Magazine.

Questions and inquiries about the contest or rules can be emailed to tania@portlavacaevents.com.