Conditions of entry
1. Entrants:
Any person over the age of 18 may enter by submitting digiscoping images in accordance with the conditions of entry specified at www.digiscoperoftheyear.com. Employees of SWAROVSKI OPTIK and their relatives are not permitted to enter the competition.
2. Closing date for entries:
The closing date for the competition is 31 October 2010. This shall be determined on the basis of the login date to the SWAROVSKI OPTIK website www.digiscoperoftheyear.com.
Results will be announced online at the beginning of 2011 at www.digiscoperoftheyear.com. SWAROVSKI OPTIK will also notify the winners in writing/by e-mail.
3. Equipment:
Cameras:
Any type of digital camera may be used, from compact digital cameras to bridge or digital SLR cameras.
Telescopes:
All conventional telescopes and eyepieces may be used for this competition.
4. Images:
For the purpose of this competition, digiscoping images are defined as digital photographs of wildlife taken with a digital camera through the eyepiece of an observation telescope.
The following information must be provided for each image submitted:
- Name, address, telephone number, e-mail address of the photographer/person entering the image
- Length of digiscoping experience - optional
- Details of the camera model used (brand, model name)
- Details of the telescope used (brand, model name)
- Details of the eyepiece used (brand, model name)
- Details of the adapter used (brand, model name) - optional
- Time and place the image was captured - optional
- Approximate distance from subject - optional
- Species name (type)
- Images may only be entered by uploading the files at www.digiscoperoftheyear.com.
Photographs that have been digitally manipulated may not be entered into the competition. However, aspects such as contrast, brightness or sharpness may be retouched. The original image must be available in unedited format and in printable resolution (at least 2 MB data volume) and may be required by the jury prior to any award being given. At the request of the jury, the original image must also be submitted if the picture is selected for publication.
Images which were awarded prizes in the previous year's competition are excluded from this year's selection.
5. Selection criteria:
The conditions of entry must be adhered to. Selection criteria include the image sharpness, subject matter relevance (images of wildlife in natural surroundings) and the aesthetic aspects of the images entered.
Photos submitted to us without the additional information specified above shall not be considered.
Entrants are also asked to submit a comparison photo which was not taken through an observation telescope and which therefore gives an idea of the distance from the digiscoping subject and its surroundings. This optional extra image is of interest and is specifically required with regard to publication.
If images of protected animal species are entered, a permit from the organisation responsible for monitoring the species must also be provided.
6. Copyright:
The 20 best images will be published, along with the names of the photographers, on the SWAROVSKI OPTIK homepage at www.digiscoperoftheyear.com.
By entering an image into the competition, the entrant transfers to SWAROVSKI OPTIK the right to use the image (provided the photographer is named) for its website, for SWAROVSKI OPTIK promotional material and for editorial articles in magazines, should this image be selected by the jury. This is based on the condition that the entrant is able to transfer the rights to the image.
The entrant fully acknowledges the conditions of entry. The entrant confirms that the submission of the images does not infringe any third party rights such as copyrights.
7. Data protection:
By entering the images, the entrant agrees that the information specified in section 4 may be entered into the SWAROVSKI OPTIK KG database and used by SWAROVSKI OPTIK for the occasional distribution of informational material. This consent may be withdrawn by contacting info@swarovskioptik.at
8. Right of appeal:
Only the best image submitted by each entrant may be considered for a prize. The decision of the international jury is final, with no right of appeal.
The organiser is SWAROVSKI OPTIK KG, 6067 Absam, Austria.
9. Jury
The names and details of members of the jury will be published on the homepage www.digiscoperoftheyear.com at the beginning of the competition. Visitors may also register at www.digiscoperoftheyear.com. Registration allows visitors to select and rate their 10 favourite images after the competition closing date (31 October 2010). Together, the ratings of all visitors/entrants will be deemed equivalent to a vote cast by a member of the jury at the final evaluation stage.
10. Evaluation
SWAROVSKI OPTIK reserves the right to exclude anyone who enters multiple ratings (same personal details with various e-mail addresses) from the evaluation process.
11. Prizes:
The best 20 images (places 1 to 20) will be published with the photographer's name on the SWAROVSKI OPTIK DIGISCOPER OF THE YEAR homepage. For each image published, the entrant shall receive a publication fee of EUR 300.
The three entrants chosen as 'Digiscoper of the Year 2010' will receive the following products from SWAROVSKI OPTIK as prizes:
1st prize: Complete set of SWAROVSKI OPTIK digiscoping equipment (telescope, eyepiece, adapter, telescope rail, tripod CT 101 + DH 101)
2nd prize: SWAROVSKI OPTIK binoculars EL 42 SWAROVISION
3rd prize: SWAROVSKI OPTIK binoculars EL 32
These prizes may not be redeemed for cash.