The BirdsCaribbean 2019 Photography Contest is open to ALL photographers (aged 18 and over), except board members of BirdsCaribbean and the judges of this contest and the immediate families of such persons. The contest is open to all participants of the conference regardless of residence or citizenship, so long as the laws of their jurisdiction allow participation. Review the updated rules for entering below.

WHAT TO ENTER:

We are looking for striking digital images that radiate our 2019 theme, "Keeping Caribbean Birds Aloft."

We are especially interested in images under the following categories:

“THE ENDEMICS”: Endemic and regional (West Indies) endemic birds of Guadeloupe

“FUN WITH BIRDS AND PEOPLE”: Fun with birds, nature and human interaction (including photographs of people during conference activities, people experiencing and enjoying nature)

“BIRDS AND NATURE”: Natural habitats and landscapes in Guadeloupe, including close-up photography, and birds that are not Guadeloupe endemics

Please do not include photographs of pets or domestic animals, nor images of captive animals.

If you choose to include people in your submission, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary (verbal) releases from the individuals depicted. Entrants must not submit images that involve human nudity, or the willful harassment of wildlife.

HOW TO ENTER:

All images must be submitted via the photo-sharing site Flickr. Here’s how:

Log on: To submit your photos via Flickr, use your Yahoo! ID, Google or Facebook account to login to http://www.flickr.com. If you do not have an account, you can sign-up for free.

Join the BirdsCaribbean Flickr group: go to the home page for the group and click the button that says “+ Join Group”

Upload your image: Click “Upload” in the top near the search bar and upload your entries.

Tag your photos: Browse to the image you wish to submit for the contest and add tags (there is a tags section below the image in the right column). Please add the following tags: BCPhotoContest2019, and the category you are entering (Endemics, FunwithBirdsandPeople OR BirdsandNature), so two tags total (type them as you see them here). Please also include your name, the location where the photo was taken and the subject or title of the photo.

Submit the image: Use the "Send to Group" function above the image to add your photograph to the BirdsCaribbean group.

RULES, ELIGIBILITY AND JUDGING:

This competition is open to all registered participants (full time and part time) of the conference.

All submissions must have been taken during the time of the conference, including the pre- and post-conference events between July 21st and August 3rd, 2019.

• To ensure eligibility for the contest all entries must have a resolution of 2MB or greater.
• Colour, black & white, and edited formats are accepted.
• SIX entries are allowed per participant for EACH CATEGORY, thus you can submit as many as 18 photos total.
• The welfare of the bird always takes priority. Please keep your distance and do not disturb birds!
• No audio playback.
• No flash or other artificial lights may be used.
• Any still photography method is acceptable, including digiscoping, SLR, point-and-shoot, mobile phone, etc.

BirdsCaribbean reserves the right to adjust any deadline(s) as the result of causes beyond its immediate control.

WINNING PHOTOS & PRIZES:

First, second and third prize winners will be selected in each category and there will be one grand prize winner. Images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. The judges are a selected panel of birders, photographers and scientists. All decisions made by the judges are final. The award winning images will be featured online on the BirdsCaribbean website and Flickr site.

Your photographs help BirdsCaribbean protect the Caribbean’s amazing diversity of wildlife, people, plants and habitats and to make the public and policy makers aware of this diversity. Thank you for helping to further our mission through your photography.

YOUR RIGHTS:

As conditions of this permission, BirdsCaribbean shall credit all photographs with the caption "© Person's Name”.

QUESTIONS:

Questions and inquiries about contest rules can be emailed to Andrew Dobson: Andrewdobs@gmail.com. You must read the following rules, terms and legal conditions before submitting any photos!

RULES, TERMS AND LEGAL CONDITIONS:

• By entering, participants agree to indemnify BIRDSCARIBBEAN and its representatives, from any and all third party liability for any injuries, loss, claim, action, demand or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the competition .
• Each entrant in the Contest is responsible for ensuring that he or she has the right to submit the photos that he or she submits to the Contest per these rules.
• BIRDSCARIBBEAN is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information.
• BIRDSCARIBBEAN assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, of entries.
• If, for any reason, the photo competition is not capable of completion as planned, BIRDSCARIBBEAN reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the photo competition.
• By entering, participants agree for BIRDSCARIBBEAN to use all submitted images for their purpose online and in printed matter. The participants do retain the ownership of the photos submitted, and when used, all photographs will be credited to the photographer.