10th Annual Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest Guidelines 2021
Enter the 10th Annual Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest
and Celebrate Our Marine Protected Areas With Us
Everyone has a chance to win! And after the winning photos are chosen, all remaining photographs will be entered into a public vote, Best of the Rest, on our Facebook page. We want to hear from you! This year we are honoring the many local businesses who have sponsored our contest. It’s been a tough year for them and we want to give something back in appreciation of their support. We will be awarding cash prizes this year so winners will be able to spend their award monies at one or more of our local businesses.- $500 to First Prize Winners in Professional and Amateur Categories
- $300 to Second Prize Winners in Professional and Amateur Categories
- $150 to Third Prize Winners in Professional and Amateur Categories
- Laguna Bluebelt and Cox Refillable Yeti Water Bottles to Honorable Mentions and Winner of Best of the Rest Contest
It’s simple to participate.
Just upload your photo and information to our photo contest website at Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest
or www.contest.lagunabluebelt.org beginning August 25 through September 22, 2021.
Please be sure to follow these easy rules-
- Photo categories include Amateur and Professional. To qualify for the Professional category, you must be paid for or sell your images, while shooting either full-time or part-time.
- Your photo must have been taken within or of Laguna’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) between the dates of August 22, 2020 and September 22, 2021 (one year and a month before contest ends)
- Starting on August 25, 2021 and ending September 22, 2021 upload your photo from our Photo Contest webpage at www.contest.lagunabluebelt.org. or Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest. You will be asked for your name, email, mailing address, phone number, location and date of your photo and which category you are entering, Amateur or Professional. You photo should be between 1.5 and 5 megabytes and be a jpg or png file format. You will receive a confirmation at the bottom of the submission form that your entry was successful. If you have difficulty entering the contest, please contact us at info@lagunabluebelt.org.
- Submit only one photo per person. Photos must be a single work of original material taken by the contest entrant between August 22, 2020 and September 22, 2021 (one year and a month before contest ends). The photo cannot be watermarked with the photographers name or studio in order for the photo to remain anonymous to the judges.
- The photo can be taken on the beach, underwater, on a kayak or SUP and of any subject you wish. It can be of anything within one of our MPAs that interests you. It could include your family and friends enjoying the beach, the tidepools or ocean, the birds or marine life that depend on it, just any part of this special place.
- Judges will place emphasis upon photos that celebrate our ocean environment and promote awareness and respect for the Laguna Bluebelt. Winners will be selected based on aesthetic value, unique representation of our Marine Protected Areas and technical skill. The judges are looking for images that depict Laguna’s MPAs in a creative, interesting, new and fun way. Care should be given to the overall strength of composition, show a compelling point of interest within the image, have the main subject be in sharp focus unless motion blur is used for creative purposes, tell a story if possible with your image and make use of an appealing quality of light. Sunsets for the sake of taking a sunset are discouraged.
- We are adopting the Conservation Rules established by EPIC®. Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo. Please observe the City of Laguna Beach and County laws regulating the use of Drones and other similar activities. A City permit or FAA Remote Pilot Certificate may be required for drones, however, they can be flown over the ocean.
- Observing wild dolphins, porpoises, and seals from safe distances of at least 50 yards (150 feet)
- Observing large whales from a safe distance of at least 100 yards (300 feet)
- Limit overall viewing time to no more than 30 minutes
- Avoid touching or swimming with wild marine mammals, even if they approach you
- By submitting to this contest, photographers agree that their photos can be used by the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition and the photographer retains all copyrights. Entry constitutes permission to the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition to publish and otherwise use the photo for all public relations, education and marketing purposes. The photographs will not be used for any commercial purposes without permission. Winning photos will be displayed on the Bluebelt website, Facebook pages, newspapers and in newsletters and will be exhibited at an Artist Reception, October 22, 2021 at the Forest and Ocean Gallery. If the winning photographers desire, their photos may be listed for sale with a 25% donation to the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition.
- Due to the Coronavirus, we encourage photographers to adhere to State and local public health regulations. We encourage you to look through old photos you’ve taken of better times before COVID 19 or taken from a safe distance that adheres to EPIC regulations and submit a photo of our MPAs. The contest gives us the opportunity to remember the beauty and importance of the ocean. Remember to stay safe and take care of one another.
- A Special Thanks to Our Sponsors from 2012 to 2020!
Friend’s Corner
We are honored that Sylvia Earle would enthusiastically wear a "Reserve Laguna" button to indicate her support for our efforts.
She has been called "Her Deepness" by the New Yorker and the New York Times, "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress, and the first "Hero for the Planet," is an oceanographer, explorer, author...Learn More
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