Student Photo Contest Rules

2023 “Adventures in Nature” Student Photography Contest Rules

SPONSOR
Co-sponsors are Arizona Highways Magazine, 2039 W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, 85009, USA; and The Nature Conservancy, 1819 E. Morten Ave., #100, Highway, Phoenix, Arizona, 85020, USA; and Cox Communications, 1550 W Deer Valley Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85020  ("Co-sponsors"). 

TERM
The 2023 Adventures in Nature Student Photography Contest (the “Contest”) begins March 1, 2023, at 12:00:00 p.m. and ends April 12, 2023, 11:59:59 p.m. Information on content, how to enter and prizes form part of these official rules (“Official Rules”). By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. This is a skill-based contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

WHO MAY ENTER
The Contest is open only to amateur, student photographers between the ages of 13 and 18 with parents’ permission. Employees of Arizona Highways, the Nature Conservancy or Cox Communications and their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible.  

CONTENT
This Contest is only for images made in Arizona. 

HOW TO ENTER
For help and guidelines on how to prepare images for submission, please follow this link.

Each entry consists of an entry form and a single image. To enter, visit www.arizonahighways.com/adventures-nature; complete an entry form with the required information, including your name as you want it to appear if you win, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and photo caption naming the location where the photo was taken; and submit along with your photograph in accordance with the instructions that follow.

There is a limit of two (2) photographs per student. Each entry must comply with the following requirements (the "Photograph Requirements"):

• Photographs must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible. No print or film submissions will be accepted for entry into this Contest. The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files entered should be about 5-25 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG or JPG format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image).
• Minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable. Hand tinting is acceptable, as is cropping. Fish-eye lenses are acceptable. High dynamic range images (HDR) are acceptable only if the combined parts are all made around the same time. Any changes to the original Photograph not itemized here are unacceptable and will render the Photograph ineligible for a prize.
• The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph.
• The photograph must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsor, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content.
• The photograph must not contain a watermark, copyright symbol, date or other markings.
• The photograph must not have been previously published in a print publication available in Arizona.

Entries will be judged separately, in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below. All entries must be submitted and received by April 12, 2023, at 11:59:59 p.m. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt. Entries must be made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, internet domain owner, or other person or organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. Sponsor reserves the right to examine the original photograph/source material in order to confirm compliance with these rules. The original must be available on request and suitable for printing at 300 dpi, 9x12.

RELEASES
If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in these Official Rules without additional compensation. 

Upon a co-sponsor's request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Co-sponsor's request) a signed release from the owner of any material that appears in the photograph entry, authorizing Co-sponsor to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known. All releases must be in the form provided by Co-sponsor. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification at any time during the Contest and selection of an alternate winner.

Upon a co-sponsor's request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within seven (7) calendar days of receipt of Co-sponsor's request) a signed written license from the owner of any private property included in the photograph entry, authorizing any Authorized Party to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known. All releases must be in the form provided by Co-sponsor. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. 

For the purposes of these Official Rules, the entrant will be deemed to be in receipt of Co-sponsor's request or notification, (a) in the event that Co-sponsor sends the request by postal mail, five business days after the request was sent by Co-sponsor, or (b) in the event that Co-sponsor sends the request by email, on the day that the email was sent by Co-sponsor.

CONTEST PRIZES
More than $10,000 in prizes. We’ll award cash prizes to be divided among the top ten finalists: First prize - $5,000, 2nd -$2,500, 3rd - $1,500, Honorable Mention (7) - $250. 

No prize transfer, assignment, or substitution by winners permitted. If a prize (or part of a prize) is unavailable, the Sponsor, in its discretion, reserves the right to substitute the original prize (or that part of the prize) with an alternative prize to the equal monetary value and/or specification, unless to do so would be prohibited by law. NONCOMPLIANCE OR RETURN OF PRIZE NOTIFICATION AS UNDELIVERABLE, WHETHER BY REGULAR MAIL OR BY EMAIL, MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION AND SELECTION OF AN ALTERNATE POTENTIAL WINNER.

JUDGING
Pictures are judged anonymously — there is no personal information included with them during the judging process. Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, photographic quality, and effectiveness in conveying the unique character of the subject. Winners will be chosen on or around May 1, 2023 Decisions of the judges are final and binding.

LICENSE
By entering the Contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to Authorized Parties, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: publication in Arizona Highways magazine, Nature Conservancy or Cox publications or online highlighting entries or winners of the Contest; in Arizona Highways’ newsletters; on the Arizona Highways, Nature Conservancy or Cox blog, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr; or publication in the form of slides on television. Entrants consent to the Co-sponsors offering images for free downloads and as computer wallpaper.  Entrants consent to the Co-sponsors doing or omitting to do any act that would otherwise infringe the entrant’s “moral rights” in their entries. Display or publication of any entry on an Authorized Party’s website does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use. Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to Authorized Parties the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Contest, and pictures or likenesses of Contest entrants, or choose not to do so, at their sole discretion. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
By entering this Contest, all entrants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless Arizona Highways and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Contest or any Contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.

Arizona Highways, The Nature Conservancy and Cox Communications assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Contest entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Arizona Highways, The Nature Conservancy and Cox Communications are not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to in this Contest.

CONDITIONS
To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or on connection with this Contest are hereby excluded and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Certain restrictions may apply. Entries void if the Sponsor determines the photograph to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

By entering, entrants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final and binding with respect to all matters relating to the Contest; and (c) if the entrant wins that Co-sponsors may use the winning photographs and each winner's name, photograph, likeness, and/or voice in any publicity or advertising relating to the Contest or future promotions without compensation or approval (except where prohibited by law). All federal, state/provincial/territorial, and local taxes, fees and surcharges and taxes (whether foreign or domestic, and including income, sales, and import taxes) on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible, cannot be traced or does/do not respond within ten (10) days to a winner notification as required by the "Contest Prizes" Rules above, or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and Co-sponsors, in their sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.

The Co-sponsors reserve the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant's identity and address) and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampers with the entry process. Failure by the Co-sponsors to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

RIGHT TO CANCEL OR SUSPEND CONTEST
If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Co-sponsors that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, Co-sponsors reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest. If Co-sponsors elect to cancel or terminate the Contest, Co-sponsors will not retain any rights in the submitted photographs.

WINNERS LIST
Entrants are responsible for complying with these Official Rules. Winners' names will be available online at www.arizonahighways.com/photo contest after May 11, 2023. Winners’ names will also be promoted on-line by Cox Communications and The Nature Conservancy.

DATA PRIVACY
Entrants agree that personal data, especially name and address, may be processed, shared, and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the Contest and any other purposes outlined in these Official Rules. The data may also be used by the Sponsor in order to verify the participant's identity, postal address, and telephone number or to otherwise verify the participant's eligibility to participate in the Contest. Participants have the right to access, review, rectify, or cancel any personal data held by Sponsor by writing to Arizona Highways Magazine, 2039 W. Lewis Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona, 85009. Personal data will be used by Sponsor and its affiliates exclusively for the purposes stated herein.