Competition Rules

1. The organiser of the 2019 Photography Competition (Competition) is the Swan Hill Trotting Club.

2. All persons, including where that person is under the age of 18, their parent and/or guardian, (Entrants) who enter photographs in the Competition must comply with these rules (Rules) to be eligible for shortlisting or award of prizes.

 

Who may enter?

3. Unless noted otherwise in these rules, entry is open to any person. Persons under the age of 18 years must obtain the consent of a parent or guardian and produce evidence of this if requested by the Organisers.

4. Entrants may be of any nationality.

5. Staff of the Swan Hill Trotting Club involved in organising the Competition, Sponsors listed on the Official Competition Website, any other companies involved with the administration of the Competition or its prizes and judges of the Competition, and their immediate family members, are ineligible to enter.

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Submission of entries

7. Entries must be submitted via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #SHcup.  Entrants must follow and like Swan Hill Trotting Clubs official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. 

8. Entries open at 4.30pm on Thursday 25 October 2019 Australian Eastern Standard Time and must be received by the Competition closing time which is 4.30 pm on Friday 30 October 2019, Australian Eastern Standard Time.

9. All photos must relate to the 2019 Swan Hill Trotting Club Cup.  All photos must be taken at the track on the night of the Cup.  

10. Entry into the Competition constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of the Rules and any other entry requirements on the Official Competition Website.  

Categories and entry limits

11. All images will be judged according to the same rules in one overall category.

12. An Entrant may submit as many entries as they see fit. 

Image Requirements

13. Images entered into the Competition must:

• be taken at the Swan Hill Trotting Club track on 25 October 2019

• not have been taken using harmful or unethical practices. 

14. Images must be the original and exclusive work of the Entrant, including artistic manipulations, which must not infringe the rights of any third party. Entrants agree to indemnify the Organisers and/or Sponsors against all costs or loss suffered as a result of any claim by a third party arising from the Entrant's photo and/or a breach of these Rules by the Entrant.

15. Images may be colour or monochrome.

16. Images captured with multiple exposures (taken consecutively at the same time at the same location), for example, HDR, focus stacking or panoramas are acceptable.

17. Images obtained with drones are ineligible. Images taken with a camera triggered by the photographer using a remote control are acceptable.

18. Images that have been manipulated by the addition, removal or alteration (for example by painting over, cloning or blurring) of anything in the original subject and scene that were photographed are acceptable.

19.  Each image must also:​​

• not contain borders, signatures or watermarks;

• be obtained lawfully and in a way that minimises disruption to racegoers, participants and horses.

20. Images that do not meet one or more of the Image Requirements set out in these Rules, or are suspected of the same, will be disqualified from further consideration without notice to the Entrant. The Organisers reserve the right to amend the Rules and to waive a breach of the Rules at their absolute and sole discretion. Failure by the Organisers to enforce any of its rights under the Rules of the Competition at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

Judging

21. Judging will be performed by a panel of judges appointed by the Organisers. Judging will be based on standard criteria such as overall visual impact, aesthetic qualities including composition, originality and technical expertise. Entrants will be advised of the outcome after judging is completed. Any entrant that contacts a judge while the competition is open or during the judging phase will be disqualified. Entries that have not met or are strongly suspected of not meeting the competition rules will not proceed to the judging phase. The Organisers reserve the right to eliminate from judging entries of low technical quality (for example  poorly focused or exposed images).

22. Entrants whose images are shortlisted by the judges may be required to produce the original unaltered camera image in camera RAW format (or other format, such as unaltered JPEG if RAW was not used) so that compliance with the Rules can be assessed. Failure to supply any original image requested within 2 weeks of such request may result in disqualification by the Organisers. Judges and the Organisers will have sole discretion as to whether an image entered into the competition has been in compliance with the Rules.

23. Entrants who have an image or images shortlisted must treat that information in confidence until advised by the Organisers. Failure to do so may result in such entries being disqualified.

24. In the event that none of the images reach a standard acceptable to the judges, the judges may decide not to award a prize.

Copyright and Usage of images submitted to the competition

25. By entering the competition, Entrants grant to the Organisers and their Sponsors a perpetual, non-exclusive, irrevocable licence to use their images without payment for any purpose connected with:

• judging the Competition;

• promotion of the Competition; and/or

• promoting the sport of harness racing

26. For the purposes set out in rule 25, above, the Organisers may crop or resize an image. If the Organisers require a higher resolution copy of the image than that originally submitted for the competition, the Entrant will take reasonable steps to supply the same to the Organisers.

General terms

29. The Organisers will make reasonable efforts to conduct the Competition as outlined in the Rules and on the official Competition website but will not be liable for any loss in the event the Competition is rescheduled, modified (including by changing the Rules), or cancelled, to the extent permitted under Australian law.

30.  All communication with entrants will be via the email address provided by the Entrant during the entry process. The Organisers will not be liable for any loss if contact is unsuccessful due to circumstances outside of the Organisers’ control.

31. All prizes must be accepted as offered and are not transferrable. Any taxes, bank charges or other costs associated with the entrant receiving a prize are the sole responsibility of the Entrant.

32. Unless there has been prior agreement with the Organisers, prizes must be claimed within 6 months of the announcement of winners and if not, will be forfeited.