The Merrimack River Watershed Council announces their 2021 Photo Contest

Monday May 03, 2021

The Merrimack River Watershed Council (MRWC) has announced their 2021 Photo Contest. This is your opportunity to explore all the Merrimack River has to offer and share it with the community. The contest runs from May 1 through May 31. Anyone with a camera can enter.

The photo contest is dedicated to promoting the river’s beauty, wildlife, and recreational enjoyment. It supports the mission of protecting the community from the dangers of contamination in the water and engaging residents in preserving this vital natural resource. By submitting a photo you grant MRWC the rights to use it.

Photo Contest Rules 

  1. Each photo must be submitted through communications@merrimack.org with the subject line MRWC Photo Contest 2021_fullname. There are no limits on numbers of submissions. Please be sure to review all the Rules and Terms and fill out all required fields when submitting photos.
  2. All photos must contain the a) photographer’s name, b) contact information, c) location of the image taken, d) the categories in which the photo is to be judged, and e) 2-3 sentences about what is going on in the photo and why you took it.
  3. The files must be original image files and in jpg file format.
  4. Use the tagline #MerrimackPhotoContest2021if you’re sharing your photo on Facebook or Instagram for more visibility.
  5. If your photo has a picture of a person or persons under 18 years old, you must email volunteer@merrimack.org the photo waiver. To see the waiver form visit here.
  6. The deadline for submitting the entries is May 31, 2021.
  7. The image will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact, and artistic merit. Judges will consist of a panel of qualified individuals. MRWC shall determine winner eligibility at its sole and absolute discretion. All decisions made by the judges are final.
  8. All the participating photos will be published on Facebook, Instagram and our website.
  9. Photo Winner for each category will be widely recognized on the MRWC website and all social media platforms. Photo winners will also receive a surprise gift.

Categories 

– Merrimack Landscape

– Wildlife

– People in Nature

– Pollution

– This is What Climate Change Looks Like

Winners will be announced in early June, 2021

General Conditions 

By submitting a Photograph to the 2021 Merrimack River Watershed Council Photography Contest, you agree to the following:

  1. You represent and warrant that: a) You are the sole and exclusive author and owner of the Photograph and all rights therein; b) You have the full and exclusive right, power, and authority to submit the Photograph and to grant MRWC the rights granted herein, including a worldwide copyright license, upon the terms and conditions set herein; c) No rights in the Photograph have been previously granted to any person, firm, corporation or other entity, or otherwise encumbered such that the prior grant would limit or interfere with the rights granted to the Sponsor herein; e) No part of your Photograph defames or invades the privacy or publicity rights of any person, living

or deceased, or otherwise infringes upon any third party’s copyright, trademark or other personal or property rights; f) No part of your photograph contains or was taken through the illegal activity of any kind.

  1. You acknowledge that: a) Sponsor has the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Photograph at any time if they determine that the Photograph is offensive, inappropriate, or contrary to the Sponsor’s reputation, or that you or your Photograph have not complied with any of the Official Rules; b) Sponsor is not responsible for misdirected, incomplete, lost, late, undelivered, inaccurate, illegible, or delayed Submissions, for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions, for human, mechanical, typographical, printing, electronic, or network errors, for errors which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing of Submissions, the announcement of prizes, or any other errors, any of which may limit or affect your ability to participate in the Contest; c) Sponsor has the right to modify, suspend or cancel the Contest in the event that it becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to suspend the Contest, modify the Contest to address the impairment then resume the Contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules, and/or cancel the Contest in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized access, fraud, technical failures, acts of God, epidemics, or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, or integrity of the Contest. If the Contest is suspended, Sponsor may select winners from the set of all non suspect, eligible Submissions received up to the date of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above; d) You may be disqualified from entering the Contest if it is determined by the Sponsor that you engaged in false or deceptive acts; e) Mass entries generated by script, macro or use of automated devices will be disqualified; f) By entering the Contest, you are not creating a confidential or fiduciary relationship with the Sponsor; g) Sponsor may itself create other artwork, receive Submissions from other Entrants for this Contest, or receive Photographs from third parties in connection with Sponsor’s customary business that are similar or identical to your Photograph in theme, idea, format or other respects. You waive any and all claims you may have now or may have in the future that your Photographs are substantially similar in theme, idea or format to any Photographs or other artwork in Sponsor’s possession; and, h) Sponsor and its designees have the right, unless prohibited under law, to use your name, city and state of residence, voice, picture and likeness, without compensation, notification or approval, for the purpose of advertising and publicizing the Sponsor’s goods and services and publicizing the contest, in any manner or medium, now or hereafter known, worldwide and in perpetuity.
  2. If any Photograph in your submission contains any material or elements not owned by you, or which are subject to the rights of third parties, you are responsible, before submitting the Photograph, for obtaining any releases necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Photograph in all the manners contemplated by these Official Rules, including, without limitation, permission to use the name and likeness of any person who appears or is identifiable in the Photograph. You may be required to provide proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to MRWC, and if you fail to provide such proof within seven days of request by MRWC, your Photograph will be disqualified.
  3. You irrevocably grant to MRWC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to use the Photograph, including all associated use, reproduction, distribution, sublicense, derivative works, and commercial and non-commercial exploitation rights in any media now known or hereafter invented, including, but not limited to: a) all MRWC websites, blogs, and social media, slideshows, brochures, newsletters, articles, reports, calendars, publications, and solicitations. You may be required to execute any documents necessary to perfect such rights in the Sponsor.
  4. You hereby release MRWC, its subsidiaries, affiliates and divisions, and its respective directors, officers, employees, and agents from any liability, loss, or damage arising from or in connection with your participation or attempt to participate in the Contest, and/or the awarding, receipt, use or misuse of a Prize or participation in any Prize-related activities; from claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy; and from claims based on the infringement of or protection of the copyright in your Submission.
  5. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Sponsor against any claims by any third party related to a breach of any of these General Conditions, including, but not limited to, a claim of ownership of any copyright, trademark, or any person or property rights, libel, defamation, invasion of privacy or right of publicity, or your failure to pay taxes on any Prize.
  6. The Sponsor and its subsidiaries, affiliates, and divisions, and their respective directors, officers, employees, attorneys, representatives, and agents make no warranties, and hereby disclaim all warranties, express or implied, concerning the Contest and any Prize furnished or awarded in connection with the Contest, including, but not limited to, MRWC’s ability to award a Prize due to its bankruptcy, insolvency or failure to continue its business. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, PRIZES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND THE CONTEST

ENTITIES HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND/OR NON INFRINGEMENT.

  1. If your Photograph is determined by MRWC in its sole discretion to be ineligible at any time during or after the Contest Entry Period, that Photograph will be removed from the judging. If your Photograph is found to have been ineligible after it was awarded a Prize, you agree to return the Prize or the value of such Prize to MRWC immediately following notification of ineligibility. If you are disqualified by MRWC in its sole discretion for a violation of any of these Official Rules at any time during or after the Contest Entry Period, all of your Submissions will be disqualified from the Contest and, if any of your Submissions were awarded a prize, you agree to return the Prize or the value of such Prize to MRWC immediately following notification of disqualification.

Ethical wildlife Photography
MRWC encourages every photographer to practice responsible bird photography. A Photograph that appears to the Sponsor or Judges to reflect one of the following situations is not eligible for Submission and, if submitted, will be disqualified at MRWC’s sole discretion. That includes:

  • animals that appear to be stressed or harassed by the photographer
  • animals at nests or dens taken with a wide-angle or macro lens
  • beach-nesting birds, including but not limited to solitary flightless chicks and adults brooding, feeding, or incubating chicks, where the photographer’s distance appears to be closer than approximately 25 yards
  • birds or other wildlife lured with bait. “Bait” includes live animals (such as snakes, fish, mice, crickets, worms), dead animals or parts of animals, processed meat, and decoys such as fake mice.
  • nocturnal animals were taken with a flash at night
  • birds photographed/filmed by or with drones
  • birds or other animals photographed/filmed with a remotely triggered camera that uses a direct flash or for which bait or another lure has been supplied to attract the animal. Setting a camera trap around a fresh kill or cache is generally acceptable, as is the use of a flash with a filter that only lets through infrared light.

Judges will consider focal length, crop factor, species, and other variables to decide whether a shot was ethically obtained. Judges’ decisions are final.
Privacy
Personal information collected from online entries is subject to MRWC’s Privacy Policy. Look for our announcement on social media. We will be posting the winners on our Facebook, Instagram, and website. Winners will be notified either in a private message through Instagram or Facebook, or be sent an email.

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