General Rules and Regulations

Rules and Regulations

Indonesia World Underwater Photo Contest 2013

 

 

  1. General Rules and Regulations:
  1. Indonesia World Underwater Photo Contest (IWUPC) 2013 is open to entrants of all skill levels; however staff and family members of the judges and photo contest committee members are not allowed to enter the contest.
  2. Submission to IWUPC 2013 is free of charge.
  3. All images submitted must be the work of the photographer named on the Registration Form.
  4. All images submitted must be taken between 01 January to 30 November 2013.
  5. All images submitted must be taken in Indonesia and submitted through the Participating Dive Operator to the IWUPC Committee. Entries sent directly to the IWUPC Committee without PDO Verification will not be considered.
  6. Submitted images must have been taken whilst Entrants dived with the Participating Dive Operator and be accompanied by the local Dive Leader provided by the PDO.
  7. All images must be taken in a natural water environment such as a lake or ocean (not a pool, aquarium, or any kind of controlled environment).
  8. Entries in the “People and Marine Conservation” category must be taken in a natural environment, not in a studio.
  9. All subjects must be alive and in their natural environment. No captive animals will be considered and no entrapment of any kind is permissible.
  10. Each individual can win one prize only. Any Entrant with multiple winning entries will be awarded the prize of the highest value.
  11. All judges’ decisions are final and not open for debate.
  12. Winners will be announced and prizes awarded by the third week of December 2013.

 

 

  1. Conservation Rules and Regulations:

IWUPC is adopting the EPIC (Environmental Protection Through Incentives and Commerce) conservation rules established by the Center for Environment, Economy, and Society at Columbia University. Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photograph. Conservation rules will apply to all entrants as well as the dive leader supervising the dives during the event, and decisions will be final:

Any Entrant and/or Dive Leader suspected of exhibiting the following behaviour will be disqualified:

  1. Diver(s) visibly damaging the environment (eg: dangling or dragging gear, kicking up sand);
  2. Animals with signs of stress (eg: puffed puffers, inking octopus);
  3. Animals moved to an unnatural environment or risky location;
  4. Animals being fed;
  5. Marine life being touched (eg: coral polyps, handling sea snakes);
  6. Diver(s) exhibiting poor buoyancy control.

 

  1. Images and Submission Regulations:
  1. Photo
  1. Scanned slides are not allowed.
  2. Images captured from video are not allowed.
  3. Photoshop (or similar imaging software) can only be used as follows:
    1. Allowed:
      1. Basic adjustment: colour temperature, brightness, contrast, minimal dodge & burn, sharpening, saturation changes, tonal adjustment, colour balance, and changes that can be made using Camera RAW converter;
      2. Rotation;
      3. Limited removal of backscatter and lens flare. Removing anything other than backscatter is not allowed;
      4. Cropping not more than 10% from the original image size (will be proved by comparison with the original image); and
      5. Black and White Images.

 

  1. Not Allowed:
    1. Adding any other images and/or effect, glow to simulate flash light, diver, animal, etc;
    2. Blurring;
    3. Double exposure;
    4. Masking;
    5. Stitching;
    6. Frame or borders around the image; and
    7. Watermark.
  1. Photo Submission
  1. Images submitted must be in JPEG format (no RAW or TIFF), with a minimum image size of one (1) MB.
  2. Each entrant may enter several categories but each image may be entered in only one (1) category.
  3. For each dive area, each entrant is allowed to send up to five (5) images per category per PDO.
  4. All images submitted must include the EXIF data (including date and time of capture, exposure, copyright info, camera model, etc) in each individual image.
  5. All images must be stored in one folder for each category with the following name format: Entrant’s name—ID number—category (eg: johndoe—31590xxx—compactplusmacro).
  6. Images must be submitted along with a completed IWUPC 2013 Application Form. Please obtain the form from the Participating Dive Operator (PDO), then give the completed form and images file to your PDO. Your PDO will email or mail them to IWUPC Committee.
  7. Alternatively, you may ask your PDO to complete the “PDO Verification” section, then you can complete the application form and submit your images online at www.indonesiaunderwatercontest.com. To submit online you must include the “PDO Verification” (photographed or scanned). Without a certified copy of “PDO Verification” we cannot accept your application.
  8. The IWUPC Committee will send a confirmation email to the entrant as soon as the committee has received the Participant Entrant Form, Survey sheet and image(s).
  9. Images submitted on a CD/DVD/Flash Drive must use registered mail service. The IWUPC committee is not responsible for any images lost during mailing.
  10. The IWUPC Committee has the right to ask for any original image file(s) from the entrant. Failure to provide the original file(s) may result in disqualification.
  11. Entrants with winning images will be asked to provide the original RAW file or original camera file. Failure to provide the file(s) may result in disqualification.
  12. All images must be sent by Nov 30th, 2013 (registered mail) and Nov 30th, 2013 (electronic). All images received after Nov 30th, 2013 24.00 will not be considered.

 

  1. Contest Categories:
  1. Compact Category

“Compact camera” is defined as any “point and shoot” camera with small sensors (less than 35mm), internal flash and unchangeable lens.

The category consists of 3 criteria :

A1: Basic Compact

This category is for images taken with a basic compact camera using only  an underwater housing with no accessories attached. The lighting may use the internal flash from the camera.

A2: Compact Plus Wide

This category is for images taken with basic compact camera in an underwater housing with additional wide angle wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

 “Wide angle shot” is defined as any image that shows a wider angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor), including over-under shots and close up - wide angle shots.

A3: Compact Plus Macro

This category is for images taken with a basic compact camera in an underwater housing with additional macro wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

 ‘Macro shot” is defined as any image that shows a narrower angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor). Macro images resulting from excessive cropping will be disqualified (See C. Image and Submission Regulations above).

 

  1. DSLR Category

“DSLR” is defined as any camera with the capability for lens change, cameras with a sensor size less than or equal to 35mm, and may be with or without attached flash. Mirrorless cameras (Olympus PEN, Sony NEX) are also in this category.

The category consists of 2 criteria :

B.1 :DSLR – Wide

This category is for images taken with a DSLR (Digital SLR) camera in an underwater housing with additional wide angle wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

 “Wide angle shot” is defined as any image that shows a wider angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor), including over-under shots and close up - wide angle shots.

     B.2:  DSLR – Macro

This category is for images taken with a DSLR (Digital SLR) camera in an underwater housing with additional macro wet lenses and/or with external flash attached.

“Macro shot” is defined as any image that shows a narrower angle of view than the human eye (50mm focal length lens in 35mm size sensor), Macro images resulting from excessive cropping will be disqualified (See C. Image and Submission Regulations above).

  1. People and Marine Conservation Category

This category is also open to non-divers and is for images taken with any camera. The image does not have to be an underwater image.

The image(s) must portray people and/or marine conservation issues such as: protection of marine life, community involvement in marine conservation, people active in the marine environment setting, and (positive or negative) human and animal interaction. There is no minimum age for non-underwater shots.

  1. Junior Category

This category is for Entrants aged under 15 years old using any type of underwater camera. The participant must be under 15 years old at the time of submission.

Junior participants must dive under the supervision of a parent/guardian or dive professional as specified in his/her certification requirement. Junior participants with no valid dive certification are not allowed to participate.

 

  1. Disclaimer, Copy Right and Image Usage
  1. By entering the IWUPC 2013, the Entrant represents, acknowledges and warrants that the submitted image(s) is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the image(s) does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any persons or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the image(s).
  2. The entrant/copyright holder of the image(s) is responsible for the Model Release (if any).
  3. Ownership and copyright of all entries remain with the photographer. For promotional purposes, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia reserves the right to use and to publish (without compensation) submitted images, in print, electronic format or online. This includes, but limited to the contest and future contest promotion. The winning pictures may be used without any further compensation to all kind of public relations, promotions and publication in any media, exhibition, printing in brochures, books, and future contest promotion. The rightful photographer’s name will be credited on every published image. Winning images may be included in a press release for third party websites and publications.
  4. Each participant is responsible for his/her own safety and appropriate diving practices, the use of his/her diving equipment and photographic equipment. The Indonesian Government, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, the IWUPC Committee and its affiliates do not endorse that diving is safe and do not recommend any particular location to dive. Each participant must follow safe diving rules and use his/her own judgment regarding diving safety.
  5. Some diving areas in Indonesia have limited (or no) emergency facilities and may take several hours for evacuation. All participants must be fully aware of this situation before engaging in any remote area diving.
  6. All participants are advised to have personal accident and evacuation insurance.
  7. By submitting his/her image(s), the entrant understands and agrees to all the Rules and Regulations relating to the IWUPC 2013.
  8. The IWUPC Committee reserves the right to change, alter, or modify these Rules and Regulations at any time.
 
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