Indiana, Naturally: A Nature Photography Competition
sponsored by The Nature Conservancy/Indiana and the Arts Council of Indianapolis

Deadline to Apply:

Monday, July 11, 2016  11:59 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time

The Arts Council of Indianapolis and The Nature Conservancy/Indiana invite artists to submit photographs and photo-based artworks highlighting the natural beauty of Indiana, to be selected through a competition format for consideration for display at the Indianapolis International Airport for a three-month period beginning in December 2016.

Calendar

• Release of Call to Entries:  June 1, 2016
• Submission deadline: July 11, 2016, 11:59 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time
• Judging: by July 30, 2016
• Proposed artwork approved by the Indianapolis Airport Authority:  by August 31, 2016
• Finalists announced: by September 15, 2016
• Delivery of framed work ready to install:  December 10-11, 2016
• Exhibition:  December 11, 2016 – March 19, 2017
• Pickup of artwork:  March 25, 2017

Details for shipping, delivery and pickup will be sent to artists selected for exhibition.  The Nature Conservancy and the Arts Council of Indianapolis reserve the right to adjust any deadline(s) as a result of causes beyond their control.

Eligibility

The competition is open to professional and amateur photographers regardless of residence or citizenship, so long as the laws of their jurisdiction allow participation and they are able to comply with the rules and procedures of this competition.  Employees of The Nature Conservancy, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and the Indianapolis Airport Authority, and the immediate families of such employees, are not eligible to participate. 

Photographers must be age 13 or older.  Due to copyright licensing requirements and other laws, applicants under age 18 must have a parent or legal guardian available to co-sign the application form and to authorize participation and any applicable agreements.

Applicants must be able to prepare digital files according to the guidelines below and fill out an online entry form, which includes uploading the image files. Applicants must also have reliable access to a valid email address for communication with competition officials.

Restrictions

All submitted artworks must be photographs or photo-based images or artworks.

All photographs must have been shot within the past five years (2012-2016).

The photographed location must be within the State of Indiana. 

All other things being equal, preference will be given to images of The Nature Conservancy preserves within Indiana.  A list of these sites can be found here:  http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/indiana/placesweprotect/index.htm  

If you choose to include people in your submission, you are responsible for obtaining a signed “Model Release” from each person depicted, and you must provide properly signed copies of any Model Release to the Indianapolis Airport Authority if you are selected to participate in the exhibition.  A sample “Model Release” can be found here: http://photography.about.com/od/weeklyassignments/f/modelrelease.htm

Applicants must not submit images that involve the willful harassment of wildlife, damage to the environment by the photographer, putting any person or animal in danger or the impression of such, or infringing upon the rights of any other person.

Divisions

There are three competition divisions, which will be adjudicated separately.

Adult  Professional (AP):  Limited to individuals who make their primary living from the pursuit of photography (commercial or artistic), whether it is nature photography or another form. College or graduate students majoring in a photographic discipline must enter in the Adult Professional category.  Art majors without an extensive photography background may choose to enter either in the Adult Amateur or Adult Professional categories.

Adult Amateur (AA):  Individuals age 18 or older, or age 16-18 and having graduated from high school, who do not pursue photography for their primary living.  College students who have taken one or two undergraduate-level courses in photography, but who do not major in art or photography, should enter in the Adult Amateur category.  Art majors without an extensive photography background may choose to enter either in the Adult Amateur or Adult Professional categories. 

Youth (Y):  Individuals age 13 to 17 at the time of application and having not yet graduated from high school.

Please do not hesitate to email the competition director BEFORE SUBMITTING if you have a question as to the appropriate division under which you should enter.  In addition, you may be asked for further information in order to establish your qualification for a particular division if it is not clear from your application materials.

Categories

Within each division, photographers may submit up to 3 images in each of the following categories, for a total maximum submission of 12 artworks:

• Landscape (L)
• Plant life (P)
• Wildlife in natural habitat (W)
• Artistic (A)

All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization (defined as removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color and contrast, etc.) and are entered into a division other than “Artistic” will be disqualified. Multiple exposures that have been combined to produce a single high dynamic range image are acceptable.  Images that do not meet these requirements may or may not be judged, as determined by the judging panel in its sole discretion.

Digital montages, significantly recolored or enhanced images, images with special visual effects or filters, composite or collaged images, photo-based mixed-media works, or multi-panel images of any kind are allowable but must be submitted in the “Artistic” category.

Each category will be adjudicated separately.  Judges reserve the right to independently recategorize a submitted image during the selection process without notifying the artist.  To avoid this, please contact the competition director BEFORE SUBMITTING if there is a question about which category is appropriate for a particular image.

Images will be judged on originality, composition, overall impact and artistic merit.  The 5-judge panel will be announced after the final date for contest submissions.   The Arts Council of Indianapolis and The Nature Conservancy, upon recommendation from the judging panel, shall determine winner eligibility in their sole and absolute discretion.  Whether any artwork will actually be displayed at the Indianapolis International Airport shall be in the sole and absolute discretion of the Indianapolis International Airport Authority.   All decisions are final.

Presentation

Images selected by the jury panel will be displayed without regard to division or category,  If approved for display, they will be mixed together for maximum aesthetics and placed, at the organizers’ discretion, in one of three locations within the Indianapolis International Airport.  One of these locations is behind the security line and is not accessible by the non-travelling public.

Images selected for exhibition in the Landscape, Plant Life and Wildlife categories must be delivered matted and framed.  Framed sizes must be a minimum of 8” x 10” (or 10” x 8”) and must not exceed 24” x 32” (or 32” x 24”).   Mats should be neutral in color with white, off-white or black preferred. Mat widths must be a minimum of 1-1/2 inches all around. Frame color should be plain silver or (preferred) black metal or dark/black wood.  Framed photographs must arrive with D-rings or a solidly attached wire on the back, or must provide a full-width channel in a metal frame, ready for installation. Sawtooth-type hangers are not acceptable.  Arriving artworks that are not consistent with these presentation guidelines may be excluded from the final exhibition without notice to the selected artist.

For images selected for exhibition from the Artistic category, competition organizers will discuss the proposed presentation individually with the submitting artists.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  All artworks will be displayed in glass display cases, and reflections from the case glass can distract viewers from appreciating the artwork.  To minimize reflections it is preferable, therefore, to ship or deliver framed artworks without any type of glazing—i.e., do not use glass or acrylic sheet in your presentation.  More details on this concern will be sent to accepted artists.

Recognition

The judging panel will designate “Best of” recognition for each division and category, for up to 7 possible recognized images selected from those identified for display. In addition, a special “Nature Conservancy Award” will be granted to recognize the most evocative portrayal of a Nature Conservancy site in Indiana, without regard to division, and the artwork will be featured on The Nature Conservancy’s website. It is possible for one image to receive both a “Best Of” award and the Nature Conservancy Award.  Additional images may receive “Juror’s Award” recognition at the discretion of the jury panel.

The Nature Conservancy will stage a “People’s Choice” award competition via Facebook during the run of the exhibition.  A set of images will be featured each week and “likes” will be collected to determine the award winner.  More details will be sent to the artists whose work has been selected for exhibition.

No cash or monetary prizes will be given.

Copyright and License

The photographer retains full copyright to his or her photographs or photo-based images. However, submission of photographs or photo-based images to the competition implies that the artist, if selected, gives the Indianapolis Airport Authority, The Nature Conservancy, and the Arts Council of Indianapolis a royalty-free, nonexclusive, right and license, in perpetuity, to:

• Use the photographs or photo-based images, without compensation to the artist, on the organizations’ respective websites and in news releases, which may then appear in print or on third party websites, for the purpose of publicizing the resulting exhibition, any of the Indianapolis Airport Authority’s activities, any of The Nature Conservancy’s or the Arts Council of Indianapolis’ activities, and future competitions.
• Use the photographs or photo-based images, without compensation to the artist, in any of the organizations’ respective communications.
• Provide the photographs or photo-based images, without compensation to the artist, to other individuals and organizations for use in news stories, newsletters, reports, slide shows, displays, web pages, and the like.
• Use, in connection with Indiana, Naturally, your name, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications.
• Keep the files provided, and to archive the photographs and photo-based images on CD or in other electronic forms, so that they can be used to support the sponsoring organizations and be properly credited.

The Nature Conservancy, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and the Indianapolis Airport Authority shall endeavor to credit all photographs with the caption "© [Artist's Name]"

How to Apply

Applications will only be received through http://www.callforentry.org. Click on the green button marked “View All Calls,” then search for the competition under the call type “Photography” and the state “Indiana.”  This service is free to use and there is no charge to enter the competition, but in order to apply applicants must set up a personal account and comply with the upload guidelines set by WESTAF, the owner/operator of CaFE.

Image files must be submitted in JPEG format only.  Any aspect ratio is acceptable.  Please submit ONLY the photographic image; there should be no indication of a mat or frame in the submitted file. Please do not include any visible text, signature or watermark.

The images must be sized so that the longest dimension is at least 1900 pixels. The image resolution should be set to “web viewing,” or 72ppi/dpi.  Not sure how to do this?

Try http://webresizer.com/resizer/   or http://pixlr.com/editor/ , check the image sizing tutorial on the CaFE site, or email the competition director to receive a step-by-step Photoshop instruction sheet. This process should result in a file that is approximately 500-600KB.  Do not exceed 3MB in file size per submitted image.

Please name your files in the following format: LastName-Division-Category-Title.jpg

EXAMPLE:  The artist named Stacy Smith is under 18, has not yet graduated high school, and is submitting 2 photographs in the Landscape division and 1 in the Wildlife division.  The filenames would be as follows: 

Smith-Y-L-Title1.jpg
Smith-Y-L-Title2.jpg
Smith-Y-W-Title3.jpg

Naming your files correctly will ensure efficient organization for the judging process and proper association of artwork to the applicant artist.  If we cannot identify the category, division and/or image from the uploaded file names, the entry will be disqualified, without notification.

Questions?
The competition director is Lindsey Lord, Public Art and Artist Services Coordinator, Arts Council of Indianapolis; please contact her at llord@indyarts.org.  If you want a return phone call rather than an email, include a contact number and best time to call in your inquiry email.  Please allow 48 hours for a response.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria