Asia Without Borders Photo Contest 2009

ASIAN Geographic is looking for special photographs from both talented amateur and professional photographers from any country in the world that capture a striking image of Asia’s land, people, architecture or wildlife.

Prizes worth a total of over S$20,000 will be awarded to one winner and one runner-up from each category, plus a grand prize for the best overall picture entered.

The top photographs will be exhibited as part of an 'Asia Without Borders' Photography Exhibition in Singapore and published in the December Photo Annual Edition of ASIAN Geographic Magazine.. Enter Now!

The 2009 Asia Without Borders Photo Competition is open to entrants of all skill levels, but excludes the employees of ASIAN Geographic including field editors and judges; each of their affiliates and subsidiaries and advertising and promotion agencies, 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 individuals, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win a prize.

Open Categories

"A face tells a thousand stories"

1. FACES OF THE EARTH
The mountains, jungles, forests and seas of Asia are unique in the world. Images that capture Asia’s physical beauty and sense of place.

2. FACES OF ASIA
From ancient tribes to modern city dwellers, intimate and evocative portraits of people at work and play.

3. FACES OF THE WILD
Whether deep on a reef wall or deep in a rainforest, portraits of the planet’s creatures, big and small.

Young Photographer's Category

[Limited to individuals 21-years-old and below as of 30 September, 2009]

FACES OF FREEDOM
An 'open' category. Enter any images of Asia - whether it be animals, people or places. From the Lomo to the Ixus, let your imagination and creativity loose!

Resizing images for upload:

Submissions must be RGB or Greyscale jpeg's no larger than 800 pixels along the longest edge and a maximum file size of 1Mb each.

Entrants may set their own DPI and image size but should bear in mind that the judges will view all images on a computer screen.

If your image is shortlisted for final judging you will be notified and asked to upload a high resolution 300 dpi file.

Entry Fees:

The competition is free to enter for all new and existing subscribers of ASIAN Geographic magazine.

All other participants are required to pay the following fees:

- $8 USD for entering up to 4 images in any category
- $12 USD for entering up to 12 images in any category

Acknowledgement:

Upon successful receipt of your entry and images, ASIAN Geographic will acknowledge each entry by email to the address provided by the photographer in the online entry form.
Announcements:

Deadline of submission of entries is on September 30, 2009 at 11:59 pm (Singapore time). Winners of the 2009 "Asia Without Borders" Photography Competition will be announced after 15 October 2009. The results will be published online at www.asiawithoutborders.com as well as at www.asiangeo.com and in ASIAN Geographic Magazine.

Eligible Images:

Each submitted photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant. A discrepancy in entrant's particulars may lead to disqualification at the sole discretion of the organizer.

Images shot on film or digital cameras, but not on mobile phones, will be accepted for all categories.

Digital manipulation of images:

Images taken with either a digital or a film camera will be accepted. You may use digital manipulation to optimise an image but you are not permitted to add or remove key elements of the composition. Composite or montage images, from more than one original image, are not eligible. Entrants of prize-winning images may be required to produce the original image before the prize is awarded.

Failure to comply with these rules on photograph manipulation may result in disqualification of entry.

The photograph must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsors, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close up of another person's art.

Age of images:

Some images are timeless so entry is not restricted to images shot only within the past few years. However the judges will be looking for contemporary images so you should not enter outdated images - if an image depicts part of a city, for example, it should show a contemporary skyline, including any recently built major landmarks in the part you are photographing.

Image Copyright:

Copyright in all images submitted to the competition, including winning entries, will remain with the photographer.

The entrant must be the sole author and owner of the copyright of all images entered. It is the legal responsibility of the entrant, and not the organizers, to ensure that they comply with these ownership and copyright requirements and own the rights to reproduction of their images. Entries that do not fulfill this criteria will be deemed ineligible and disqualified. Where this is discovered after the prize has been awarded, the prize must be returned or refunded by the entrant. Entrants agree to fully indemnify Asian Geographic and its sponsors and employees in respect of all royalties, fees and any other monies owing to any person by reason of the entrant breaching any of the foregoing.

Image Usage:

Asian Geographic and the competition sponsors are not making any claim whatsoever on the copyright of YOUR images. The copyright will, at all times, be respected by Asian Geographic and retained by the photographer. Where Asian Geographic reproduces an image or images, the photographer will be credited.

The organizers and sponsors reserve the right to free reproduction and exhibition of entered images in all media, but only in connection with this competition. A selection of the winning and other best images will be reproduced in Asian Geographic's Photo Annual. Where image reproduction is unrelated to the awards then permission and a fee will be agreed with the photographer in advance.

Returns Policy:

Photo submissions will not be returned. Staff and judges are not responsible for loss or any damage to photographic submissions.

Judging:

The competition consists of two (2) rounds of evaluation based on the Judging Criteria defined.

Decisions of the Sponsors and Judges are final and binding.

Sponsors reserve the right not to award all prizes in the event an insufficient number of eligible entries meeting the minimum judging criteria are received, as determined by Sponsors and Judges in their sole discretion.

Limitation of Liability:

By participating, entrants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless ASIAN Geographic, and each of their respective 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.

Furthermore the organizers 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 on-line entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, 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 this Contest.

Participants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final on all matters relating to the Contest; and (c) if he/she wins that Sponsor 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.

Laws Governing:

This competition will be governed by Singapore law and the entrant submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Singapore courts.

Organizer:

Asian Geographic Magazines Pte Ltd

No.1 Syed Alwi Road #06-01,
Song Lin Building Singapore 207628.

http://asiawithoutborders.com