PHOTO CONTEST INFORMATION

Welcome to the CentralPark.com Photo Contest. For years we’ve been enjoying the photographic efforts of our very talented members. Now we’re rewarding them for their unique contributions to the visual narrative of Central Park with the CentralPark.com Photo Contest.

Each season the top thirty user-uploaded pictures, as rated by our members, will be passed on to a panel of judges. These judges will determine the top 3 lucky winning photos for each of our seasonal contests. The Grand Prize each season includes a CentralPark.com t-shirt, a pocket guide, a Central Park poster and a picnic basket. The winning photographers will also be permanently displayed on our winner’s page.

Eligibility Contest open only to legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington, D.C., 18 years or older at time of entry. Employees of CentralPark.com, the judges and their immediate families are excluded.

No entry fee is required. Entrants are allowed three (3) submissions per season. Each season there will be one first place winner for a total of four equal first place prizes at the end of the year. Contestants may submit photos for all four seasons of the contest, however if the contestant wins the first place prize they may not enter the contest again. Second and third place prize winners may continue to enter subsequent seasons of the competition. Each contestant must fill out the required entrant information online before submitting any and all photos.

Winners will be notified via email and required to sign and return within 21 days of notification an affidavit of eligibility and release of liability, together with model releases from all recognizable persons pictured in the photo.

Contest websit http://www.centralpark.com/pages/photo-contest.html

The Bing Photo Contest offers people the chance to have a photo they’ve taken be displayed as the official Bing homepage photo for a 24 hour period. This is a skill based contest. The winning photo will be selected by a combination of user ratings and evaluation by the Bing homepage editorial team for compliance with the home page photo guidelines.

The theme for this contest is “Summer Travel”, so photographers should strive to feature or evoke summer travel destinations or experiences.

Bing Photo Contest offers people the chance to have a photo they’ve taken be displayed as the official Bing homepage photo for a 24 hour period. This is a skill based contest. The winning photo will be selected by a combination of user ratings and evaluation by the Bing homepage editorial team for compliance with the home page photo guidelines.

The theme for this contest is “Summer Travel”, so photographers should strive to feature or evoke summer travel destinations or experiences.

Contest Schedule

Submissions and Round 1 Voting Starts

Monday, June 29

Last day of Submissions

Thursday, July 16

Last day of Round 1

Sunday, July 19

Semi-Final Round

Monday, July 20

Final Round of Voting Starts

Tuesday, July 21

Last day of Final Round

Sunday, July 26

Winner Announced

Monday, July 27

Winning Photo Featured

(to be announced)

Photo Guidelines

Thanks for your interest in getting your photo on the Bing home page. Before you submit, we’d like to tell you a bit about what we’re looking for.

In a Nutshell

• The image should make you want to find out more about it.
• The image should draw you in and be a starting place for exploring Bing
• The subject of the photo must provide enough interest to program all the content that we use to support that exploration.
• Strive for subtlety and poetry. You shouldn’t have to know that it’s Halloween, Columbus Day, or Boss’s Day to enjoy the photo.

All images that we consider must meet a number of requirements, so keep this in mind as you’re looking for photos to submit.

Subject matter

We strive to show new things every day, but we do have the following limits on subject matter:

• No recognizable people
• No 3rd party trademarks (e.g., Mickey Mouse ears)
• No objectionable content, such as alcohol, smoking, guns, violence, or nudity

File type, size, etc.

The raw image files that you submit need to meet the following requirements:

Format

JPEG only

Dimensions

Minimum of 970px width and 528px height.
Higher resolution is better. Note that we prefer to have the image submitted in its original size and aspect ratio, which will allow us the most flexibility when sizing and cropping to meet the needs of the home page. However if the aspect ratio is very different, the cropping used for the thumbnail may be sub-par. We do crop and edit images at our discretion to work within the constraints of the home page.

Orientation

Horizontal.

Resolution

At least 1MB.

Markup

No watermark, signature or photographer name can be included in the image file. The photographer credit will be added to the page separately.

Composition

The logo, search box, and explore pane need room to breathe. Images we use on the home page need to have the main focus away from that area of the frame, as shown below:

Judging Process

The competition has three rounds: two rounds of voting on Facebook and one round of selection by the Bing homepage editorial board. The ultimate winner is decided by a combination of popular rating in the first round, then editorial selection in the semi-final round, and popular vote in the final round.

Round 1 – Qualification and Elimination

During this round, any Facebook user may rate photos. Users are given a set of photos at random by the application for rating. Users may rate as many sets of photos as they wish. Ratings are only counted one per person per photo. Each set of photos is selected by the application so that all photos receive equal opportunity in the rating process to help eliminate bias.

Once photos receive 50 votes and an average score of at least 2.0, they qualify for the leaderboard and are ranked by average vote. The leaderboard is limited to the top 1000 photos based on rating. Photos which have an average score of less than 2.0 will be eliminated from the contest.

Round 2 – Semi-Final

After the first round of voting is finished, the Bing homepage editorial team will review the top photos on the leaderboard and select 8 photos for advancement to the Final round, proceeding in order of rank on the leaderboard with photos that are in compliance with the Contest Rules. If we do not receive a sufficient number of entries in compliance with the Contest Rules, we may, at our discretion, select fewer semi-finalists. Rank at the top of the leaderboard does not guarantee advancement into the Final round, but only the top-ranked photos will be considered. The top 8 photos not selected by the Bing homepage editorial team will remain on the leaderboard with Honorable Mentions.

Round 3 – Final

During this round, the photos selected by the Bing homepage editorial team will be presented on Facebook for a final round of voting by Facebook users to determine the contest winner. Facebook users will be invited to vote for one photo in this round and the photo that receives the most votes will be the contest winner.

Contest website: http://apps.facebook.com/bing_photo_contest/?_fb_fromhash=e1767b2c56d0363b5e36f31e5d9c5221&_fb_q=1

For voting follow the link http://apps.facebook.com/bing_photo_contest/vote_now?_fb_q=1

DEADLINE : July 31, 2009

1. Eligibility: This Contest is open to U.S. residents 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Employees of The Reader’s Digest Association, or its affiliated or subsidiary companies, and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of such persons, are not eligible to enter Contest or to participate in the voting process. Contest is governed by the laws of the U.S.A. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited.

2. To Enter: The Contest begins at 10 a.m. ET, June 2, 2009, and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET, July 31, 2009. To enter, visit Summer Photo Contest and follow the instructions. Please upload your favorite Easter photo. Entrants will be required to read the full rules and provide an entry, which will include: entrant’s name, email address, digital image, and caption. All submissions must be family friendly to be considered. The Submission must not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other intellectual property rights of any person or entity. All submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET,  July 31, 2009. User voting will take place between 12:00 p.m., August 4, 2009, and 11:59 p.m., August 11, 2009. All entries become the property of Reader’s Digest. We reserve the right to use your entry in all print and electronic media, and to edit it for brevity and clarity.

3. Judging: Photos will be selected by Reader’s Digest editors based on the following criteria: Appropriateness to the subject 50%, Originality 30%, and Photo Quality 20%. All entries will be judged using the criteria stated above. Judges’ decisions are final. Reader’s Digest will select ten (10) photos to post on readersdigest.com (the Finalists). Members of the public will be invited to review and vote for their favorite Finalists. The Finalist submission to receive the most votes during the public voting process will be the Grand Prize winner.

4. Prize(s): the ten (10) Finalists will have their photo posted in a readersdigest.com finalist gallery. The one (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a $100 prize in addition to being featured as the winner on readersdigest.com. All taxes, if any, are the Grand Prize winner’s responsibility. Reader’s Digest will not be responsible for any loss, liability or damage arising out of the Grand Prize winner’s acceptance or use of the prize. All prizes are guaranteed to be awarded. The Grand Prize winner will be required to execute an affidavit of eligibility, and a media use release within two (2) weeks from the date of the notification letter or an alternate finalist may be selected.

5. Conditions: Reader’s Digest is not responsible for lost, late, or unintelligible entries, lost connections, miscommunications, failed transmissions, other technical difficulties or failures. Reader’s Digest reserves the right to terminate or modify this contest at any time in the event of any intervention with the promotion beyond the control of Reader’s Digest. In such a circumstance, Finalists and Grand Prize winner will be selected based on entries received to date of termination. In the event that two similar entries are received, only the entry judged to best meet criteria as set by Reader’s Digest will be included in the final judging. Entrants agree to indemnify Reader’s Digest and its affiliated and subsidiary companies from and against any and all claims and liabilities arising out of or in connection with this Contest.

Winner will be notified by email within four (4) weeks of the closing date. All Finalists will be required to agree to the use of their name and likeness and entry for promotional purposes (except where prohibited by law).

6. The total number of contestants anticipated nationwide is 2,000.

7. Consumer Information: If you wish to receive a list of prize winners, or have any questions about the Contest, specify your request and write to: Summer Photo Contest, Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., P.O. Box 100, Pleasantville, New York 10572-0100.

Contest website: http://www.rd.com/advice-and-know-how/summer-photo-contest/gallery140812.html