2013 Really Right Stuff
Photo Contest

• Subject
• Prizes
• Closing Date
• Eligiblity
• How to Enter
• Rules & Requirements
• Inspiration

Subject

Water

The theme of this contest is "Water". Send us your shots depicting water in its wrath, at peace, giving life or however water inspires your photographic creativity. There are many physical states of water — please do not feel limited to shots of water in just its liquid state.

In all of its forms, it is a beautiful subject that can elicit so many emotions like hope, power and peace to name a few. To really capture all that water has to offer as a subject, a variety of techniques can be used. Below are a few that can be tried the next time you go out to get some water shots.

1. Long exposure photography: When you find a stream or moving water in general, try using a long exposure to make the water turn into a silky, almost ethereal subject. This will soften the water while keeping everything else sharp when you use a good tripod and support system. However, when you use a longer shutter speed, you will have to compensate by changing your aperture or using a neutral density filter to get the correct exposure. This will take some practice, but the effect is very rewarding once you master it.
2. Use the water as a reflective surface: Water can be a great mirror for a subject. Typically this is done with still water in a lake, pond or puddle, but if you are creative enough, you can use running water as well. Streams and rivers can reflect fall colors. Pouring water can give a vertical reflective surface to capture a scene from. Experiment and see what you can come up with. Try a variety of shutter speeds and the reflection will change dramatically.
3. Use flash: Sometimes you may want to capture moving water in a moment in time — to freeze it when you would normally only see it moving. In bright conditions, this can be achieved by opening up the aperture and shooting with a very fast shutter speed (1250+), but there are many times when there just isn't enough light available. Well positioned flash can really help stop water in time to get that shot you're after. There are several photographers who even use flash to capture a wave while inside the tube to help "freeze" the wave. Again, the key is experimentation.
4. Shoot through the water at a subject: I have seen some great shots where people have focused on an image through a water droplet or through water pouring out of a fountain spout. The way water bends the light and modifies the image can land you a great shot if you have the eye for it.

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Prizes

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Closing Date and Time

22 February 2013

The Really Right Stuff Water Photo Contest (the "Contest") begins November 19, 2012, at midnight (12:00:00 a.m.) U.S. Pacific Time and ends February 22, 2013, 11:59:00 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time. Information on how to enter and prizes form part of these official rules ("Official Rules"). By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. This is a skill-based contest, and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

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Eligibility

Open to Really Right Stuff customers.

All entries must comply with the image requirements and entry instructions listed below to be eligible for the contest. The Contest is open only to individuals who have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry and who do NOT reside in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria and are customers of Really Right Stuff. A Customer is defined as a person who has purchased from Really Right Stuff (RRS). Employees of RRS, and its advertisers, suppliers, 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 employees, whether or not related, are not eligible. CONTEST IS VOID IN CUBA, IRAN, NORTH KOREA, SUDAN, SYRIA, AND WHERE PROHIBITED.

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How to Enter

1. To enter, post your picture on your blog, Facebook© page, or on your photo hosting website account and then send the link to: info@reallyrightstuff.com with "RRS Water Photo Contest" in the subject line.
2. Include the following information: your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and photo caption (including your name, photograph title, location, camera gear/RRS gear used, and exposure information).
3. Limit two (2) entries per person. More than two (2) entries will disqualify the applicant from the contest.

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Rules & Requirements

Each entry must comply with the following rules and requirements:

1. Photographs must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible. No print or film submissions will be accepted for entry into this Contest. The photograph need not be taken with a digital camera; scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files must be must be in JPEG or .jpg format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image).
2. Photographs may not previously have won an award in any other photography contest.
3. Minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable. Black and white/ultra-violet images are acceptable. Cropping is acceptable. High dynamic range images (HDR) and stitched panoramas are acceptable only if the combined parts are all made around the same time. Photographs should be for natural-looking images. Any changes to the original Photograph not itemized here are unacceptable and will render the Photograph ineligible for a prize.
4. The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant. By entering the Contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph.

The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below. All entries must be submitted and received by February 22, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt. Entries must be made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, internet domain owner, or other person or organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. RRS reserves the right to examine the original photograph/source material in order to confirm compliance with these rules.

Image Rights

You will retain all rights to any photograph you submit -- including ownership if applicable -- other than those rights licensed in the next sentence. By entering the contest, you hereby grant to Really Right Stuff (i) a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to reproduce, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the photographs you submit to RRS, and (ii) the right to use your name, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications.

Contest Prizes

There will be one (1) Grand Prize Winner and two (2) Honorable Mention Winners. The Grand Prize winner will receive one (1) Really Right Stuff TVC-33 tripod or other Really Right Stuff brand merchandise of equal value (retail value $925.00). Each Honorable Mention Winner will receive one (1) Really Right Stuff TQB-80B Tripod Bag (retail value $85.00 — no substitutions allowed). The prizes are nontransferable, and no cash alternative is available. No prize transfer, assignment or substitution by winners permitted.

Judging

Contest consists of one (1) round of evaluation. RRS will assign three judges of our own choosing. Images will be judged "blind," in that the identity of the photographer will be not be known to the judges until after the winners are selected. Winners will be chosen on or around March 15, 2013, and notified by email by March 22, 2013. Decisions of the judges are final and binding.

License

By entering the Contest, all honorable mentions and contest winners grant an irrevocable perpetual, nonexclusive license to Really Right Stuff, to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: display at a potential exhibition of winners; publication of a book featuring select entries in the Contest; publication in Really Right Stuff magazines/catalogs or online highlighting entries or winners of the Contest. Entrants consent to RRS doing or omitting to do any act that would otherwise infringe the entrant's "moral rights" in their entries. Display or publication of any entry on an Authorized Party's website does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. Really Right Stuff will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use. Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to Really Right Stuff the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Contest, and pictures or likenesses of Contest entrants, or choose not to do so, at their sole discretion. Really Right Stuff will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

Limitation of Liability

By entering this Contest, all entrants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless Really Right Stuff and its suppliers, 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.

Really Right Stuff (RRS) assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Contest entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. RRS is 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 email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, 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 in this Contest.

Conditions

THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Entrants agree that this Contest shall be subject to and governed by and subject to the laws of California and the forum for any dispute shall be in San Luis Obispo, California, United States of America. To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or on connection with this Contest are hereby excluded and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Certain restrictions may apply. Entries void if RRS determines the photograph to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

By entering, entrants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final and binding with respect to all matters relating to the Contest; and (c) if the entrant wins that RRS 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 (except where prohibited by law). All federal, state/provincial/territorial, and local taxes, fees and surcharges and taxes (whether foreign or domestic, and including income, sales, and import taxes) on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible, cannot be traced or does/do not respond within ten (10) days to a winner notification as required by the "Contest Prizes" Rules above, or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and RRS, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.

RRS reserves the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant's identity and address) and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampers with the entry process. Failure by RRS to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

Right to Cancel or Suspend Contest

If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of RRS that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, RRS reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest. If RRS elects to cancel or terminate the Contest, RRS will not retain any rights in the submitted photographs.

Winners List

Entrants are responsible for complying with these Official Rules. Winners' names will be available online at www.reallyrightstuff.com/contest after March 29, 2013.

Disclaimer

RRS is not responsible for any injury, loss or damage that may result in the attempt to procure photographs for this contest.

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Inspiration