Annual Photo Contest
We welcome you as a participant in the Friends of Black Bayou annual Photo Contest 2024! This year’s contest objectives are the same as always: to encourage protection of wildlife and conservation of natural resources through photographic skills and an appreciation of natural settings on the Refuge.
Please remember that feeding, harassing, removing, or otherwise interfering with wildlife on the Refuge is against federal law!
Please email up to, but no more than, three (3) photographs in each category, taken at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge or one of its sister refuges (D’Arbonne, Upper Ouachita, Handy Brake, and Tensas River NWRs) to [email protected] by October 1, 2024. No printed photos will be accepted this year. Images should be at least 3000 X 2400 at a resolution of 300 DPI (or 4+ megabytes).
Each photo should be attached to a separate email, with the following information in the email text:
No identifying marks may be on the photos. Photos that have won ribbons in previous FoBB photo contests may not be resubmitted, but non-winners may be resubmitted. Panoramic photos are not allowed.
Photos including people, especially children, should be accompanied by an attached, signed permission slip, allowing the publication of their likeness.
Ribbons will be awarded for the Charles Heck Memorial Grand Prize (best in show) as well as 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and Honorable Mention in each category. Ties may occur in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places while any number of Honorable Mention ribbons may be awarded. Each person may submit up to three (3) photos in each category, but each person may win only one “place” ribbon per category (except Honorable Mentions, which are unlimited, and Grand Prize, which may be awarded in addition to a “place” ribbon).
Photos will be judged anonymously. Photos with identifying marks will be disqualified. Three anonymous, well qualified judges chosen by the FoBB photo committee will make the final decisions on winning pictures.
Judging criteria:
All submitted photo files become the property of FoBB, with proper photo credit given to the photographers if their photos are used or published, which may be done without notice. However, the photographers retain the right to use their own photos in any way they wish.
The Charles Heck Memorial Grand Prize photo and all first-place photos will be printed and displayed in the Refuge Visitor Center at the October 19, 2024, FoBB Fall Celebration, while all ribboned photos will be displayed online at www.friendsofblackbayou.org and on the FoBB Facebook group page. A press release listing all the winning photos (including at least the Grand Prize image) will be sent to various news outlets.
Please remember that feeding, harassing, removing, or otherwise interfering with wildlife on the Refuge is against federal law!
Please email up to, but no more than, three (3) photographs in each category, taken at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge or one of its sister refuges (D’Arbonne, Upper Ouachita, Handy Brake, and Tensas River NWRs) to [email protected] by October 1, 2024. No printed photos will be accepted this year. Images should be at least 3000 X 2400 at a resolution of 300 DPI (or 4+ megabytes).
Each photo should be attached to a separate email, with the following information in the email text:
- name of photo
- name of photographer
- division (adult-amateur, adult-professional, or youth-under 17 years) and
- category (micro/macro, landscape, animals, birds, people on refuge, or plants)
No identifying marks may be on the photos. Photos that have won ribbons in previous FoBB photo contests may not be resubmitted, but non-winners may be resubmitted. Panoramic photos are not allowed.
Photos including people, especially children, should be accompanied by an attached, signed permission slip, allowing the publication of their likeness.
Ribbons will be awarded for the Charles Heck Memorial Grand Prize (best in show) as well as 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, and Honorable Mention in each category. Ties may occur in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places while any number of Honorable Mention ribbons may be awarded. Each person may submit up to three (3) photos in each category, but each person may win only one “place” ribbon per category (except Honorable Mentions, which are unlimited, and Grand Prize, which may be awarded in addition to a “place” ribbon).
Photos will be judged anonymously. Photos with identifying marks will be disqualified. Three anonymous, well qualified judges chosen by the FoBB photo committee will make the final decisions on winning pictures.
Judging criteria:
- Technical excellence (sharpness, lighting, composition, exposure)
- Originality/creativity
- Interest/Refuge appreciation
- Only minor manipulation should be used to create natural-looking photographs. Cropping is allowed, but adding any elements not existing in the original photo is not allowed. Judges may, at their discretion, disqualify any photos that appear to be manipulated.
All submitted photo files become the property of FoBB, with proper photo credit given to the photographers if their photos are used or published, which may be done without notice. However, the photographers retain the right to use their own photos in any way they wish.
The Charles Heck Memorial Grand Prize photo and all first-place photos will be printed and displayed in the Refuge Visitor Center at the October 19, 2024, FoBB Fall Celebration, while all ribboned photos will be displayed online at www.friendsofblackbayou.org and on the FoBB Facebook group page. A press release listing all the winning photos (including at least the Grand Prize image) will be sent to various news outlets.
Download 2024 Friends of Black Bayou Photo Contest Rules as a PDF. |
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Experience nature at the refuge complex through prior year submissions.
Past Photo Contest Winning Photos
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2021 Best in Show Winning Photo by Kimmie Paxton
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All photo files become the property of FoBB, with proper photo credit given to the photographers if their photos are used or published.
