Photography Competition “Albatrosses, their World and Threats”

The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels Agreement (ACAP) has launched "World Albatross Day" in order to raise awareness about these birds and the threats they face. We invite you to take part in a photography competition that seeks to show the images and emotions these birds inspire.

The Competition

This competition is an awareness-raising and educational initiative, aiming to increase knowledge of the beauty of a family of birds that faces multiple threats to its survival. It aims to raise awareness about the role of these birds in nature, and their emotional impact on observers.

Objectives:

The main objective of this contest is to educate and raise awareness about albatrosses, their way of life and the threats they face to survive.

The specific objectives are:

• Highlight the beauty of these magnificent birds and their impressive way of life
• Reveal the emotions felt by those lucky enough to observe them
• Give nature photographers a forum in which to express themselves
• Make known the threats facing these species so as to encourage all to contribute to mitigating those threats

Competition open to:

Everyone who is interested in photography, ornithology, the ocean, the environment etc.

Contestants from all over the world, without categories or age limits.

Since the platform for the contest is Instagram, contestants will need an Instagram account.

Theme

The theme of the contest is albatrosses, their world, their threats.  While bearing this theme in mind, photographers should feel free to approach this challenge according to their own preferences.

Competition requirements:

• The contestants´ photographs can be taken using an analog or digital camera, cell phone or any visual device.
• Photographs can be in colour or in black and white.
• Photos must be original and taken by the participant. The participation of third parties or use of reproductions of work by another photographer is not permitted.
• The photograph should be accompanied by a description of the moment, the context and especially the emotions felt on seeing the albatross photographed.
• This textual description will be taken into account by the judges in making their decisions.
• Because the contest will use the Instagram platform, the photos must be uploaded to an account using the hashtag #wad_photocontest and tag @Worldalbatrossday.
• The judges will choose the 20 finalist photographs, which will be put to a public vote, through Instagram stories from the "World Albatross Day" account.
• The winning photographs will be determined by both public vote and the judges.
• The photographs submitted will be displayed both on the Instagram account of World Albatross Day, and potentially in some medium reporting on the competition.

Deadline:

- Photographs can be uploaded with the hashtag from June 4, 2020, and photographs will be accepted until June 19. The winning photos will be published on the WordAlbatrossDay Instagram with prior notice to the winners from June 25.

Judges

• Pablo Cáceres, Contest Co-ordinator. Chile
• Verónica López, Chair, ACAP World Albatross Day Intersessional Group, Chile
• Jim Hurst. Emmy and CAS award-winning sound recordist, cinematographer and producer, USA
• Rodrigo Moraga, Wildlife & landscape photographer, Chile
• Michelle Risi. Field Biologist, Gough Island Restoration Programme, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, U.K
• Marco Favero, Principal Investigator, National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET), former ACAP Advisory Committee Chair and Executive Secretary, current Co-convenor,Population and Conservation Status Working Group
• Tatiana Neves, Projeto Albatroz General Coordinator, Brazil; Vice-Chair, ACAP Advisory Committee
• Christine Bogle, ACAP Executive Secretary, Australia

Selection of winners:

The judges will select the top 20 photographs.

Those 20 photographs will be put to a vote among the followers of the World Albatross Day account, and the three best voted photographs will be the winners.  1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be decided by the judges.

Awards:

Surprise

Announcing the winners:

• The winning photos will be featured on the World Albatross Day Instagram account, and an internal message will be sent to the participants to inform them

License to use the works:

• The authors will continue to hold rights and authorship of the works. World Albatross Day is only interested in promoting this activity through the contest and the limited use of the works that have been submitted, always maintaining the rights and credits of the photographer.
• The photographs will not become part of any archive or collection, and will only be used as described above, and with acknowledgement of the author.
• However, since Instagram is a public platform, the organization will not be responsible for any use that third parties may make of the photographs featured.

Acceptance of these terms and conditions

• It is understood that presentation of the photographs to the competition implies acceptance of these terms and conditions.