Wild Seasons Photo Competition - Competition Rules  

 The Wild Seasons Competition is a seasonal wildlife photo competition with the aim of drawing attention to the beauty and diversion of wildlife in Greece. It shall also promote the best photographs and photographers, which will be published every 3 month on our photography blog “Wildlife Photography in Greece". 
Who can participate?
  • Any person who has photographed wildlife in Greece can submit the corresponding photos. (Wildlife = wild, uncaged animals which are not in relation with any human beings. No Zoo photos, no pets!)

What are the competition periods?
The photo-taking periods are the following:
  • Winter :  December 1 - February 28
  • Spring :  March 1 - May 31
  • Summer :  June 1 - August 31
  • Fall:   September 1 - November 30


 Submission and timing
  • Every photographer may submit up to 6 photos per category for each competition.
  • The photos have to be taken during the 3 months of the ongoing competition. They can be submitted anytime during the this period, but at the latest until the 15th day of the following month after the end of the photo-taking period.
  • For information on how to submit the photos, please see here: Submitting Photos for the Competitions


Photo Format
  • The photos should be submitted as PNG or as JPG files cropped or/and resized so that they fit into an area of 1200 pixels wide and 900 pixels high. Please make sure your photo is not larger than 900 pixels high when you submit it in a vertical orientation, and not wider than 1200 pixels when in horizontal orientation.
  • Photos which do not correspond to the above specifications will be refused or resized by the organizers.


Photo Categories
  • Category 1 : Birds
  • Category 2 : Invertebrates
  • Category 3 : Vertebrates, including all underwater creatures
  • Category 4 : Aniscapes - Landscape photos with animals in it


Post processing
  • Photos should be a product of a single "click" of the camera, of a single file. No merged or artificially composed images are allowed. 
  • Post processing such as cropping, saturation changes, contrast changes, sharpening, and noise reduction is allowed as long as it does not alter the natural appearance of the photo. Black/White photos are accepted as long as they represent the natural dynamic range of tones in the original scene. Drastic color changes that intentionally modify the true colors and the mood of the photo are not allowed. HDR photos are not accepted.
  • Small esthetic disturbances such as sensor dust or burnded-out reflections may be removed with the clone-stamp tool, but not larger items such as branches, leaves, or litter.
  • No names and watermarks are allowed in the photos. 


The Winners and Prices
  • The 3 best voted photos of each category will be published on the blog  1-2 weeks after the voting period has finished. They will be published in the order of their received votes, best one first, and the received points will be announced. 
  • Please note that there will be prices given for the first 3 places of the "Birds" category, which are sponsored by the EOE/HOS (Hellenic Ornithological Society). In return the EOE/HOS will be given the rights to use all photos participating in the "Birds" category for their own needs. This means that the EOE/HOS is allowed to freely publish any of the photos participating in the "Birds" category. By participating in this category the owners of the photos agree with these terms.
Publishing and voting
  • The photos are published on our picasa photo-page with an identification number, which will serve for the voting.
  • A voting sheet is being published after the end of each submission period. Voting is open to the public, which means that everybody can vote. Voters can vote only once.
  • Voters do not have to vote all categories, but must vote all photos of the categories they vote. Photos have to revieve between 1 and 5 points, with 5 points being for the best photos and 1 for the worst ones.  If someone votes only partially within a category, his votes will be deleted.
  • It is not obligatory for participants to vote, however if their photos are among the best 3 places of a category, we will substract 5 points if the owner has not voted.
  • Voting for your own photos is strictly prohibited and will be sanctioned with disqualification. Any other kind of cheating in regard to the voting and photographing will be sanctionned equally!

Behaviour in Nature for the Photographers
  • The interests of the animals come first. Do not, by any means, disturb or harm the animals, in any way. Do not let photography become an additional stress factor to the animals, but keep it as a means to promote a sustainable interaction of humans with nature.
  • Always follow the nature protection laws and collaborate with management authorities in protected areas.
  • Do not use food, live bait, or recorded voices in order to attract the animals. In case such means are used, the photo will be rejected and the owner will be announced to the public.
  • The use of flash is generally allowed but should be made so as not to disturb the animals. Use of flash in the dark on nocturnal species is not allowed anymore. There are researches proving the can harm nocturnal animals. Better, use the flash as fill flash only during the day, so to brighten up your picture in difficult lighting conditions. Of course even better, just completely avoid the use of flash.
  • Respect the animals natural behavior, and do not interfere with it!
Legal terms

  • By submitting photos to any of our competitions, the photographer agrees to one or several publications of his photos on the Internet. He is aware that other people might download or copy his photos without his specific permission. By submitting photos to the "birds" category, the EOE/HOS has a right for their publication without giving a remuneration to the photographer.
  • Each entry must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party.
  • The organizers of the competitions are not liable for any abuse of copyrights by third parties, or any other legal issue that might rise as a result of the publishing of the photos.


Who are the organizers?
Michalis Kotsakis, Felix Rehsteiner, Antonis Tsaknakis.
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