Scuba Emporium’s First Annual Photo/Video Contest

Photo/Video Categories

  1. Entrance into the photo/video contest is free.
  2. Entries will be subdivided into four sections: 
    1. PADI SEAL participants:  Must be currently enrolled or enrolled in the past year in a SEAL program at Scuba Emporium
    2. Junior Open Water Divers:  Only open to Scuba Emporium customers between the ages of 10 – 16 years old.  Participants must be at least Junior Open Water certified.
    3. Scuba Emporium Customers
    4. Scuba Emporium Photo/Video Students.  A Scuba Emporium Photo/Video Student is defined as a customer who has taken a photo or video class between March, 2010 and November, 2010 or has purchased an underwater camera, housing or video system from Scuba Emporium between March, 2010 and November, 2010.  In addition, any student taking the Project AWARE, National Geographic or Conservation Diver Distinctive Specialty classes between March, 2010 and November, 2010 can also submit an entry as a Scuba Emporium Photo/Video Student in the category of Environment and Conservation.
  3. It will be the responsibility of the entrant to state which section he/she wants to be judged in. 

 

I.                   The categories of the photo contest are:

A.                 PADI SEAL participants:  General Composition

B.                 Junior Open Water Divers:  General Composition

C.                 Scuba Emporium Customers

1.                  General

2.                  Wreck

3.                  Local Fish

4.                  Multiple-Strobe

5.                  Model

6.                  Environment and Conservation

D.                 Scuba Emporium Photo/Video Students

1.                  General

2.                  Wreck

3.                  Local Fish

4.                  Multiple-Strobe

5.                  Model

6.                  Environment and Conservation

II.                The categories of the video contest are:

A.                 General

B.                 Environment and Conservation

Winners and Prizes will be announced at the annual Scuba Emporium Awards Banquet held in December, 2010

Rules & Guidelines

General Rules

  1. The Photo/Video competition is only open to Scuba Emporium customers.  Final decision rests with the owners of Scuba Emporium.
  2. Scuba Emporium staff are allowed to enter however, photo/video contest staff and judges are not allowed to enter the contest.
  3. Each individual can only win one prize or prize package. Entrants with multiple winning entries will be given priority in prizes by value.
  4. Winners and prizes will be announced at the annual Scuba Emporium Awards Banquet held in December, 2010.
  5. We are adopting the Conservation Rules established by EPIC®. Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo. Conservation rules will apply to all entries, and decisions will be final. 

    Entries suspected of exhibiting the following behavior will be disqualified: 
    • Divers visibly damaging the environment (e.g. gear dragging or kicking up sand).
    • Animals with signs of stress (e.g. puffed puffers, inking octopus).
    • Animals moved to an unnatural environment or risky location.
    • Animals being fed (especially with artificial food from divers).
    • Marine life being touched (e.g. coral polyps, seahorse tails).
    • Divers exhibiting poor buoyancy control
  6. All submitted images must have been taken by the entrant.
  7. Photographers retain all copyrights to their images. Scuba Emporium and companies contributing prizes to this contest retain the right to publish the contest entries in print or online to congratulate or feature the winners and their respective images, and to promote future events.  
  8.  All images need to have been taken underwater.
  9. Entries may have been taken from any camera, film (as scanned slides) or digital. 
  10. The decisions of the judges will be final.

 

Additional Rules for Video Entries 

  1. All videos must be limited to 5 minutes long, not including titles or credits where underwater footage is not used. Absolute length including titles and credits may not exceed 5 minutes 30 seconds.
  2. A minimum of 50% of the footage must have been taken underwater.
  3. Videos should not show deliberate harassment of the marine creatures unless this harassment is the ecological point of the video.  Again, the harassment should not be caused intentionally by the photographer/videographer.
  4. Please ensure that you have all rights to any media that is used in your video(s) (music, visual footage, personal, copyright, or any other legal rights.)
  5. Multiple videographers and editors are allowed and prizes will be given to each individual up to a team of 4. In addition, see #4.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Submission Guidelines

  1. Entries must be saved in jpeg format. Please limit your images to a maximum file size of 5,000KB (5MB).
  2. An image can be uploaded into multiple categories.  However, any individual image can only place in one category, and in the instance that it places in more than one category simultaneously, the instance with the highest rank will prevail.  This decision rests with the organizers and judges of the contest and the ruling will be final.
  3. The preferred method of entry is electronically (emailed to patrick@scubaemporium.com), however, if this method is not possible due to your lack of a proper internet connection, you will be able to physically deliver submit images on CD to Scuba Emporium.  Ensure your name and the category of submission is included.

 

Video Submission Process

  1. Entries must be saved in a MOV, MP4 or WMV format if you wish to submit electronically.  Video files can submitted electronically (emailed to patrick@scubaemporium.com) if the video is less than 15 GB.  Any video submissions greater than 15 GB should be physically delivered on CD, DVD or Blu-Ray to Scuba Emporium.  Ensure your name and the category of submission is included.

 

Video Submission Guidelines

  1. Films must be no longer than five minutes in duration, and at least 50% of the footage must be shot underwater. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule, and entries over 5 minutes long will be disqualified.
  2. All videos must be submitted as a NTSC or PAL video DVD that is playable in a standard DVD player.
  3. You may place more than one video on a DVD, but please include a DVD menu if you do.
  4. Write your name, email address, and phone number on submitted DVDs.
  5. Although all submissions must be DVD video, the format of the source video does not really matter; however, if your video wins, we will ask for it in the highest possible quality for public presentation (if your original video was shot in HD, we would like to present it in HD).
  6. DVDs will not be returned after the competition. The competition’s organizers are not responsible for lost or damaged mail.

Click here to see entries