Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Photo Contest

Contest Rules and Guidelines

Submission Guidelines

The LCBP will accept submissions in four categories that correspond to and interpret the spirit of the four management goals of Opportunities for Action, the LCBP’s management plan for Lake Champlain:

Clean Water: Water in the Lake Champlain Basin’s lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams will sustain diverse ecosystems, support vibrant communities and working landscapes, and provide safe recreation opportunities.

Healthy Ecosystems: Ecosystems that provide clean water for drinking and recreating, and intact habitat that is resilient to extreme events and free of aquatic invasive species where diverse fish and wildlife populations will flourish.

Thriving Communities: Communities have an appreciation of natural and cultural resources, and the capacity to implement actions that will result in sound stewardship of these resources while maintaining strong local economies.

Informed and Involved Public: Basin residents and visitors will understand and appreciate Lake Champlain Basin resources, and will possess a sense of personal responsibility that results in behavioral changes and actions to reduce pollution.

More information about the goals is available in the Opportunities for Action document and in the 2021 Lake Champlain State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report.

The LCBP anticipates awarding prizes for first, second and third place for all submissions collectively. In addition, a prize will be awarded for each of the four goal categories.

Winners will be announced at the Clean Water Act Commemoration signature event in October 2022.

Eligibility

The contest is open to the general public, including amateur and professional photographers. Employees of the Lake Champlain Basin Program and NEIWPCC employees are not eligible.

Minors (under 18 years of age) must obtain permission from a parent or legal guardian to enter and the parent or legal guardian must co-submit the entry form.

All photos must be original and solely created by the submitting entrant. Entries that cannot be verified for authenticity (including missing, incomplete, or incorrect contact information on the entry form) will be disqualified.

Deadlines

All photos must be submitted by 11:59pm September 28, 2022 for consideration.

Contest Rules

  1. All photos must be taken within the Lake Champlain Basin.
  2. Photos will be submitted electronically in one of four categories that correspond to the four management goals of the LCBP management plan Opportunities for Action: Clean Water, Healthy Ecosystems, Thriving Communities, and an Informed and Involved Public.
  3. All photos must be taken by the person submitting and signing the entry form, affirming the photo is wholly original and has not been copied in whole or in part, from any other work, and that no other individual has any ownership claim over the image.
  4. The photo must be in its original state and cannot be altered in any way, including but not limited to removing, adding, reversing, or distorting subjects within the frame.
  5. By submitting your work, you confirm that any individuals depicted in the photograph have consented to being photographed and to the submission of their image to this contest.
  6. You retain your rights to your photograph(s), but by entering this contest, you give the Lake Champlain Basin Program, the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, NEIWPCC, the U.S. Environmental Agency, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission permission to use your photo(s) for educational, informational, and promotional purposes in printed or online materials. Photos used in published materials will credit the photographer unless otherwise requested by the entrant.
  7. Photos may not contain, mention, refer or otherwise allude to any obscene, lewd, violent, illegal, offensive, disparaging, or inappropriate words, abbreviations, language, signs, products, or symbols (including, but not limited to, words that are widely considered offensive to individuals of a certain race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic group) or violate the rights of third parties.
  8. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply; void where prohibited.

Photo Requirements

  • Each entrant may submit up to 4 photos, in any combination of categories.
  • Each submission must include a caption or description of where and when it was taken.
  • Photos should have minimum pixel dimensions of 3000 x 2400 (10″ × 8″ at 300 PPI or equivalent).
  • Files must be in JPG or TIFF format, no larger than 30MB.
  • Photographs with lower resolutions will be reviewed and considered but may not be eligible for prizes.
  • The LCBP reserves the right to color correct and/or crop photo entries if necessary.

How to Submit Photos

Photos maybe be submitted in one of the following ways:

  • Twitter post
  • Instagram post
  • Entry form on the LCBP website

All entries must include the following hashtags:
#ThankYouPatrick
#CWA50
#LakeChamplainPhotoContest
AND one of the following depending on the submission category
#CleanWater
#HealthyEcosystems
#ThrivingCommunities
#InformedPublic

All entries must include tags to the appropriate social media accounts for Senator Leahy and the LCBP.
Twitter: @SenatorLeahy @lakechamp
Instagram: @senatorleahy @lakechamplainbasinprogram

You do not need to tag friends or pages on social media channels, other than those included above, to be eligible for this contest.

Prizes

1st – Private Lake Champlain cruise for up to six people with sailing outfitter
2nd – Photography workshop
3rd – $100 gift card for photography equipment
Goal categories (four prizes) — $50 gift card for photography equipment

Judging

Photos will be judged based on originality, creativity, artistic merit, and technical quality. Prizes awarded for the “goal” categories will also be judged on their interpretation or representation of the spirit of each goal.

A panel of judges selected by the Lake Champlain Basin Program will choose the winning photos. Judging of all submitted photography will be “blind”. The name of the photographer will not be disclosed to the judging panel. The panel’s decision is final and binding. We reserve the right to not select a winner based upon the content or quantity of submissions. We will notify the winners using the contact information provided at the time of entry. We may disqualify you and pick an alternate winner if you do not respond to our notification within five business days.

Disclaimer

This contest is wholly administered by the Lake Champlain Basin Program. No social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or any other entity have in any way sponsored, endorsed, or administered the contest.

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