Welcome to Shutterbugs.biz - Photo of the Day Contest.

If you have a camera, you are eligible.

Competition Categories

Animals:

Photographs of animals, birds, fish or reptiles. Insects would be more appropriate in the Macro category.

B&W

Black and white, sepia or duotone photographs of any subject (within the general image guidelines). No additional color may be present.

Macro/Abstract

Close-up photographs, where the subject appears larger on-screen than in real life in the case of macro subjects.

Still Life/Other

Still life images include groupings of inanimate objects or intimate indoor/outdoor scenes. Photos not suitable for the other categories by definition should be placed in this category.

People

Candid or portrait images of people (including artistic nudes).

Photo Art

Art that is created using computer software in which a photo image is used as a basis.  Combining photographic elements; applying post-processing filters to significantly alter a photograph; adding borders or decorative frames to photographs.

Scenic

Photographs of landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, waterfalls, etc. The view should be expansive.

Theme

A monthly contest, where the subject content criteria for entries is different each month.

Image rules & guidelines

Upload files are limited to 300k in size!
We suggest that dimensions should be no larger than 800 pixels or shorter than 640 pixels on the long side, and no smaller than 480 on the short side. Panoramas should be no greater than 3200 pixels long and no less than 480 pixels on the short side and preferably have no less than a 2x1 ratio. Although we have decided to be a bit more liberal in our size specifications, we do ask you to try to adhere to them where possible as the right sizes are more conducive with regards to POTD wins and judge viewing.

The competition is open to both professional and amateur photographers of all levels from any country.

To enter photos into the competitions or register on the site you must be at least 18 years of age. (Exemptions may apply to entrants under 18 who have registered prior to 20th July 2008, by making an application in writing to the administration, and then agreeing to certain conditions).

The competition is based on artistic and technical merit and not on luck or a random selection.

Images from any camera are accepted (Film or digital), but only in jpeg format.

Scanned images from film and slides owned and are the work of the submitting photographer are permitted.

Photos or still images extracted from any video tape or source, film or motion capturing device are not accepted.

However images captured in the "still capture mode" from camcorders are acceptable.

No pornographic photos accepted. The qualification if a photo is deemed pornographic will be determined by the administration if a doubt exists by any judge at the time of judging or in "borderline" cases.

The administration reserves the right to delete any entered photo they feel is inappropriate.

Images submitted must be original work of the submitting photographer.

The photographer must obtain a model release, for all recognizable persons in a photo. 

It is the responsibility of the photographer to gain the required permissions, allowing him/her to enter photos containing recognizable people.

Shutterbugs.biz assumes that you have obtained a model release and or permissions.

Artistic nude photos are now allowed in all categories. Any person depicted in such nude photos must be over the age of 18 years or under 12 months old (Such as in the case of cute baby photos)....Common sense applies here, and the administration will determine suitability in all cases as well as determination of age depicted.

Images with frames or borders are now allowed in any competition category.

Images that contain signatures and/or copyright statements as part of the image will not be considered for the competition

For all categories both localized & global post-processing of photos is now allowed.   Examples of processing that would prevent an image in categories other than "Photo Art" from being selected for POTD would be a heavily 'painted' appearance, or objects that were obviously 'added' to the photo.

HDR images (High Dynamic Range) - Is allowed in all categories. HDR is a valid photographic technique that involves the combining or merging of different exposures taken of the exact same scene to increase the dynamic range of the final photo. HDR overcomes the exposure range limitations of today's digital camera technology.

The administration reserve the right to delete any entered photo that do not meet the above guidelines.

By uploading photos, you agree that such photos may be displayed on any part of this web site, and may be used for the promotion of Shutterbugs.biz.in the course of its business without payment to the photographer. The copyright of the photo will always remain with the photographer.

Shutterbugs.biz and its owners or staff will not be held responsible for any photos lost in transmission, or in storage on its servers.

It is recommended that entrants keep a backup of all photos entered for safe keeping.

Shutterbugs.biz reserve the right to modify, change, add or make amendments to any or all guidelines or rules of competition, without prior notification to the entrants at any time.

Shutterbugs.biz may ban any entrant who in its opinion does not comply with the guidelines from future entries.

Prizes are non-transferable to other people and cannot be exchanged for cash.

Shutterbugs reserves the right to change the prize, should a sponsor be unable to deliver the prize nominated.

The decisions of the judge/s are final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Photo of the Day (POTD)

Daily winners are selected from all entries in the competition pool by a judge or judges.

The judging process for the daily winners is a "blind process" in so much that the entrant's name is not displayed with the entered photos in the judging pool seen by the judge/s. It is only after the judging selections are choosen that the entrant's names are then known to the judges. This is the reason why here at Shutterbugs we do not allow names, signatures or copyright notices to be included on entered photos.

Please submit photos using the Image Upload link (found on the main page or at the bottom of this page)

You may upload one photo per day, per category. (Do not enter the same exact photo in more than one category at a time)

Images that have previously won a POTD, in any category, must not be resubmitted.

(A photo can only ever win a POTD once).

Photos will remain in the judging pool for a minimum of two weeks to a maximum of 21 days.

Please do not submit the same photo more than once in any given month and in more than one category at the same time.

A photo can only win in one category.

Best of Category (BOC)

The "best of category" (BOC) photos for each calendar month, will be selected from all the daily (POTD) winning entries in each category for that month, at the end of that month by the judges. Only financial supporters are eligible for BOC (As of November 2007).

Photo of the Month (POTM)

Only financial supporters are eligible for the Photo of the month award. (As of November 2007)

The "photo of the month" (POTM) will be selected by the judges from the best of category (BOC) winners for that month.

The POTM winner will be showcased on the Featured Photographer page for the following month. The winner will have the option to have their bio and three photos put up on that page.

Photo of the Year (POTY)

The photo of the year (POTY) will be selected by the judges from the 12 monthly photo of the month (POTM) winners for the year (Jan to Dec), and will be awarded in January 2008 for the first time.

The winner will be notified of the prize

Financial Support

Everyone is eligible for a POTD but only supporters are taken into consideration for BOC and POTM at the end of the month.

We are thankful for all support given! Support keeps the site running, maintenance and upgrades required funded for the site to continue to run in an optimum means. We have changed our policy to request minimum donations for Prize Eligibility be in the amount of $24 per year. All additional amounts paid over this amount will be prorated and credited to additional months of support at $2 a month. Contributions of the minimum requirement made at anytime during said month, will make all POTD status for month contributed, eligible for Best of Category and Photo of the Month, at month end.

As always, your input is welcome. You may contact us here.

What the judges look for (But not limited to):

• Note: extremely large (or very small) images will not be considered for POTD.
• Is the subject simple & unambiguous? If the subject is complex, does the image have a definite focal point or area for visual relief?
• Is the subject engaging/interesting?
• Is the subject clear (sharply focused), unless softened for special effect?
• Is the composition simple enough to show the subject, yet complex enough to allow the eye to move over the image as a whole?
• Do you get a sense of the subject's environment, if appropriate?
• Is the horizon level, unless tilted for special effect?
• Are vertical lines vertical, unless angled for special effect?
• Is the perspective skewed from shooting at an angle to the subject, unless angling creates desirable/dramatic special effect?
• Is the subject centered but off-centered would be more interesting?
• Does the subject occupy the right amount of the frame?
• Does the background or foreground enhance or detract from the subject?
• Is the rule of thirds guideline effectively employed? How? Effectively broken? How?
• Has the photographer effectively used color, color pairs, tonal changes, or lack of color?
• Has the photographer effectively used light to show off the subject/scene?

Prizes:

Monthly winners may be responsible for any applicable federal, state, or local taxes, tariffs, or import duty fees that may result from the receipt of their prize. If local, state, or federal laws in your state and/or country of residence prohibit this contest, prize will not be awarded. We reserve the right to substitute prizes if any of the prizes become unavailable due to events beyond our control. Prizes shipped outside the US will be labeled as "gifts", MacMillan, Inc, Digital Image Cafe and/or Shutterbugs will not falsify shipping documents for the purpose of avoiding import duties.