Nature
- Images must be in jpeg format, no more than 1920 pixels wide, and no more than 1200 pixels high.
- The recommended color space is sRGB.
- Images may be color, infrared, or monochrome.
- All images must have been taken by the maker.
- Images generated by artificial intelligence are not eligible for entry.
Think of Nature as a specialized form of photojournalism. It is about “telling a nature story” as accurately as possible. Just like in Photojournalism, editing techniques should not be used to change what you saw when the image was taken. (Long shutter speeds used to blur the motion of water are the one exception.)
- Dust spots and small distracting elements may be cloned out. (But not large areas.)
- A new element - like a bird, or a sky from a different image, may not be added. (These belong in the Creative Category.)
- Dodging and burning, spot adjustments, HDR, and other common types of post processing methods are allowed, but they should only be used sparingly.
- "Creative" type filters (such as oil paint, abstraction, etc.) are not allowed.
Images should be of natural landscapes, plants, insects or wildlife as they are found in a natural looking environment.
- Animals in zoos are acceptable, if the man-made environment is not obvious. In other words, Photos of flora and fauna are about their life, taken where they live.
- Cut flora or preserved fauna (such as mounted specimens) belong in the Open category.
- Close up images of domestic flowers are acceptable, but formal gardens and fields of plants (such as fields of tulips) belong in the Open category.
- People, or domestic animals such as horses, cows, dogs, etc. belong in the Open category.
Man-made objects may be visible as long as they are minor, (take up only a small portion of the image) and they do not draw your attention. If the image is not as strong if that man-made element is not there, then the image belongs in the Open Category.
Examples could include -
- a bird with an ID tag
- a bird sitting on a dock or post, but only an insignificant portion of the man-made element is visible beneath its feet.
- a scene with a barely noticeable fence or a portion of a trail in the background. The man-made element should not be an element of the composition.
All rights reserved. Request prior written permission from the photographer to reproduce their images.
Website questions or comments please contact webmaster@seattlephotographic.com.