Entry Period

• • Friends of Forsythe’s Juried Photography Contest begins on June 1, 2025 at 6:00 am and ends on July 31, 2025 at 6:00 pm. Entry into the contest constitutes your acceptance of these Official Rules.

Sponsor

• • Friends of Forsythe NWR, LLC, P.O. Box 355, Oceanville, NJ 08231.

Who May Enter

• • Friends of Forsythe’s 2025 Juried Photography Contest is open to all photographers. There will be two age-based categories within the contest.  The Adult category is for participants 18 years or older as of the date of submission.  The Student category is open to participants who are 17 years or younger as of the date of submission. The contest is not open to members of the Friends of Forsythe Board of Directors, Friends of Forsythe paid staff, or employees of E.B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

Geographical Boundary

• • The contest is limited to photographs taken within the borders of the E.B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. Please reference this map for further information on the various areas included within the refuge:

Eligible Photographs

• • Photographs submitted to the contest are limited to those taken within the boundary of the E.B. Fosythe National Wildlife Refuge with the past three years (August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2025). Images may include landscape, birds, animals, insects, flora
  • AI-generated images are not eligible.
  • Normal processing of the original file is acceptable, including
    • Cropping
    • Minor adjustments to color, white balance, lighting levels and curves, shadows and highlights, saturation contrast and sharpness
    • Moderate dodging and burning
    • Removal of dust spots and moderate reduction of image noise
    • HDR frame stacking and stitched panoramas
  • Photographs that have been digitally or otherwise altered beyond standard optimization will be disqualified. This includes
    • images that have been manipulated by the addition, removal, or alteration (painting over, cloning, or blurring) of anything in the original subject and scene that were photographed
    • borders, signatures or watermarks
    • flipped images (a mirror-reversal of the original image across a horizontal axis)
    • changes in color so significant that the processed colors are widely different from the original colors
    • changes in density, contrast, color and/or saturation levels and dodging and burning that significantly alter content by obscuring or eliminating information in the picture
  • Disqualification of an image for any of the above reasons will be at the sole discretion of the contest judge(s)

Ethical Photography Guidelines

• • Friends of Forsythe encourages every photographer to employ ethical guidelines in the capturing of their images. Any image that appears, in the sole discretion of the judge(s), to reflect any of the following conditions will be disqualified.  That includes:
    • Birds or animals that appear to be stressed or harassed by the photographer
    • Nesting birds where the photographer’s proximity to the nest appears to be closer than twenty five yards
    • Birds or animals that appear to have been lured by bait
    • Nocturnal birds or animals that have been photographed with a flash
    • Photographs taken with the use of drones
    • Photographs that appear to have been taken in violation of the refuge’s access restrictions

How to Enter and Technical Requirements

• • All submissions and payment of entry fees to the contest must be made online through our portal at SmarterEntry.com HERE
  • You will be required to establish a (free) account at SmarterEntry.com to manage your contest submissions. Submissions, up to the maximum of six images per contestant, can be made at any time during the contest submission timeframe.
  • Images submitted MUST meet the following technical requirements:
    • jpg format
    • RGB or sRGB color space
    • Minimum of 1400 pixels on the longest side
    • A minimum of 72 dpi
    • Maximum file size of 8MB
    • Images should not contain any watermarks, text, logos, borders or other marks that might identify the photographer
    Note: Parents/legal guardians of Student entrants must furnish required personal information on behalf of their child and grant permission for the Student entrant to participate.

Judging

• • Judging will be conducted by the judge(s) appointed by Friends of Forsythe, who will score the submissions taking into account a) Technical Quality, (b) Originality, and (c) Artistic Merit. The judge(s) will award a First, Second and Third prize in both the Adult and Student categories (a total of six prizes).  In addition, in the sole discretion of the judge(s), additional “Honorable Mention” prizes may also be awarded.
  • No submission may win more than one prize.

Winner Notifications

• • Winners will be notified by email on or about August 28, 2025. They will be announced publicly shortly thereafter and displayed on the Friends of Forsythe website and at the refuge Visitor Information Center.

General Conditions

• • You, as the photographer, will retain all copyrights to the images submitted to the contest. The Friends of Forsythe NWR reserves the rights to use all submitted images for promoting the exhibition and/or photographer and for the promotions of the Friends of Forsythe mission in print and online without financial compensation. Where possible the photographer will be credited. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service reserves the rights to use award-winning images for promoting the E. B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, and where possible the photographer will be given credit.
  • You represent and warrant that: a) You are the sole and exclusive author and owner of the Photographs submitted to the contest and all rights therein; b) You have the full and exclusive right, power, and authority to submit the Photographs to the contest and to grant Friends of Forsythe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the rights granted herein, including a worldwide copyright license, upon the terms and conditions set herein; c) No rights in the Photograph have been previously granted to any person, firm, corporation or other entity, or otherwise encumbered such that the prior grant would limit or interfere with the rights granted to the Sponsor herein; d) No part of your Photographs defames or invades the privacy or publicity rights of any person, living or decreased, or otherwise infringes upon any third party’s copyright, trademark or other personal or property rights.
  • If any Photograph in your submission contains any material or elements not owned by You, or which are subject to the rights of third parties, You are responsible, prior to submitting the Photographs, for obtaining any and all releases necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Photographs in all the manners contemplated by these Official Rules, including, without limitation, permission to use the name and likeness of any person who appears or is identifiable in the Photographs.
  • You hereby release Friends of Fosythe, its subsidiaries, affiliates and divisions, and its respective directors, officers, employees, and agents from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with your participation or attempt to participate in the Contest, and/or the awarding, receipt, use or misuse of a Prize; from claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy; and from claims based on the infringement of or protection of the copyright in your Submission.
  • You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Sponsor against any claims by any third party related to a breach of any of these General Conditions, including, but not limited to, a claim of ownership of any copyright, trademark, or any personal or property rights, libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, or right of publicity, or your failure to pay taxes on any Prize.