13th Annual Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest Guidelines
Contest Entry Dates: April 22 – June 22, 2024
We’re delighted you are interested in entering our contest to celebrate the Marine Protected Areas of Laguna Beach!
The contest is free to enter, but naturally we would greatly appreciate your donation, great or small, to help us continue our work to restore and protect marine life in Laguna. Please click here and join us in our effort!
You can submit your entry through the form on the Contest Front Page until June 22, 2024.
Full Guidelines:
Taking and Entering your Photo
- Photos must be taken within or show Laguna’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) – the Laguna State Marine Conservation Area or Laguna State Marine Reserve. The photo can be taken on the beach, underwater, on a kayak or SUP and of any subject you wish. It could include your family and friends enjoying the beach, the tidepools or ocean, or the birds or marine life that depend on it.
- Please observe all City of Laguna Beach and County laws at all times, particularly regulating the use of drones and other similar activities.
- Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo. We are adopting the viewing guidelines established by NOAA®. In general, some of the guidelines recommend:
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- Observing wild dolphins, porpoises, and seals from safe distances of at least 50 yards (150 feet)
- Observing large whales from a safe distance of at least 100 yards (300 feet)
- Limit overall viewing time to no more than 30 minutes
- Avoid touching or swimming with wild marine mammals, even if they approach you
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- Submit only one photo per person. Photos must be a single work of original material taken by the contest entrant between May 2023 and June 22, 2024 (one year and one month before contest ends).
- Entry Categories include Amateur and Professional – professionals are paid part or full-time for their photography.
- The photo cannot be watermarked with the photographers name or studio in order for the photo to remain anonymous to the judges. Make sure the photo size is a minimum of 1.5 MB, maximum 10 MB.
- Submit your entry through the form link on the Contest Front Page. If your entry upload is successful, you will receive a notification on the submission form page.
Judging Criteria
- Show off the Bluebelt’s natural beauty, its diversity of marine life, and all the forms of fun it provides people visiting our Marine Protected Areas.
- Choose a compelling subject with a strong composition, good light, and sharp focus unless intentional motion blur is desired.
- Be creative, unique, and avoid the beach photo clichés of sunsets and breaking waves unless they’re genuinely “contest” worthy.
- Photos that are altered with excessive post-processing means are discouraged; photos using AI enhancement will not be considered.
Prizes and Artists’ Exhibit
- Winners will be notified on or around July 5. Cash prizes will be awarded to all winners:
- Professional: 1st – $500 2nd – $300 3rd – $200
- Amateur: 1st – $400 2nd – $200 3rd – $100
- Honorable mentions will receive Bluebelt Yeti reusable water bottles and a limited edition photo contest notecard set.
- Winning photos will be displayed on the Bluebelt website, Facebook page, newspapers, and newsletters.
- Winning photos will be celebrated at an Artists’ Reception and Exhibit, August 1, 2024 at the LCAD Gallery on Ocean Avenue which coincides with the City’s First Thursdays Art Walk. The exhibit will run through August 18.
- Winners will produce and deliver ready-to-hang productions of their winning photograph for the exhibit. This can be a custom frame, pre-assembled frame with mat, or any other reproduction method (giclée, aluminum, etc.) All work must be ready to hang when delivered to the gallery. If the winning photographers desire, their photos may be listed for sale with a 25% donation to the Laguna Bluebelt. Further details and assistance will be provided to winning photographers.
- Following the announcement of the winners, the remaining entries will be posted on the Bluebelt Facebook page, where the public may vote with a “Like” for the photo they believe is the “Best of the Rest”. Best of the Rest winner(s) may be invited to exhibit at the Artists’ Reception.
Photo Usage
- Photographers retain all copyrights to their images. By submitting your photograph, you agree the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition may use your image for public relations, education, and marketing including our website, social media pages, newsletter, press releases, and fundraising materials.
If you have any difficulties, please email Bluebeltcontest@gmail.com.
Good Luck!