Photo by Robert Dunn
Terms and Conditions
- Photographs will be accepted only from the original photographer.
- Photographer must be the sole author and the owner of the copyright for all photos entered.
- Photographers must have sufficient permission of any recognizable persons appearing in the photograph to be able to grant rights to display the photographic submission online or in printed materials.
- Photographers retain ownership of all copyrights. However, by submitting an image for entry in this contest, you automatically give the Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge permission and rights to store, display, and use the image, its thumbnails, and your name as the photographer, indefinitely in any non-commercial media without notification or compensation.
- You must obey all gate, fence, and other access restrictions as well as all traffic signs on the Bosque del Apache.
- Each photographer may submit up to 20 entries. Each photo entry will cost $4.
GENERAL:
By entering, entrants agree to be bound by these Contest Rules and Procedures, the Terms and Conditions on use of images, and the decisions of the sponsors and judges, which are final and binding on all matters. This Contest is void where prohibited and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.
Participants affirm that they are the sole owner of said art, it is their original work, and that they have no contractual or other arrangements which would interfere with or prevent the above-mentioned assignment or transfer of all their right, title and interest in said material.
They also give their consent to indemnify and hold harmless, and Friends respective directors, officers, agents and employees and assigns, against and from any and all claims, liability, loss and damage, including reasonable attorney’s fees, caused by or arising wholly or in part, directly out of their inability to prove the validity of what is stated above.
RELEASE:
By participating, entrants release the Friends of the Bosque, Bosque del Apache, the City of Socorro and the Contest partners and sponsors, their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries and their agents, respective officers, directors, employees, Friends of Bosque del Apache Volunteers, agents from any and all liability or responsibility for any claim arising in connection with participation in the Contest or any prize awarded.
CONSENT:
By completing the photo entry form on the web and paying for photo submission to the Contest, you agree and accept the Contest Terms and Conditions, the General clause, and Release clause.
Rules
The Festival of the Cranes Annual Photo Contest is open from July 1st to September 30th. Each photographer may submit up to 20 photos.
Friends of Bosque del Apache invites photographers to submit their photos. Winning photos be displayed at the Bosque del Apache Visitor Center atrium prior to and through the Festival of the Cranes and throughout the year until the winners for our 2026 Photo Contest are selected. Photographs may be published with attribution in the Friends of the Bosque’s Habitat!, and in our Festival of the Cranes brochures, and in future publications; such as editions of our quarterly newsletter Bosque Watch. All winning photos will be published on the Friends of Bosque del Apache website.
Good luck to all.
There are five sub-categories:
- Sandhill Cranes: Any photographs with cranes as the main focus.
- People: Defined as any photo with people or evidence of people, e.g. automobiles or camera gear in the frame.
- Wildlife: Any photo with wildlife that are not sandhill cranes.
- Landscapes: Photographs with the landscape as the center focus.
- Comedy: Photographs that make us laugh or smile.
NEW Comedy Category this year! Send us your favorite funny wildlife shots!
There will be 1st and 2nd place winners for all five categories.
Entry rules for photographs:
- Image must be taken at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
- All applicants must obey all gate, fence, and other access restrictions as well as all traffic signs on Bosque del Apache.
- Panoramic photos will not be accepted.
- Images must be in JPG format with a maximum size of 2 Mb and RGB or SRGB color space.
- Types of allowed photo modifications: color/B&W, balance, saturation, brightness, cropping, contrast, etc. However, please remember that this is a photo contest, not a digital art contest, and judges will be looking for true representations of people and the refuge.
- Applicants may not merge photos or photo elements.
- HDR (high dynamic range) is allowed.
- Applicants may remove or leave EXIF data on your JPG images.
- Applicants are also discouraged from submitting images with a high dynamic range.
- No CDs or DVDs will be accepted. Do not mail any image material to the “Friends” address.
The following information is required about the photographer:
- First and Last Name
- Street address and city/state/zip
- Primary and secondary phone numbers
- Email address
The following photograph naming convention is required:
The filename of the images will be named as follows:
- 1st: Applicant’s first and last name.
- 2nd: Two numeric characters: last two numeric characters of the applicant’s primary phone number.
- 3rd: Either an ”S,” “P,” “W,” “L,” or “F” representing that the photo is the Sandhill, People, Wildlife, Landscape or Funny category.
- Last two numeric characters: image number beginning with 01 and ending with 20 (maximum).
For example: John Doe’s phone number is 555-111-1234 and he submitted three funny images, his photos would be titled “Johndoe34F01,” “Johndoe34F02” and “Johndoe34F03.” He also submitted one sandhill photo. This was titled “johndoe34S01.”
Contest Deadlines:
Photo Contest winners will be announced via email approximately four weeks after the contest closes. Please be patient with the judges.
Payment Information:
- Each photographer may submit up to 20 entries. All entries will cost $4.
- Payment is by PayPal when you upload your images.
- You do not need to have a PayPal account, but you will be required to enter your credit card and contact information into the secure PayPal online form.
- Checks and currency will not be accepted. Please do not mail any payment to the Friends address.