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Photo Contest to Promote Indiana Communities

Photo Contest to Promote Indiana Communities

Enter our photo contest for your chance at $500 for a nonprofit of your choice.

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Winners of Security Federal Savings Bank Photo Contest will have their artwork featured on our website and can earn a donation of up to $500 for a local nonprofit. 

Entry form

This is your chance to show off our beautiful state and showcase your talent when you enter one or more photos in this Indiana Photo Contest. Winners will choose a local nonprofit to win up up to $500. Contestants can submit photos which meet one of the following contest categories:

  1. Our Community: Locales, peoples or activities in Cass, Carroll, Howard, and Tippecanoe counties of Indiana that convey a sense of place.
  2. The American Experience: Events, objects or activities connecting the American people to their history or their cultural heritage; photographs taken in the state of Indiana that tell us what it means to be an American and provide a sense of what it is like to live in this country.
  3. Altered Images: Image must first meet the criteria for categories 1 or 2; photographs manipulated for artistic purposes by applying digital and/or traditional special effects. Submission must be clearly marked as being altered/composite. 

What can I win?

The winner of each prize category will be featured on our website, and potentially, in our marketing. Winners will choose a non-profit headquartered in or represented in Cass, Carroll, Howard, and/or Tippecanoe Counties. Nonprofit must have been established on or before January 1, 2021. The nonprofit will receive a contribution from Security Federal Savings Bank in honor of the winner. Four prizes will be awarded, as follows:

  • Our Community: $250 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).
  • The American Experience: $250 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).
  • Altered Images: $250 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).
  • Readers' Choice: $500 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).

Who?

Adults ages 18+ who have a camera can enter this contest.

Why?

We are redesigning our website, and we want to feature your images which celebrate life in Indiana communities on our website homepage. Winning entrants will get to choose a local nonprofit who will receive a donation from SFSB.

When?

Submissions are accepted from November 29, 2021 to February 1, 2022. 

How?

To enter, email a copy of the entry form and your image(s) with the subject “photo contest” to julia.snipes@secfedbank.com

To be entered into the optional People’s Choice category, post your image on our Call For Entries post on our Facebook page. 

Entry form

Term:

The Security Federal Savings Bank (SFSB) Photo Contest begins November 29, 2021, and ends February 1, 2022, at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest and states that he or she is 18 years old or older.

Who may enter:

The contest is open to photographers who are 18 years old or older as of November 29, 2021. Individuals affiliated with SFSB, including employees, customers, interns, volunteers, vendors, and their immediate families (children, parents, siblings, and spouses) and others living in their households are eligible to win. SFSB will determine winners’ eligibility in its sole discretion.

What to enter:

Photos should meet the criteria of the following contest category:

  1. Our Community: Locales, peoples or activities in Cass, Carroll, Howard, and Tippecanoe counties of Indiana that convey a sense of place.
  2. The American Experience: Events, objects or activities connecting the American people to their history or their cultural heritage; photographs taken in the state of Indiana that tell us what it means to be an American and provide a sense of what it is like to live in this country.
  3. Altered Images: Image must first meet the criteria for categories 1 or 2; photographs manipulated for artistic purposes by applying digital and/or traditional special effects. Submission must be clearly marked as being altered/composite.

To be eligible for any category, a photograph must have been shot by the entrant since January 1, 2019. This date applies to all images in a composite. The contestant certifies that he/she is the sole creator and copyright owner of the submitted photograph.

Cropped photos are eligible in all categories. We do not accept digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered photos, except for those entered in the Altered Images category. Minor adjustments, including the removal of sensor dust or scratches on scans of negatives, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast, toning, slight color adjustment and conversion to grayscale are acceptable for all categories. The addition and subtraction of objects is not permitted except in the Altered Images category. If the judges determine that a photographer has altered his or her photo, they reserve the right to move the photo to Altered Images or to disqualify it. Image composites including HDR and stitched panoramas will be judged as Altered Images.

For a photo in which a person is recognizable, you must be prepared to provide a model release from the subject or, in the case of a minor, the subject’s parent or guardian, to the SFSB upon request. 

Similarly, entrants whose photos depict other people’s business, organization, or work (such as sculptures, statues, paintings, and other copyrightable works) must be prepared to provide a release from the rights holder to the SFSB upon request. When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person's creation. An art release is available here.

If the entrant is unable to provide all required releases, SFSB in its sole discretion reserves the right to disqualify the submission, seek to secure the required releases, or permit the submission to remain in the contest.

Photos that violate or infringe upon another person's rights, including but not limited to copyright, are not eligible.

Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent or other objectionable or inappropriate content, as determined by SFSB in its sole discretion, are ineligible for all categories of this contest.

Ethics

Entrants must disclose the circumstances under which an image was captured as well as any instructions given to a subject.

The welfare of a subject and its environment must be placed ahead of the desire to capture a photograph. Upon entering the contest, entrants certify that subjects were treated with respect and dignity, and that no people, wildlife, or the environment were harmed in creating a photograph.

If baiting was used to attract wildlife, or special equipment such as camera traps and drones used to capture the photograph, this must be disclosed. Live baiting of wildlife is not permitted.

How to Enter:

There are two steps to submitting an entry.

  1. Please email a copy of the entry form and your image(s) with the subject “photo contest” to julia.snipes@secfedbank.com.
    1. You may submit up to 2 (two) photographs per category for a contest total of 6 (six) submissions. To be displayed in our online gallery without being stretched or distorted, photographs must be submitted in .jpeg, .jpg or .gif format, edited for web in sRGB color space, at least 2,010 pixels wide by 1250 pixels high and no larger than 10 MB. Complete only one form for all photos submitted.
    2. Optional: Please post a copy of your photograph to our Facebook page on the SFSB Photo Contest Call for Entries post made by SFSB. Posting a copy of your photo on our Facebook Page must be done after step 1 has been completed; posting a copy on our Facebook page implies you would like your photo entered the People’s Choice voting contest.

We do not accept photographs submitted through the mail and do not accept more than one contestant per e-mail address. High-quality scans of non-digital photographs are acceptable. Digital photographs should be taken at the highest resolution possible.

Finalists must be prepared to submit an original, unedited digital file. Security Federal Savings Bank reserves the right to disqualify incomplete entries and/or contestants who are unable to submit, upon request, a high-resolution photograph of at least 300 dpi at 2,010 pixels wide by 1,250 pixels high and no larger than 10 MB.

SFSB may collect a photograph’s metadata upon entry.

You retain your rights to your photograph; however, by entering the contest, you grant SFSB (and those authorized by SFSB) a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and promotion of the magazine and its website, exhibition, and commercial products, including but not limited to SFSB publications. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit as feasible. SFSB will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

Entry deadline:

The contest begins on November 29, 2021. All entries must be received by 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on February 1, 2022.

Judging

Photo entries will be judged based on creativity, quality, originality, responsiveness to the prompt and overall impact.

SFSB will select 10 finalists per category, a winner for each category, and a Grand Prize winner from the 60 finalists. The 60 finalists will be notified of their status and appear on our website in March 2022. At that time, the public can vote on our website for the Readers’ Choice winner from among the 60 finalists. The Readers' Choice winner, Grand Prize winner and category winners will be revealed online in spring 2022.

SFSB will notify winners via the contact information provided at the time of entry; the SFSB may disqualify anyone who fails to respond to the notification within five business days.

Please do not contact us about the status of entries or judging.

Prizes:

The winner of each prize category will choose a non-profit headquartered in or represented in Cass, Carroll, Howard, and/or Tippecanoe Counties. Nonprofit must have been established on or before January 1, 2021. The nonprofit will receive a contribution from Security Federal Savings Bank in honor of the winner. Four prizes will be awarded, as follows:

Our Community: $250 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).

The American Experience: $250 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).

Altered Images: $250 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).

Readers' Choice: $500 to winner’s selected nonprofit (see note above).

One prize per person; winners may receive additional non-cash prizes. Winners must sign a release and license, as well as a declaration of eligibility. All prizes are awarded “as is” and non-transferable.  In case applicable law prohibits SFSB from awarding a photographer any non-cash prize, SFSB may award the prize in name only.

Online Features:

SFSB will select photos for highlight on its website or display in a publicly accessible contest archive. Such selections will be made in SFSB’s sole discretion.

Conditions of Entry:

All entrants hold the Sponsors and their respective regents, directors, officers, employees, interns, customers, and volunteers (the “Indemnified Parties”) harmless from and against all claims of any nature arising in connection with entrant’s participation in the contest and acceptance or use of a prize. The Indemnified Parties are not liable for any costs, damages, injuries, or other claims incurred as a result of entrants’ participation in the contest or winner’s acceptance and usage of a prize. The Indemnified Parties are not responsible for incomplete or misdirected entries, technical or network malfunctions or failures, or causes beyond their control. Entrants are solely responsible for their entries. Entrants may not submit materials that introduce any software viruses, worms or other programs designed to damage software, hardware or telecommunications equipment or are off-topic, partisan-political, contain advertising, nudity, personal attacks or expletives, or is otherwise abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, false, sexually explicit, or that infringes on the rights of any third party.

The contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. SFSB reserves the right to cancel the contest or modify these rules at its discretion. In the event of a dispute regarding the winners, SFSB reserves the right to award or not award the prizes in its sole discretion. SFSB reserves the right to disqualify any entrant whose entry or conduct appears in any way to: inhibit the enjoyment of others; tamper with the competition; violate these rules or other applicable law or regulation; infringe on the rights of third parties; or act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Decisions of SFSB are final and binding.

 

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