Give Us Your Best Shot!

Congratulations to the winners of our Photo Contest! Stay tuned for information on how to see the winning photographs.

PRIZES

Grand Prize: Nate Gomez, Oklahoma City

People

    First Prize: Nate Gomez, Oklahoma City    
    Second Prize: Marissa Johnson, Norman
    Third Prize: Jo Smith, Yukon

Places

    First Prize: Allison Wheeler, Norman
    Second Prize: Nate Gomez, Oklahoma City
    Third Prize: Keith Bridgman, Alvaton, KY

Things

    First Prize: Keith Bridgman, Alvaton, KY
    Second Prize: Mark Morgan, Stillwater
    Third Prize: Faith Snellgrove, Tulsa

SPONSOR

The contest sponsor is Oklahoma Today magazine, 120 North Robinson, Suite 600, Oklahoma City, OK 73102. 

WHO MAY ENTER 

The Oklahoma Today “Give Us Your Best Shot” 2012 Photography Contest is open to amateur photographers age 18 and older. Employees of Oklahoma Today, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, and its subsidiaries and affiliates and their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households as such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible. 

HOW TO ENTER 

Please email each image separately to photocontest@oklahomatoday.com. Include name, address, telephone number, email, caption information (including date of photograph, precise location of photo, and names of human subjects) and technical details (camera model, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO) for every photo. 

Contest categories are 1) People, 2) Places, and 3) Things. Please submit no more than five photographs in total. Each entry must comply with the Photograph Requirements: 

Photographs must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible. No print or film submissions will be accepted for entry into this contest. No negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints are acceptable. All digital files entered must be 5 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG or JPG format, and must be at least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image). 

Photographs must have been taken in Oklahoma and not previously published in any print media. 

Minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable. Hand tinting and cropping also are acceptable. Fish-eye lenses are acceptable. Stitched panoramas and high dynamic range images (HDR) are NOT acceptable. Any changes to the original photograph not itemized here are unacceptable and will render the photograph ineligible for a prize. 

The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the contest entrant. By entering the contest, entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph. 

The photograph must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsor, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. 

All entries must be received by April 1, 2012, at 9 a.m. CST. Proof of submission is not proof of receipt. Oklahoma Today reserves the right to examine the original photograph/source material in order to confirm compliance with these rules. 

TERM

The contest begins December 16, 2011, at 12:01 a.m. and ends April 1, 2012, at 9 a.m. CST. Information on how to enter and prizes form part of these official rules. By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that his or her entry complies with all the requirements set out in the Official Rules. 

RELEASES

If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in these Official Rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any photograph is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence, the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release. 

Upon Sponsor's request, each entrant must be prepared to provide (within 7 calendar days of receipt of Sponsor's request) a signed written license from the owner of any private property included in the photograph entry, authorizing any Authorized Party to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in connection with the contest and promotion of the contest in any media now or hereafter known. All releases must be in the form provided by Sponsor. Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. 

For the purposes of these Official Rules, the entrant will be deemed to be in receipt of Sponsor's request or notification (a) in the event that Sponsor sends the request by postal mail, five business days after the request was sent by Sponsor, or (b) in the event that Sponsor sends the request by email, on the day that the email was sent by Sponsor. 

CONTEST PRIZES 

The first-place winner in each category and the grand prize winner will receive a prize package to be determined, and his/her winning photograph will be published in Oklahoma Today magazine and/or on oklahomatoday.com. No prize transfer, assignment, or substitution by winners is permitted. If a prize (or part of a prize) is unavailable, the Sponsor, at its discretion, reserves the right to substitute the original prize (or part of the prize) with an alternative prize of equal monetary value and/or specification, unless to do so would be prohibited by law. NONCOMPLIANCE OR RETURN OF PRIZE NOTIFICATION AS UNDELIVERABLE, WHETHER BY REGULAR MAIL OR BY EMAIL, MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION AND SELECTION OF AN ALTERNATE POTENTIAL WINNER. 

JUDGING 

Entries in each category will be judged based on creativity and photographic quality. Winners will be notified by email. Decisions of the judges are final and binding. 

LICENSE 

By entering the contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to Authorized Parties to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the contest and promotion of the contest in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: publication in Oklahoma Today magazine or online highlighting entries or winners of the contest; on the Oklahoma Today blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr; or publication in the form of slides on television. Entrants consent to the Sponsor offering images for free download and as computer wallpaper. Display or publication of any entry on an Authorized Party’s website does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use. Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to Authorized Parties the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the contest, and pictures or likenesses of contest entrants, or choose not to do so, at their sole discretion. Authorized Parties will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use. 

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 

By entering this contest, all entrants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless Oklahoma Today and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents, and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this contest or any contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder. 

Oklahoma Today assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to contest entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Oklahoma Today is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to in this contest. 

CONDITIONS

To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief, or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this contest are hereby excluded, and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Certain restrictions may apply. Entries will be void if the Sponsor determines the photograph not to be an original or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced, in error or obtained through fraud or theft. 

By entering, entrants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final and binding with respect to all matters relating to the contest; and (c) if the entrant wins, that Sponsor may use the winning photographs and each winner's name, photograph, likeness, and/or voice in any publicity or advertising relating to the contest or future promotions without compensation or approval (except where prohibited by law). All federal, state/provincial/territorial, and local taxes, fees, and surcharges and taxes (whether foreign or domestic and including income, sales, and import taxes) on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible, cannot be traced, or does/do not respond within ten (10) days to a winner notification as required by the "Contest Prizes" Rules above or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant. 

The Sponsor reserves the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant's identity and address) and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampers with the entry process. Failure by the Sponsor to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. 

RIGHT TO CANCEL OR SUSPEND CONTEST 

If for any reason the contest is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Oklahoma Today that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this contest, Oklahoma Today reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest. If Sponsor elects to cancel or terminate the contest, Sponsor will not retain any rights in the submitted photographs. 

WINNERS LIST 

Entrants are responsible for complying with these Official Rules. 

DATA PRIVACY 

Entrants agree that personal data, especially name and address, may be processed, shared, and otherwise used for the purposes and within the context of the contest and any other purposes outlined in these Official Rules. The data may also be used by the Sponsor in order to verify the participant's identity, postal address, and telephone number or to otherwise verify the participant's eligibility to participate in the contest. Participants have the right to access, review, rectify, or cancel any personal data held by Sponsor by writing to Oklahoma Today, 120 North Robinson Avenue, Suite 600, Oklahoma City, OK 73102. Sponsor and its affiliates will use personal data exclusively for the purposes stated herein.