Theme & Photo Requirements

Theme: Wild Native Florida

• Photos must depict wildlife (animals in their natural or wild-adjacent environment) physically located within Florida at the time the photo was taken.
• Photos MUST depict species that are native to Florida. Non-native or invasive species (including but not limited to Burmese pythons, green iguanas, feral hogs, lionfish, Brazilian peppertree, and Australian pine) are not eligible, even if photographed within the state. Entrants may refer to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) list of native animal species and Florida Native Plant Society’s native plant list if unsure of a species’ status.
• Domesticated animals, livestock, pets, and captive animals (zoo, sanctuary, or wildlife rehabilitation settings) are not eligible.
• Photos must be the original work of the entrant and the entrant must hold full copyright to the image and have the ability to license the work to MAR.
• Basic editing (color correction, cropping, exposure adjustment) is permitted. Composite images, AI-generated or AI-enhanced images, and heavily manipulated images are not eligible.
• Photos must have been taken within the last 3 years. If the submitted photo has been used in other publications or distributed to the public in any other way, this must be disclosed to MAR.  If a license has been provided to another person or entity, this must also be disclosed and a copy of the license agreement must be provided to MAR as well.
• Minimum resolution: 300 DPI at the final print size, or a minimum file dimension of 2550 x 3300 px.
• Accepted file formats: JPEG or PNG.

Eligibility

The contest is open to the general public, ages 13 and older. Entrants under the age of 18 must obtain written consent from a parent or legal guardian prior to submitting an entry. In the event an entrant under 18 wins a cash prize, the prize will be awarded to and must be accepted by the entrant’s parent or legal guardian on the minor’s behalf. MAR reserves the right to require proof of age and written parental consent before awarding any prize to a minor.

Staff & Board Eligibility

Employees, officers, and board members of MAR may NOT submit entries. Their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, or sibling) are eligible to enter. Judging is conducted using anonymized entry codes (see Section 5), so entries are evaluated without judges knowing the identity of the photographer. Based on blind-judged scores, immediate family members of board and staff are eligible for calendar placement (one of the twelve months), but are not eligible to receive the cash prize or cover placement. These are assigned only after entrant identities are confirmed following judging.

Judge Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Each member of the judging panel will sign a brief disclosure prior to judging, confirming they will identify and recuse themselves from scoring any entry if they are able to determine the photographer’s identity despite anonymization (e.g., recognizing a distinctive photo they’ve seen before), or if they otherwise have a personal or familial relationship with an entrant. Judge Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality Policy available upon request.  If a conflict arises with just one board member during the board’s decisions of scoring, so long as it does not disclose the identity of the photographer, he or she may simply recuse themselves from voting and the remaining board members will be allowed to submit an agreed upon score for a photograph for the Board’s Judge Score.

Entry Fee & Submission

• Each individual may submit only one entry, which may include up to 3 photo file uploads (maximum 3 photos per person).
• Pricing is based on the number of photos included: $10 for 1 photo, $20 for 2 photos, or $25 for 3 photos (a $5 savings compared to individual pricing).
• Entries must be submitted through the official entry form by the submission deadline (see Section 8). Entries submitted after the deadline, or without payment, will not be considered.
• Please note that by entering, all entrants (not just winners) grant MAR a limited license to display submitted photos on MAR’s website and social media for the purpose of promoting this contest. This is a non-exclusive license. You retain full copyright and may use your photos freely elsewhere.

Judging Process

1. Screening Round: MAR staff review all entries for eligibility, confirming the theme, location, and editing requirements are met. Entries that do not meet eligibility criteria are removed before scoring. During this round, each eligible entry is assigned a randomized code (e.g., “RE-014”) and all identifying information (entrant name, original filename, and image metadata) is removed before the entry is passed to the judging panel.
2. Judging Round: A panel of Judges composing of MAR’s Executive Director, one professional photographer, and the Board of Directors shall judge all eligible entries using only the anonymized code and a standardized score card. Judges do not have access to entrant names during scoring. The scoring shall assume there are only three judges.  The Board of Directors will all be allowed to participate in the judging, but shall provide a singular, agreed upon score to be viewed as one judge’s score (“Board Judge’s Score”), which will be based on the judges collective agreement on an appropriate score.
3. Judges will score entries using a consistent rubric/score card across criteria such as composition, technical quality, relevance to theme, and overall impact.  This rubric/score card may be provided to contestants upon entry.  
4. The scores of the Executive Director, one professional photographer judge, and the agreed upon score of the board will be combined to determine the total score for each entry.
5. The twelve (12) highest-scoring entries will be selected for the calendar. The single highest-scoring entry among these twelve will be featured on the cover and win the cash prize.
6. If an individual contestant submits more than one entry which are in the top twelve scores, that contestant will only be given one spot in the calendar, even though multiple entries scored in the top twelve.  If one of the contestants photographs is the top scorer, that photograph will be the cover page and the remaining photographs will not be featured.  If the contestant has multiple photographs in the top twelve, but none or the highest scoring, the contestant may elect which photograph it wishes to feature in the calendar.
7. If at any point there is a situation where a contestant has multiple photographs in the top twelve and only gets to have one featured in the calendar, then the next highest scoring photograph shall be added to the calendar, so long as the contestant that submitted that photograph doesn’t already have a photograph in the calendar. This process will continue until the calendar has twelve photographs from twelve different contestants.
8. Identity Reveal: After all scores are finalized, entrant identities are matched back to their anonymized codes. If an immediate family member of MAR staff or board scored high enough for cover placement or the cash prize, that placement passes to the next-highest-scoring eligible entry. The immediate family member’s entry retains its earned calendar month placement.

Judge Recusal & Score Adjustment

In the event a judge discloses a conflict of interest and recuses themselves from scoring a specific entry, that entry will be scored by the remaining two judges scores only. To ensure this entry is judged fairly and remains comparable to entries scored by all three judges, its combined score will be proportionally converted to the standard 60-point scale using the following calculation: Adjusted Score = (Combined Score from Two Judges ÷ 40) × 60

This adjustment applies only when a recusal occurs and ensures that no entry is penalized or advantaged simply because one judges score was unable to score it due to a disclosed conflict of interest.

Prize Structure

“Public recognition” includes acknowledgment in MAR’s newsletter, website, and social media channels, and a photo credit printed with each published image in the calendar.

Winner is solely responsible for all applicable federal, state, and local taxes on any prize received. MAR will comply with all applicable tax reporting requirements.

Odds of winning the cash prize depend on the number of eligible entries received.

For a list of winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to MAR’s address within 60 days of the contest end date, or visit MAR’s website where winners will be posted following notification.

Usage Rights & License

By submitting an entry, the entrant retains full copyright ownership of their photograph, but grants MAR the following licenses:

• Calendar & Promotional License (Top 12 Entries): MAR is granted a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, print, publish, and sell the twelve winning photographs as part of the 2027 calendar, and to use them in related promotional materials (website, social media, marketing), with photo credit given to the entrant.
• General Promotional License (All Entries): MAR is granted a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display any submitted photograph, winning or not, on its website and social media channels for the purpose of promoting the contest, with photo credit given to the entrant.
• Entrants may continue to use, license, sell, or publish their own photographs elsewhere; this is a non-exclusive license, not a transfer of copyright.

Key Dates

General Terms

• MAR reserves the right to disqualify any entry that violates these rules, contains offensive content, or was not legitimately captured by the entrant.
• MAR reserves the right to cancel, suspend, or modify the contest at any time due to unforeseen circumstances.
• Entrants agree to release and hold harmless MAR, its staff, board, and judges from any claims arising from participation in the contest, to the fullest extent permitted by law.
• Entrants’ contact information (name, email) will be used only for contest administration and will not be sold to third parties.
• Questions about these rules may be directed to avery@wearemar.org.

This contest is governed by the laws of the State of Florida. Any disputes arising from this contest shall be resolved under Florida law. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be decided by MAR in its sole discretion, subject to applicable law.