PRSF Photo Contest 2024

Winning Photos

Thank you to everyone who submitted their stunning images from across the Port Royal Sound for the 1st Port Royal Sound Foundation photo contest. We had 170 submissions across the six categories. Winners from the juried review and public voting round are displayed below. Congratulations to the winners! Be sure to come by the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center through mid-October to see winning images displayed!

Crip Legree, the Last Castnet Maker, photo by Marci Tressel

JURIED WINNER – BEST IN SHOW

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – CULTURE

Final Nights, photo by Miles Sanders

JURIED WINNER – LANDSCAPE

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – LANDSCAPE

Chomp, photo by Jack Carter Worrell

JURIED WINNER – BEST CATCH

Magnolia Blossom, photo by Joan Eckhardt

JURIED WINNER – FLORA

Black Eyed Susan, photo by Daniel F. 

JURIED WINNER – YOUTH

Picky Picky, photo by Paul Halphin

JURIED WINNER – FAUNA

Can I Join You For Lunch?, photo by Anya I.

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – YOUTH

Finding a Place in this World, photo by April Elliot

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – LANDSCAPE

Let’s Dance, photo by Heidi Lane

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – FLORA

Fresh Catch for the Nest, photo by Jenn Clementoni

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – FAUNA

Black Drum in Port Royal, photo by Matthew Dale

PUBLIC VOTE WINNER – BEST CATCH

Categories

With its sweeping salt marshes, endless blue skies, rich cultures, and incredible biodiversity, the Port Royal Sound is a photographer’s dream come true. If you love exploring and capturing the majesty of this estuary from behind the camera (or phone) lens, this is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. The Port Royal Sound Foundation is sponsoring its inaugural photo contest to celebrate photographs that help tell the story of this amazing ecosystem. It’s free to enter, and winners in each category will win cash prizes and have their images displayed in the PRSF Maritime Center. 

CATEGORIES: 

LANDSCAPE | CULTURE | FLORA | FAUNA | BEST CATCH | YOUTH

PRIZES: 

Public Vote Category Winners (6): $100 each

Juried Review Category Winners (6): $300 each

Best in Show (one overall winner selected from juried category winners): +$200 

This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

How to Vote for a Photo

Thank you for participating as a voter in the Port Royal Sound Foundation Inaugural Photography Contest. Please review the information and instructions below carefully before voting.

  1. One public vote winner will be chosen PER CATEGORY based on the most votes within that category. 
  2. An individual can only vote once per photo submission.
  3. The website distinguishes individuals by IP address (network identifier). So you will NOT be able to have multiple devices connected to the same network vote for the same photo. For multiple people in the same household (on the same network) to vote for the same image, please disable the wifi connection on your device and use cellular data. 
  4. Please vote for your favorite in each category.
  5. To vote, follow the following steps:
    • Scroll down to the Gallery below where you should see images displayed.
    • Photos are not organized by category. Use the middle drop-down menu labeled “All Categories” under the blue menu bar to pick a category you want to view first. The six categories are Best Catch, Culture, Fauna, Flora, Landscape, and Youth.
    • Once you are in a category, you can scroll over the thumbnail of photos to view their title. Click on the image’s thumbnail if you want to view it fully. Hit the “X” on the bottom right to return to the gallery.
    • To vote for the photo, scroll your mouse over the thumbnail of the photo you want to vote for and click the “Vote” button
  6. Repeat steps for each category.

     

    How To Submit a Photo

      • Read the rules in the RULES & PRIZES tab carefully before submitting
      • Submit photos through the UPLOAD PHOTO tab. You can only submit one photo at a time, limit three.
      • Fill out the personal and image details provided in the form.
        • Image Description & Location are listed as “optional” but are actually required information. Not including this information will prevent your image from being approved.
        • Don’t forget to select your image CATEGORY
      • Click SUBMIT PHOTO to submit your image.
      • If you see the THANK YOU! message appear at the top of the page, your photo was submitted correctly. Images must be reviewed and approved by contest administrators before they appear in the gallery. Please allow at least 24 hours for images to be approved before submitting again or reaching out.
      • Once your image has been submitted, you can still edit the Title, Category, Description, and Location by clicking on YOUR IMAGES and selecting the image you’d like to edit. You cannot delete images once they have been submitted. If you would like to have an image deleted, please contact PRSF.
      • If you would like to submit multiple images, follow the same steps as above (personal information only needs to be entered once). You may submit up to three (3) images.

    No photo has been submitted for the contest. Be the first!

    Categories

    This is a contest to promote awareness of the importance of conserving the Port Royal Sound for the environmental, cultural, and economic well-being of the area. Contestants should share photographs that illustrate the beauty, benefits, and bounty of the Sound and its watershed. Categories for this contest include:

    • Landscape: Images that share the richness of the landscape across the watershed
    • Culture: Photos that represent the rich history and culture surrounding the natural resources of the Port Royal Sound watershed, including but not limited to food, festivals and gatherings, outdoor recreation, craftsmanship, historical sites, and the fishing industry.
    • Best Catch: Have a photo of an impressive catch caught in the Port Royal Sound? Photos will not only be judged by how impressive your catch is, but the overall color, quality, and composition of the image. Please demonstrate respectful fish handling within the image (see this NOAA page for good guidance on fish handling). See Rule #8 below for more guidance. 
    • Flora (plants & vegetation): So much of the richness of the Port Royal Sound ecosystem is found in the plant life that supports the Sound. This category is to celebrate the trees and plants of the PRS, which can include macro and micro images.
    • Fauna (wildlife): This category celebrates the animals of the Port Royal Sound. Examples for this category include but are not limited to native mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, and aquatic or marine animals in their natural habitat. There is an expectation of respectful and ethical behavior in photographing wildlife. See Rule #8 below for more guidance. 

    Timeline

    • The contest opens for submissions on June 5th, 2024 in celebration of World Environment Day
    • The contest CLOSES for submissions on Wednesday, July 31st at 11:59 pm EDT
    • There will be a juried review with professional photographers from August 1 - August 21st
    • Public voting opens on Friday, August 23rd, and runs for one week, closing Friday, August 30th at 11:59pm EDT.
    • Winners will be announced on social media and winning images will be on display on Tuesday, September 3rd in the PRSF Maritime Center gallery until October 12th.
    • A public reception for the Inaugural PRSF Photography Contest will be hosted on Thursday, September 12th from 3 - 7 PM inside the Maritime Center.

    Rules

    1. PRSF welcomes all photographers, amateur and professional.
    2. Photographers must be at least 13 years old to enter. Photographers between the ages of 13-17 must provide guardian information during submission.
    3. Entrants between 13-17 years old are eligible and encouraged, but not required, to submit their photos to the “Youth” category.
    4. Entrants may submit up to three photos that comply with the rules, and provide a description and location for each image. Multiple photos may be submitted in the same category. 
    5. Photographs must be taken by the entrant, and owned by the entrant.
    6. This contest aims to create and share photographs of the Port Royal Sound and the surrounding watershed. Photos should represent its natural beauty, natural resources, lifestyle, or culture cultivated by the area. If PRSF believes photos do not align with this purpose, PRSF has the right to NOT include the photo in the contest. 
    7. Photos must have been taken within the last 5 years from the day of submission.
    8. Photographs of wildlife, including fish caught for the “Best Catch” category, must demonstrate ethical and responsible practices. For more information on ethical wildlife and bird photography, see sources such as Audubon or this article on Format. See this NOAA page for information on best catch & release fishing practices. Any photo deemed to be unethical will be disqualified at PRSF's discretion. If you think a photo might appear unethical but was following best practices, be sure to explain how the photo was taken in the photo description. 
    9. Photographs must be appropriate for viewing by children and the public. No photographs with obscene, defamatory, political, or sexually explicit imagery/ themes will be accepted for contest entry. PRSF has the final say on what is considered appropriate.
    10. While minor edits are permitted, major editing and manipulation of photos is prohibited. All images should accurately represent the subject matter. Prohibited effects include but are not limited to complete alteration of color, unnatural saturation, exposure, contrast, and use of AI will not be approved for contest entry. Images must not contain watermarks, signatures, or borders. If PRSF suspects alterations that are not in line with our guidelines, PRSF will ask for an unedited image file for comparison. Failure to provide this image will result in disqualification.
    11. Photographs must be digital in a RAW or JPEG file format. If you wish to submit a physical photograph you have taken and printed, it must be submitted as a high-resolution digital scan. PRSF cannot provide this scanning service for you and will not accept physical entries.
    12. Photographs must be high resolution and of print quality. This means photos must be either 1) 3000 pixels wide for horizontal photos, or 2) 3000 pixels tall for vertical photos. Photos must have a 3:2 aspect ratio to be printed at an 8x10 size if the photo were to win. Files must not exceed 10 MB. If your image file exceeds 10 MB, please submit a compressed file. PRSF may request larger resolution files for winning photos to display in the Maritime Center.
    13. By submitting your photo entries, you agree to give PRSF the right to display in print or digitally, reproduce, or publish your photograph for PRSF use by any means to support the mission of PRSF with proper credit, regardless of whether your photos are selected as winners or not. Attribution will always be provided but captions may be changed. You cannot revoke these usage rights from the PRSF at any time.
    14. All decisions about photo entries and whether they are suitable for this contest are up to the discretion of PRSF.

    Voting & Judging

    All photos entered will be enlisted in a juried show and public vote. First, a juried review will be conducted by invited professional photographers. A winner for each category will be selected based on the judgment of the jurors. Each of these category winners will then be reviewed against each other by jurors to select a Best in Show winner.  

    All of the photo submissions will also be included in a round of open public voting, conducted through the PRSF website. The photo in each category with the most votes will be selected as category winners.

    Prizes

    There are cash prizes for winners in this contest, which will be paid by check to the winners. 

    • Public Vote Awards
      • Six Category Winners: $100 each
    • Juried Show Awards
      • Six Category Winners: $300 each
    • Best in Show - one overall winner chosen from the juried category winners
      • An additional $200 

    Prizes are stackable. For example, if a photo submission wins the juried and public vote in a category, they will receive both cash prizes. Additionally, if a photographer submits photos in multiple categories, they are eligible to win in multiple categories. 

    Questions?

    Please direct any questions relating to the contest to Joanna Boney -- jboney@portroyalsoundfoundation.org.  If you are having technical difficulties, please contact Courtney Kimmel -- ckimmel@portroyalsoundfoundation.org.

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