Fresh Air Nature Photography

Submission Rules

All photographs submitted to Fresh Air Nature Photography must be the original, unshared work of the submitting member. We take originality seriously, and any entry found to have been previously published, entered in another contest, or taken by someone other than the submitting member will be immediately disqualified without appeal. Your photograph must have been taken within the past 24 months to be eligible for the current competition cycle. Submissions must fall clearly within one of our three designated categories: Wildlife in Action, Landscape and Habitat, or Macro and Detail. If your image does not fit one of these categories, it will not be considered for judging. Each member may submit one photograph per category per month, for a maximum of three total submissions per competition period. Submitting more than one image per category will result in all submissions for that category being disqualified. Images must be submitted through our official submission form or via email as described on the Submit page.

Accepted file formats are JPG, PNG, and GIF only. We do not accept RAW files, TIFF, HEIC, BMP, or any other format at this time. Maximum file size per submission is 5MB. Files exceeding this limit will not be processed and you will need to resize and resubmit. Images must be at least 1200 pixels on the longest edge to ensure they display properly in our gallery and voting pages. We recommend submitting at the highest resolution your file size limit allows. All submitted images will be displayed on the site for community voting and, if selected as a winner, in the permanent gallery. By submitting, you grant Fresh Air Nature Photography a non-exclusive license to display your image on this website for competition and archival purposes. You retain full ownership and copyright of your work at all times.

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Content Guidelines

All submitted photographs must depict natural subjects in ethical and legal contexts. We do not accept images of captive animals presented as wild, staged scenes that involved harm or disturbance to wildlife, or photographs taken in areas where photography is prohibited. Baited wildlife photography is not permitted. Images must not have been manipulated beyond standard post-processing adjustments such as exposure, contrast, color correction, cropping, and sharpening. Compositing, significant object removal, or AI-generated elements are not allowed and will result in disqualification. If our judges have reason to believe an image has been significantly altered beyond standard adjustments, they reserve the right to request the original RAW or unedited file for review. Failure to provide the original file upon request will result in disqualification.

Our community is built on mutual respect, and that extends to how we treat the subjects in our photographs. We expect all members to follow Leave No Trace principles in the field and to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of wildlife and natural environments over getting a shot. Do not approach nesting birds, disturb dens or burrows, trample sensitive vegetation, or engage in any behavior that harms the natural subjects you are photographing. Photographs that appear to have been taken in violation of these ethical standards will not be eligible for prizes, even if they are technically excellent. Fresh Air Nature Photography reserves the right to disqualify any submission that does not meet our content, format, or ethical standards. Decisions made by the club administration regarding eligibility are final.

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Quick Reference

• Accepted formats: JPG, PNG, GIF
• Maximum file size: 5MB per image
• Minimum resolution: 1200px on longest edge
• One entry per category per member per month
• Images must be your own original, unmanipulated work
• No captive animals presented as wild
• No AI-generated content or heavy compositing
• Photographs must have been taken within the past 24 months