MedFoto Competition Rules 2024

Organization: The event is organized by the Club Nàutic l’Escala and the Alive Foundation, with the aim of publicizing the natural values of the marine environment and the benefits it offers humanity.

Participation: Registration for the competition is open to anyone, amateur or professional photographer, of any nationality, except for the people responsible for the organization of the competition, the jury and their direct relatives.

All entries are subject to these rules.

Registration will be open from 1^st April to 15^th May 2024 at the website: www.medfoto.org. It costs €15 per participant and entitles participants to submit up to fifteen photographs in any of the categories.

Any communication between the participants and the organisation must be made in writing by e-mail to info@medfoto.org.

The organisers will communicate with the general public via the website www.medfoto.org. In this space, all information relating to the competition, the prizes, etc. will be published. Only finalists and winners will receive private communications.

The main theme of the competition is the Mediterranean Sea and its coastline. Photographs taken in other geographical areas will not be accepted.

Participants may submit up to fifteen (15) photographs distributed in any of the following categories:

1. Landscape: Photographs that show Mediterranean landscapes above sea level. From the coast to the high seas; from a general viewpoint to specific details of surroundings; from wild landscapes to populated areas and coastal villages. Always displaying the location with a photographic spirit, playing with the subject, the light and the composition.
2. Wild life: Wild fauna and flora photographed in their natural environment, above sea level: seabirds, cetaceans from the surface, flora and fauna from the Mediterranean coast, etc. Whether they are portraits in search of aesthetics or capture the character of the species, such as images that show interesting behavior.
3. Sports and leisure: Nautical sports (sailing, rowing, kayaking, water-skiing, swimming, etc.) trying to capture their difficulty, expertise, spectacular image or the pleasure of doing them. Also the leisure activities that take place around the marine and coastal environment.
4. Marine trades: Professional activity of people who work at sea, who live from the sea, such as fishermen, sailors, etc.
5. Underwater: Photographs taken under the surface of the sea: fish and other animals, plants, vegetation, underwater seascapes, underwater activities.
6. Conservation and climatic change: Management of natural marine and coastal resources, environmental problems and their solutions, effects of climate change.
7. With mobile phone: Prize for the best photograph taken with a mobile phone. A RAW file is not required. This category is not eligible for the general prize. The subject of the photos is limited to all of previous categories.
8. Photographic story: Report of six (6) photographs on a topic related to the Mediterranean. In addition to the photographic quality, the interest of the story will be valued, as well as its narrative treatment.

Deadlines: Participants have until 11:59 pm CET on 15^th May 2024 to register and upload to the website www.medfoto.org a maximum of fifteen photographs related to the theme of the competition.

Formats: Only digital photographs will be accepted, which must be sent in JPEG format and reduced to a size of 1,920 pixels on its longest side and weigh no more than 1 MB per photo.

The EXIF data on the camera must remain intact. Each of the files must be identified with a name that begins with the number of the category to which it is being submitted, followed by an underscore and the title of the photograph or a number, which may be the one assigned by the camera itself or by the photographer (for example: “1_gaviotaaudouinvolando” or “3_IMG34567”).

The photos must be obtained in RAW format, except for the “with mobile phone” category 7. The DNG format will only be accepted if it is the original format of the camera used (Pentax, Ricoh, Leica, DJI…).

The organisation will request these RAW files from a set of photographs pre-selected by the jury, in order to check their authenticity. This request for the RAW file does not mean that the photograph is a finalist or a prize-winner.

Of the photographs selected as finalists, a file will be requested in the original resolution of the camera (TIFF or high-quality JPEG, Adobe RGB color space), for printing and display in the exhibition. This final file must have identical framing and color adjustments to the original JPEG submitted for entry. Please do not increase the size of the original photo by interpolation or applications such as Topaz Gigapixel AI, Photo AI, Adobe Photoshop, etc.

Processing: Regarding the processing of the photographs, the basic adjustments of photographic development are accepted: global or zone exposure corrections, adjustments to white balance, contrast, tone or saturation, noise reduction, focusing, removal of dust spots on the sensor, etc. Black and white photographs as well as HDR, panoramic and focus-stacked photographs, composed of different shots, are eligible, provided they are taken at the same moment and capture a real situation.

Re-framing of the original photograph is permitted, provided that the resulting final image is no smaller than 3,000 pixels on its longest side (this is before reducing it to the delivery format of 1,920 pixels). Smaller file sizes may not be interpolated.

No photomontages (except HDR, panoramas and focus stacking), no double exposures in camera, no manipulations or alterations to the original image, such as deleting, moving or adding any element, be it a person, animal, object, branch, debris, floating particles, bubbles or reflections in underwater photographs, etc., are allowed. It is not allowed to add borders, watermarks or signatures to the photographs.

In MedFoto we want to show and give value to the reality of our world. Therefore, in this contest we do not accept images created by artificial intelligence tools (AI, such as MidJourney, StableDiffusion, etc), or photographs in which AI has been used to modify them, add or remove motifs, enlarge their original framing, etc, such as the Generative Fill or Generative Enlargement of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Firefly, or similar applications.

Code of ethics: The plants and animals must have been photographed with respect and without causing any damage or excessive annoyance, following the AEFONA code of ethics. In the Wild Life category 2 and Underwater category 5, photographs of captive, domestic or stuffed animals or cultivated plants will not be accepted.

• MedFoto photography prize, awarded 1,000 euros.
• 8 prizes for the winners of each of the eight categories is awarded 300 euros each.
• 2 prizes for the winners of the special sections:
  • Photograph taken within the geographic limit of the Costa Brava (between the towns of Blanes and Portbou), with a weekend in a bungalow at Camping la Ballena Alegre for 4 people.
  • Photograph taken within the geographic limit of the municipality of l’Escala, consisting of an experience in L’Escala for two people that includes one night in a hotel with breakfast, lunch or dinner and a visit to the Anchovy and Salt Museum or to the Alfolí de la Sal – L’Escala Museum.

Photographs that are competing for the geographic limit prizes must include preferably some identifying or recognizable element of the area.

• Prize by popular vote, for the finalist photograph that obtains the most Likes on the competition’s Instagram account, endowed with 200 euros.

In addition to these award-winning photographs, the jury will select up to a total of 36 images and 3 photographic stories to be included in the exhibition of the competition.

The same photograph may not be entered in several categories, nor may it be entered for more than one prize, except for special prizes. The amount of the prizes is subject to the corresponding tax deductions.

The jury will be made up of six experts from the world of photography and the marine environment: photographers Isabel Díez (ESP), Ugo Mellone (ITA), Oriol Alamany (ESP), Laura Carrau (ESP) and Xavier Salvador (ESP), as well as Marc Marco (ESP), winner of the MedFoto 2023 edition.

The jury reserves the right to change the category of the photograph if it deems it appropriate, disqualify any image that does not comply with the rules of the competition, as well as declare any of the prizes void if it considers that the photographs presented do not meet the minimum quality required.

The results will be made public on 27^th July 2024, during a public award ceremony. The jury’s decision is final.

The organization reserves the right to interpret the rules and to modify any of them if they deem it appropriate. The bases are published in different languages, but in case of any doubt, the Catalan language version prevails.

The award ceremony and exhibition opening will take place on 27^th of July 2024 at the Club Nàutic l’Escala. On the same day, the exhibition of a selection of 36 of the best photographs and three of best photography stories will be inaugurated and will be exhibited until 8^th September 2024 on the premises of the Club Nàutic l’Escala.

• 1^st April: Opening date for registrations and presentation of photographs.
• 15^th May: Closing date for the presentation of photographs.
• 16^th May: Start of selection tasks by the jury.
• 5^th June: Request for RAW files for photo verification.
• 17^th June: Final meeting of the jury and the results.
• 18^th June: Request for high-resolution files from the finalists.
• 1^st July: Public communication of finalists and publication on the competition’s Instagram account. Start of the popular vote period.
• 10^th July: End of the popular vote period.
• ^27th August: Awards ceremony and opening of the exhibition at the Club Nàutic l’Escala.
• 8th September: Closure of the exhibition and end of the 3rd edition of the competition.

The participant declares to the organization that he/she is the sole owner of the copyright of the photographs submitted and is responsible for any image rights of the people or properties that appear in his/her photographs.

By participating in the MedFoto photographic competition, the authors of the finalist photographs grant the Club Nàutic l’Escala and the Fundació Alive the non-exclusive right to reproduce, publish, display and communicate to the public via any method the 42 selected photographs, for the exhibition, and for marketing and promotional use related to the competition, always citing his/her authorship.

For any other use that could be presented outside the scope of the contest, or by third parties, the organization will contact the author of the photographic work to agree on the conditions of its use.