Strobist Photos of the Year: Rules and Regs

The rules for the 2007 SPOY are pretty simple. But the prizes involved are sufficiently cool as to warrant spelling them out to avoid confusion.

Hit the jump for the fine print.

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1. Winners will be chosen from the photos in Strobist Flickr Pool. If your pix are in the pool, you are entered. The photos must be your own work. You should be able to prove this through an original file (or neighboring files) if asked.

2. I will choose ten semifinalists between now and December 18th.

3. At that time, five finalists (in order of first through fifth) will be chosen by Seattle-based photographer Chase Jarvis.

4. Photos will be chosen based on overall impact, use of off-camera lighting, creativity and quality of the lighting information in the caption. I would note that the last criteria can be improved after the fact, if you get my drift.

5. The judges' decisions are final.

6. The five prizes will be listed between now and such time as the winners are announced.

7. The winners will be announced daily, on the last five days of 2007.

8. The first place winner will get first choice of the prizes. Second place gets second choice, and so on.

7. Each winner will have one week, respectively, after the final winner is announced to make contact with me (via Flickr mail using the winner's account) and notify me of their choice of prize. This notification period will begin January 1, 2008. As each winner selects his or her prize, the choice will be announced and the week's time begins on the next winner's choice of prize. Prizes not claimed after three months will not be awarded.

8. In the event that I do not receive timely notification of choice of prize, that particular winner will move to last place in the prize selection order.

9. I will connect the winners with their respective prize donors via email, and prizes will be shipped directly by the donor, unless the donor has made specific other arrangements with me.

10. Shipping costs will be handled by the prize donor. Any taxes and/or duties are the responsibility of the winner.

11. There will be no automatic rights transfer from photos associated with the contest. Your photos belong to you.
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Check back -- prize announcements begin soon. Best of luck to all.