The Irish Forestry Photo Competition final 15 have been announced

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin on Friday the 20th of August, 2010 from 7pm until 9.30pm. All are welcome. The exhibition of the final 15 will continue until Sunday the 22nd of August, 2010.

To see the shortlisted finalists please click here

To see the full gallery of 479 images please click here

Photo: D. Jobling

Everyone loves trees. Most of us, if given the choice, would choose to live in or near a forest. We’re all also aware of how important forests are to our environment, and the vital role they play in removing carbon dioxide. But did you know that there are now more acres planted with forests in Ireland than there was 100 years ago? In fact Ireland’s forest cover has increased from 1% to 10% in the past 100 years.

The photo on the right was taken in one of the “Irish Forestry Fund’s” (IFS) forests in Waterford. The photographer happened upon this curiously located fern growing out of a twenty year old fencepost. 

So this got us thinking; if this sort of photo was just taken by chance as an example of what is being done by all you budding photographers, what other artists are out there with a love of all things forestry?

And with that…. a competition was born.  You don’t need any particular skills; no expensive equipment; nor access to any costly photographic studios, just a keen eye for a good photo in an Irish forest setting. You can take a photo of a whole forest or a small & detailed image of a bug on a leaf, just so long as it is connected in some way with Irish forestry.

So, if you’ve got a camera, any camera, and a willingness to get out into the woods and take a photo that you are willing to send into us, then please do.  In return, the winner will receive a prize of a photography course in Ireland’s leading photography institute so that he / she can hone his / her skills further. All eligible entries will be available to view on the website with the winner being announced in early July.  Full terms & conditions are available below and on the website www.ifsam.ie.

All entries have been placed up in a special photo gallery here

PRIZES
The winner will receive either a Beginners, Improvers, Advanced Digital Photography or Photoshop for Beginners Course at the Institute of Photography and the prize for the runner-up will be a Canon ES2 Compact Printer or eqivalent.

HOW TO ENTER (competition is now closed)

• The shots must be obviously forestry related
• Photos must be least 2000 pixels on the longest side (most 8 megapixel cameras will give this size, without cropping). Shots which are smaller than this size cannot be included in the competition
• Photos must be saved as high resolution Jpegs
• Each of your shots MUST be renamed with your name and a number after it; eg: DaveMcKane1.jpg, DaveMcKane2,jpg and so on. There should be no blank spaces in the name. Shots which are not renamed cannot be included in the competition.
• Please send the entries to yourself first to make sure they comply with the above criteria. Incorrectly named and/or sized shots cannot be included and the senders cannot be notified if their entry(ies) do not comply.
• Send no more than 5 photos per entrant



TERMS & CONDITIONS:

1. All entries must include name, postal address, mobile phone number and email address.
2. Competition is open from 1st March 2010 until midnight on 30th June 2010.
3. Photographs entered must be taken within a forest setting and be abviously connected to forestry.
4. Each entrant is solely responsible for ensuring that he / she has permission to enter and take photographs at his / her chosen locations and that any photographs that he / she submits to this competition may be published and used in a manner that is in agreement with these terms and conditions.
5. Entrants are solely responsible for their own personal safety and the security of their own possessions while taking part in this competition.
6. All photographs submitted will appear in an online gallery at www.instituteofphotography.ie/forestry.
7. Entrants may submit up to a maximum of 5 photographs.
8. All photographs entered must be saved as Jpeg files
9. All photographys must be renamed
10. Where recognisable people appear in any of the submitted photographs entrants must receive the permission of these people. Neither I.F.S. Asset Managers Limited nor the Institute of Photography will take any responsibility for failure to receive this permission.
11. It is a condition of entry that I.F.S. Asset Managers Limited and the Institute of Photography will be entitled to use or reproduce winning entries for the purposes of promoting this and future competitions. All photographs will be credited to the submitting photographer.
12. The copyright of all photographs entered will remain in the ownership of the submitting photographer.
13. I.F.S. Asset Managers Limited and the Institute of Photography reserve the right to publish the name and county of the winner.
14. The winner may be asked, but is not required, to take part in publicity.
15. No personal information will be used for marketing or research purposes by I.F.S. Asset Managers Limited or the Institute of Photography nor will any personal information be passed on to third parties.
16. Employees and family members of employees of I.F.S. Asset Managers Limited and the Institute of Photography will not be eligible for entry to the competition.
17. Prizes will be awarded at a special awards ceremony to be held after the close of the competition. No cash alternatives will be offered. No purchase necessary.
18. Neither I.F.S. Asset Managers Limited nor the Institute of Photography will be liable for any circumstances beyond its reasonable control that prevent a prize being taken up by a winner.
19. There will be one winner and one second prize in the competition.
20. The winner will receive either a Beginers, Improvers, Advanced Digital Photography or Photoshop for Beginners Course at the Institute of Photography and the second prize will be a Canon ES2 Compact Printer or equivalent. In relation to the second prize the prize includes delivery. No cash alternative allowed.
21. All photographs must be entered under the rules of the competition.
22. By entering this promotion, entrants are agreeing to abide by these terms and conditions.
23. No correspondence about any submitted photographs can be entered into.
24. The judge's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.