The Landscape Awards 2025 - Terms And Conditions
ELIGIBILITY
1. The Landscape Awards is open to citizens and residents of Australia and New Zealand. For the purposes of this competition a 'resident' is defined as someone who has lived in Australia or New Zealand for at least six months at the time of entering this competition. In order to receive a prize, winners must supply an Australian or New Zealand mailing address.
2. Images must have been taken on or after 1 January 2023. If EXIF data indicates an image was captured before 1 January 2023 it may be disqualified.
3. Images previously entered in The Landscape Awards may not be entered again.
4. Entrants may enter multiple times in one or more categories.
5. An image, or similar version of that image, that has been a Winner or Runner-Up in any of the following Yaffa Media photo competitions – Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers, Photographer of the Year, The Mono Awards, Wilderness Photographer of the Year or The Capture Awards – will not be eligible to be a Winner or Runner-Up in The Landscape Awards.
6. Category winners of The Landscape Awards 2023 and 2024 are not eligible to enter The Landscape Awards 2025.
7. All elements must have been photographed by the entrant and images submitted must be 100% photographic in origin. The use of stock images or clip art is forbidden.
8. An image created wholly or in part with the assistance of artificial intelligence, 3D, or illustration processes may not be entered.
9. Images must not include watermarks or other branding. The competition organiser reserves the right to disqualify an entry that includes watermarks or other branding.
10. Employees of Yaffa Media Pty Ltd (the competition organiser) and the sponsors of The Landscape Awards 2024 are not permitted to enter the competition.
11. Freelance writers and photographers who have been paid to contribute to Australian Photography since 1 January 2023 are not permitted to enter the competition.
COPYRIGHT
12. Entrants retain copyright of their images. The entrant provides The Landscape Awards, Australian Photography and Capture a limited-use authorisation to publish and distribute their photographs for the sole purpose of promoting The Landscape Awards. Images will be credited with the name of the photographer if used by The Landscape Award, Australian Photography and Capture in any promotion.
13. The entrant must be the creator of all elements in their submitted images. Any post-production and editing must be the work of the entrant.
DIGITAL MANIPULATION
14. Images entered into the competition must be entirely photographic in origin.
Adjustments may be made to cropping, noise, sharpness, saturation, luminance, colour temperature, tone and contrast, including dodging and burning and black-and-white conversions. Cloning of dust spots, scratches, and minor distractions is permitted. Digital lens and perspective correction is permitted. Images must be single capture, not composites, with the following exceptions: stitched panoramas, focus stacks and HDR images (in these cases multiple images may be captured at the same location and merged to form a single image). In-camera multiple exposures may be entered. Competition organisers reserve the right to request original RAW files. Furthermore, they reserve the right to disqualify any image if they feel it lacks authenticity due to over-manipulation.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
15. An image created (entirely or in part) using artificial intelligence may not be entered. An image edited (entirely or in part) using artificial intelligence may not be entered. Any image entered in the competition must have been captured with a camera by the entrant. The use of AI software or hardware to add, change, move or subtract pixels from the original image is not permitted. Competition organisers reserve the right to request original image files, including Raw files, to verify the photographic integrity of an entry. Failure to produce original image files, including previous and subsequent images captured during a shoot, may result in disqualification. Competition organisers reserve the right to disqualify an image if the photographic integrity of a submitted entry cannot be adequately verified.
CATEGORIES
16. Landscape: This category is for photographs of inland landscapes, from lowlands to alpine regions. People and animals may be included in this category, but they should not be the primary focus of the image. Images may be captured anywhere in the world. Aerial images are not allowed.
17. Seascape: This category is for photographs of coastal subjects, including the ocean, shoreline and surrounds. People and animals may be included in this category, but they should not be the primary focus of the image. Images may be captured anywhere in the world. Aerial images are not allowed.
18. Urban: This category is for photographs captured in urban environments, including cities and towns. The main subject in your image should depict the built environment or an element of it. Images may be captured anywhere in the world. Aerial images are not allowed.
19. Aerial: This category is for photographs captured from an elevated position; for example from a drone, aircraft, or elevated structure such as a building or bridge. Images may include wilderness, rural, suburban or urban scenes. Images may be captured anywhere in the world.
DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
20. The Landscape Awards supports the safe and legal operation of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), including drones. All entries captured with an RPA must comply with local rules and regulations. Any images suspected of being captured illegally will be disqualified. In order to be eligible for a prize, entrants must be able to provide verifiable EXIF data including drone type, position (latitude and longitude), and altitude information. Competition organisers reserve the right to disqualify any image they suspect may have been captured illegally.
IMAGE CAPTURE CONSIDERATIONS
21. All entries must be taken safely and in a manner that complies with local laws and regulations.
22. When photographing in wilderness and natural areas, habitat disturbance must be kept to a minimum. Entrants must minimise any impact their presence has on surrounding flora and fauna and ensure they comply with local conservation guidance and requirements. Live baiting is not allowed and the use of any other means of attracting wild animals is strongly discouraged. If an attractant has been used to attract wildlife it must be declared in the entry information.
23. An entrant may be disqualified at any stage if it is found they have engaged in unethical practices in the capture and creation of their entry
CLOSING DATE
24. Closing date for entries is 11.59pm (AEDT) Sunday 23 February 2025.
JUDGING
25. Entries will be shortlisted by staff of Australian Photography, published by Yaffa Media (ABN 54 002 699 354), 17-21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills, NSW.
26. A panel of photographers will judge the shortlisted entries.
27. In the event of a tie for first or second place, the relevant images will be returned to the judges for an additional round of voting.
28. The judges' decision is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.
WINNERS' ANNOUNCEMENT
29. Winners and Runners-Up will be announced at www.australianphotography.com, www.thelandscapeawards.com.au in mid-May 2025. Winners Runners-up and Top 30 entries in each category will be published in the June-July 2025 edition of Australian Photography magazine.
30. Prize winners will be notified by email.
CERTIFICATES
31. Certificates will be emailed to entrants who receive Commended, Highly Commended, Top 40, Top 30, Top 20, Top 10, Runner-up and Winner awards.
PEOPLE'S CHOICE
32. Following the winners' announcement, People's Choice judging will begin. This will be conducted on The Australian Photography Facebook page where the Top 40 from each category will be featured. Voting will be open for approximately two weeks. The image with the most likes in each category will be named People's Choice winner and will be notified by email.
PRIZES
33. Prize money is in Australian dollars.
34. Product prizes are subject to availability, not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash. If a prize is unavailable, the competition organiser reserves the right to substitute the prize with a prize of similar value and/or specification.
CHARITY
35. At the conclusion of the competition, Yaffa Media will donate $2 from each paid entry from The Landscape Awards to the Australian Conservation Foundation.
GENERAL
36. Entry fees are non-refundable.
37. The entrant indemnifies Yaffa Media Pty Ltd against any claim, legal or otherwise, that may arise out of publication of images.
38. Yaffa Media Pty Ltd reserves the right to disqualify any entry deemed to be in breach of the above Terms and Conditions.
39. By entering this competition the entrant guarantees to Yaffa Media Pty Ltd that all of the above Terms and Conditions have been met. Any entry found to breach the above Terms and Conditions will be disqualified and all prize money and product prizes must be returned to Yaffa Media Pty Ltd.
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Photographer of the Year has been approved by the Photowatchdog and rated TopDog. Photowatchdog is the advocate for fair photo competitions in Australia.