Images must meet the following requirements to be eligible.

• Photos must be taken at a refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System or at a refuge-associated Waterfowl Production Area. Visit the Refuge System website or use this map to find a national wildlife refuge near you!
• The photo must have been taken on or after January 1, 2004.
• To be eligible, entries must be submitted in digital format by upload through this website. E-mailed entries will not be accepted. Photos may be submitted by upload after 6 PM Eastern time November 20, 2006. Uploads must be completed by Midnight Eastern time on January 31, 2007. No late submissions accepted. The Sponsor is not responsible for any circumstances that interfere with timely uploads.
• Photographs will be accepted only from the original photographer who must be the sole author and the owner of the copyright for photos submitted.
• A photographer may submit up to 10 digital images.
• For EACH digital image, you must fill out an online form including the following information:

  Name of photographer
  E-mail address
  Mailing address
  Phone Number
  Location of image [state, individual refuge]
  Date of photograph [month, year]
  Description, 5 - 10 words (species, scene, activity)
  Equipment used (camera, lens, telescope, etc.)
  Categories (up to 3 from the following: Bird, Mammal, Fish, Insect, Other Wildlife, Plant, People, Scenic)

• Digital image entries may be color or black and white, horizontal or vertical format.
• Limited image modifications are allowed. The intent and effect of any modification must be to produce a more natural looking and accurate photograph.
  • You may submit images taken with a digital camera or images taken with a film-based camera and scanned into a digital format. Your digital image must be of sufficient resolution to meet the criteria required by the Judging Procedures outlined below.
  • Digital camera add-on lenses, filters, and scopes are permitted without restriction.
    
  • Images may be cropped as long as a rectangular format is maintained. Images may be resized as long as aspect ratio is maintained.
  • Watermarks, Signatures, or Copyright Notices detract from the natural appearance of photographs and are not permitted on entries for this contest. Remove any such markings prior to submission.
  • Do not add any elements or objects that do not exist in the original scene.
• The images must be in the digital format and size outlined in the following Judging Procedures.
  
  Judging will be conducted in two rounds.

First (Semi-Final) Round.  All eligible entries received by midnight Eastern time on January 31, 2007 will be screened during the Semi-Final Round.  Up to 200 images will be selected as semi-finalists based on reflection of theme, technical excellence, visual impact, and composition. These images will be included in NWRA's Refuge Image Library. Images will remain in the Library indefinitely at NWRA's discretion. The entrants supplying the images selected during the Semi-Final Round will receive an NWRA puffin hat.

To be considered in the Semi-Final round, images must be submitted by upload through this website in a 72 dpi JPEG format no smaller than 5x7 inches (360x504 pixels) and no larger than 8x10 inches (576x720 pixels).

Second (Final) Round: Each of the photographers submitting an image selected as a semi-finalist will be contacted by e-mail to submit a high resolution JPEG file of the chosen image on a disk or by upload. These are the only images that will be accepted by disk through the mail. The high resolution image must be received within 15 days after the e-mailed request and according to the instructions contained in that e-mail.  If the image is not received within that time, the image will not be judged beyond the Semi-Final Round.  The Sponsor is not responsible for any circumstances that prevent timely delivery of usable images.

The Final Round judging will determine selection for first, second, third, fourth, fifth place prizes and special recognition in the "People" category. A photographer may have more than one image in competition in the Final Round but no photographer will be eligible for more than one prize among first, second, third, fourth and fifth place. However, a photographer may win special recognition in the "People" category in addition to placing first, second, third, fourth or fifth. The Final Round will be judged on the same criteria listed above, with the exception of the special recognition prize, which will have the additional criteria of being in the "People" category.

To be considered in the Final Round, images selected as semi-finalists must be resubmitted in a 300 dpi JPEG format no smaller than 5x7 inches (1500x2100 pixels).

• Participants must accept the Contest Rules and Procedures, including the Terms and Conditions on Use of Submitted Images, before uploading an image for entry in the contest.