What is the Contest

The Love Life Photo Competition (the “Contest”) is an opportunity for members of the Bay Area creative community to share their view of life at the Academy through photographs taken at the Academy. The Contest will feature photographs in the categories of:

• Land Life: Including butterflies, snakes, penguins and any other terrestrial life
• Aquatic Life: Including fish, sea stars, coral, and all life underwater
• Still Life: Including architecture, dioramas, specimens, and fossils
• Family Life: Including people at the Academy*
• NightLife: The Academy at night*

Photographs submitted to the Contest will be posted daily on the Academy’s webpage, and selected photographs will be included in the Academy’s Love Life Planner, a 2012 desk planner.

The Contest begins on January 1, 2011 and ends at 11:59 pm PST on February 14, 2011. The Contest is subject to these official rules, which also can be found at http://www.calacademy.org/lovelife/officialrules.

Prizes

The Grand Prize winner will receive the chance to go behind the scenes with an Academy expert to non-public areas of the Academy’s collections. Photography opportunities included.

Five category winners each will receive a liveBooks website and Editsuite to beautifully showcase their photography collections, plus a signed copy of the Academy’s book, Evidence of Evolution, photographed by Susan Middleton.

Five (5) People’s Choice winners selected during the Love Life Awards NightLife will receive a set of the Academy’s award-winning books (California Academy of Sciences, and Evolution at the California Academy of Sciences.)

Winners will be invited to receive their Awards at the Love Life Awards NightLife event on February 24, 2011.

Judging

Winning Grand Prize and Category photographs will be selected on or before February 17, 2011. Our panel of professional photographer and Academy representative judges will select a Grand Prize Winner, and a winner for each of the 5 categories. Photographs will be judged on aesthetic value (60%), originality (25%) and technical proficiency (15%). All decisions of the judges are final. The Academy retains sole discretion over the categories in which photographs are considered, and over the selection of and/or decision not to select any particular photograph as a winner.

Winners will be notified via e-mail on February 17, 2011. Winning Photographers will be required to respond in person or (as directed) to e-mail notification within 72 hours of attempted notification. The failure to respond timely to the notification may result in forfeiture of the prize and, in such case, the Academy may choose the next winning runner-up entry from among the remaining eligible entries.

Winners will be invited to attend the Love Life Awards NightLife event on Thursday, February 24, 2011 to receive their awards. Winners are not obligated to attend the NightLife event to receive their award. Winners who cannot attend this NightLife event may designate a representative who will be able to attend, or the Academy will delegate a staff person to represent and receive the award on behalf of any Winner. Each Winner will receive two free admission tickets to the Love Life Awards NightLife.

How to Enter

From January 1, 2011 through February 14, 2011 post your high resolution digital photograph entries on Flickr (www.flickr.com) and tag your photos “academylovelife”.

Rules Regarding Photographs

• Limit of 20 photograph entries per person.
• Photographs must be in digital format and should be submitted at the highest resolution possible (up to 20MB).
• Photographs must be original and the submitting photographer must hold all rights in the photograph. Submitted photographs may not have been previously published.
• Photography is not permitted in Academy areas designated as “No Photography”; works of art and/or private collections may not be photographed. Photos submitted taken in “No Photography” areas, or of works of art and/or private collections within the Academy will not be considered, and will be disqualified from the Contest. These areas, including the Aquarium level viewing area of the albino alligator, giant Pacific octopus tank, and chambered nautilus tank, are clearly indicated by signage.
• Photographers must have permission from any people whose faces are recognizable in their photographs and, if a photograph is selected as a winner, the photographer must submit a release* form for any recognizable individuals pictured in the winning photograph. Photos showing more than twenty people within a group do not require a release. *Release form at http://www.calacademy.org/lovelife.
• By submitting a photograph, the photographer or, if the photographer is under the age of 18, the photographer’s parent or guardian, grants to Academy the right to use and publish the photographer’s photograph for any purpose and in any media, in perpetuity, including on the Academy website, in Academy promotional publications and advertising, and in Academy merchandise, including but not limited to posters, greeting cards, calendars and desk planners, without any further compensation. The photographer or, if the photographer is under the age of 18, the photographer’s parent or guardian, also grants to Academy the right to crop the photographer’s photograph; and to use the photographer’s name and photograph in association with the photograph and/or the Contest. Parties under the age of 18 selected as winners must provide a release executed by their parent or guardian agreeing to the terms of this paragraph to qualify as final winners.
• Photographers retain copyright in their photographs, subject to the rights granted above.

Conditions

The Contest is subject to these Official Rules. By participating, Entrants agree: (i) to be bound by these complete Official Rules and the decisions of the Academy, which shall be final and binding; and (ii) to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Contest or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By accepting a prize, winners agree to release the Academy and its affiliated entities, together with their respective directors, employees, officers, licensees, licensors and agents, and respective advertising and promotion entities (collectively, the Releasees), from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of a prize or participation in any prize-related activities. The Academy reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Contest, in its sole discretion, should it receive fewer than 20 entries, or receive no entries that have a judged score above 85 points, or due to circumstances beyond its control, including natural disasters. The Academy may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest in any way. Disputes regarding these Official Rules and/or this Contest will be governed by the internal laws of the State of California.

Employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives of the Academy and their immediate family members and those living in their household, and each person or entity connected with the production, administration or judging of the Sweepstakes, are not eligible.

Privacy

All personal information collected by the Academy will be used for administration of the Photo Contest. In addition, entrants shall receive e-mail correspondence from, or on behalf of the Academy, subject to the Academy’s privacy policy which is located at www.calacademy.org. The Academy uses reasonable commercial efforts to comply with Federal CAN-SPAM guidelines, and entrants may subsequently opt-out of receiving further e-mails by following the opt-out instructions contained in the e-mail.

Official Rules

For a copy of these Official Rules or winners list, send your request in a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: California Academy of Sciences, Love Life Contest, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco CA 94118. Request must be received by February 24, 2011. Rules are also available on-line at http://www.calacademy.org/lovelife/officialrules.