DOVER – With many of Delaware’s hunting seasons already open or opening soon, plan on pointing your camera afield in the months ahead and perhaps catching a hunter in a duck blind or deer stand or otherwise pursuing their favorite game animal or bird.
DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife invites you to enter your hunting photographs in the 2016/17 Delaware Hunting Photo Contest. The winning photo will be featured on the cover or inside of the 2017/18 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide to be published next year.
A judging panel comprised of DNREC staff will be looking for photos that best portray this year’s contest theme, “Hunting with Family or Friends.” Judges also will look at technical criteria including resolution, clarity and composition.
“The hunting photo contest is a great chance to showcase and share adventures with other hunters,” said Division of Fish & Wildlife Director David Saveikis. “The theme helps reinforce and capture the fun of a shared outdoor hunting experience.”
The contest is open to all Delaware residents, with a maximum of three entries per person. To be eligible, photographs must have been taken in Delaware. Portrait orientation is preferred; landscape photos, if chosen among contest winners, may be cropped for presentation.
Entries may be mailed to the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife Photo Contest, Attention: Jennifer Childears, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, DE 19901. All entries must be postmarked or delivered by Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, and must include a completed and signed entry form. A photo release form is also required for photos that include images of children younger than 18. Information and forms are available on the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s website or may be requested by calling Jennifer Childears at 302-739-9910, or email [email protected].
Photographs must be submitted as 8×10-inch photo quality prints, with no frames or mats and no markings or signatures on the front or back. Winning entries must be available in a digital version with resolution of 300 dpi or greater (when enlarged to 8×10 inches).
Normal processing of RAW image files, minimal cropping and minor adjustments to color and contrast are acceptable. HDR and focus stacking are permitted as long as manipulation is disclosed upon entry. Nothing should be added to the image or, aside from dust spots, taken away. The entrant must hold all rights to the photograph and must not infringe on the rights of any other person. Images that involve unlawful harm to wildlife or damage to the environment should not be submitted and will not be accepted. Entries will not be returned. For more information, please visit the Fish & Wildlife photo contest page on the DNREC website.
The Division’s 2016 Fishing Photo Contest is still accepting entries through Monday, Oct. 31, with similar guidelines. This year’s fishing photo contest theme is “Fishing with Family or Friends.”