R U L E S 34 MML - Photo and Film Festival
PARTICIPANTS
All photographers and filmmakers who so desire, amateur or professional, may take part. All contestants will be able to submit a free first photograph to the contest; for the rest of the photos and videos, the participation fee for this year will be €22 (VAT included) for adult photographers, a single payment will allow competing in all categories including videos and films; for the novice-under 19 photographers, participation is free.
CATEGORIES
A/ Mountain Landscape: Captions showing mountains and their environment, in any of their forms.
B/ Alpinism: Captions showing alpinism, climbing on ice, mountain ski and the world of heights from a sports point of view, as well as the rest of the sports typical of high mountain and winter mountain.
C/ Climbing: Images related to rock climbing, bouldering, big wall, urban climbing, climbing wall, etc. and the world of verticality.
D/ Adventure and extreme sports: the purpose of this thematic category will be the photographs of all types of adventure activities and extreme sports which are practiced in the area mountains and nature, other than those referred to in paragraphs B / and C /, such as kayaking, highline, mountain biking, paragliding, mountain running, canyoning, caving, cave diving, scuba diving, wing suit, surf, etc.
E/ Man in the Mountain and/or Nature: the photos showing a socio-cultural content referred to the native people of the mountains and to natural environments, as well as to their customs, traditions and ways of life, also those representatives of hiking and trekking activities which can take place in these natural areas will fall within this category. Likewise, this category includes photographs of travel and people.
F/ Animal World: Any animal photographed in their environment.
G/ The world of birds: any bird photographed in their environment.
H/ Vegetal world: Any vegetal species photographed in its environment. Fungi are included.
I/ Submerged World: The theme of this category are the photographs of fauna, flora and ecosystems characteristic of the submerged areas, both freshwater and saltwater.
J/ Biodiversity: captions in this category will show animals or plants in their natural habitat. Judges will take into account the link between the different species and their environment and, also, the image composition criteria on the environment.
K/ Nature landscapes: Rest of landscapes not included in the A Category.
L/ Creative photo: Captions where forms, textures, colours, etc are determining in the composition. Abstract and creative photo.
M/ Macro picture: the world of the smallest ones. Macro photography.
N - Topic of the year: Night photography. The mountains, nature and adventure; its landscapes, fauna and flora; its people and their traditional ways of life, as well as the nature sports photographed during the night hours.
O/ Videos, films or documentaries: Its conductor axis should be the mountain, nature and / or adventure, as well as sports and other activities that are practiced in those environments, referring to its theme to any of those described for the previous categories.
WORKS
- Photographs
Irrespective of the support employed in their execution, the works will be presented as digital archives in JPEG format, preferably with colour profile Adobe RGB 1998 and must be 1,920 pixels wide in its largest side, and a maximum weight of 2 MB (72ppp), no addings such as frames, borders or foot notes allowed.
There is a limit on the number of entries per person: five photographs per entrant in each category entered (5x14).
- Videos, films or documentaries.
Likewise, the works will be presented only as digital files, preferably in H.264 codec.
SUBMITTING YOUR WORK
There are two different ways to submit the photographs and/or videos, any of the two can be used but not the two of them at the same time.
1st (Preferably) To enter, visit http://www.memorialmarialuisa.com/ and follow the instructions given in that site.
2nd (Subsidiary) Send your photographs by ordinary mail in a CD or a DVD or similar and include a card with your full name, postal address, telephone number, email address (very important), and a numbered list of the photo captions mentioning their titles, there will be a list per each Category.
To submit videos, the registration form must also be completed on the website www.memorialmarialuisa.com, indicating in the corresponding field the option used to send the files, which must be Wetransfer, Dopbox, Vimeo or any other platform suitable for sending or downloading heavy files, sent to the account certamen@memorialmarialuisa.com
Videos and movies can also be sent from the platform https://filmfreeway.com/memorialmarialuisa
Finally, it is also accepted to send the files in physical format (DVD, USB memory, CompactFlash cards, SD, hard disk, etc.) to the postal address below.
ADMISSION DATE
Until 1st December 2023.
SUBMITTING
When you opt for postage mail, please send them to: "Memorial María Luisa" / Concurso de Fotografía y Video de Montaña y Naturaleza / Apartado de Correos 19 / 33530 Infiesto (Principado de Asturias) - Spain.
The organization will inform each contestant by e-mail of the reception.
JUDGES
The panel of judges will be designated by the Founders Board of the "Memorial Maria Luisa" from amongst mountain and nature photographers of recognised prestige. Its verdict will be final and it will also decide on any complaints or other incidents which could arise. Judges will always assess the works submitted for the contest in an anonymous and individual way, based on the alphanumeric code which the computer system assigns each photograph from the very moment they are sent to the contest.
VERDICT
The decisions of the Judges Panel will be made public on 1st March 2024, through announcements in the press and specialized magazines, without prejudice to immediate communication to the participants.
PRIZES
➢ The Overall Winner of the "XXXIV Memorial Maria Luisa" will be awarded a cash prize of €3.000 *, a Trophy, a Diploma, a book portfolio and two invitations to the awards gala. The Overall Winner will be chosen from the fourteen category winners; the Jury will give the Prize to the most memorable & shocking caption. The overall winner will receive a cash prize €3.000, including the amount corresponding to his/her category.
➢ Winner Prize of each Category of photos: € 300, Trophy, Diploma, a book portfolio and two invitations to the awards gala.
➢ Young Photographers Prize: It will be awarded to the best photograph submitted by contestants not having reached the age of nineteen years on 1stDecember 2023. It will consist of a Samsung 4G tablet, trophy, diploma, book portfolio and two invitations to the awards gala.
➢ Special award for the theme of the year: it will be a Citizen BN0151 Watch, trophy, diploma, a book portfolio and two invitations to the awards gala.
➢ Award for best video, film, documentary of 34 MML. This prize will be endowed with a voucher worth €3000 *, which can be exchanged, directly and at the request of the winner, for products marketed by Foto Ruano, trophy, diploma, book portfolio and two invitations to the awards gala.
* These amounts are subject to tax deductions that apply.
The Judges Panel will also grant the consolation prizes or honorable mentions as it deems pertinent in each of the thematic categories.
PROJECTIONS AND PRIZE-GIVING
The gala of the prizes will take place in Infiesto and in Oviedo – Asturias, on 17th and 18th May 2024, in the place and hour that to the effect will be indicated by the Organization. This will provide accommodation free of charge to the winner and accompanying person, in order to facilitate their attendance to such acts. The other acts parallel to the same as exhibition, projections, etc, will take place the days before that date and the following day.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Developing the photographs, the typical adjustments of digital developing (white balance, exposure, levels, contrast, colour saturation, focusing, vignetting removal...) will be admitted; also the cleaning of particles, and slight cuttings. Alterations or manipulations of the image or even of part/s of the image, which imply that the photograph shows a different reality from the photographed reality, will not be admitted.
The authors of short-listed photographs may be asked to provide such clarification regarding the image as may be deemed fitting. The technical committee may reject those photographs which do not comply with the present rules, subjects and categories.
Also, and in any case, entrants will be asked to provide the camera primary files (RAW). Not providing such files implies the disqualification of the photograph.
The Organization reserves the right to make copies of all award-winning photographs as may be required for exhibitions, projections or publications related exclusively to the activities of the present competition, without limits in time, geographic location or mediums, and always crediting the authorship of said photographs. As it sees fit, the Organization may request a copy of the original file with maximum quality and size. Without prejudice to the above, the authors of the photographs will retain all legal rights to the same for any future use.
...The films admitted to the contest will become part of the historical archive of the Contest, and may be reproduced in whole or in part, and in any media, for the diffusion and promotion thereof. For other types of projections, the authorization of the author will be asked for previously.
The Organization of the competition will refuse any request that may be received from third parties with commercial interests, such as the concession, loan, exploitation, sale etc. of the personal details of participants and of the images submitted by them for the purposes of the competition. If we had knowledge of the existence of a claim to purchase an image or its rights, the organization would directly put in touch the author of the photograph with the person who showed interest, so that they can make a convenient deal.
The participant must be the sole owner of the rights to the photographs and / or videos, as well as of all the elements that compose these: images, music and other intellectual property, and will accept full responsibility for assuring that no third party rights to the Works submitted for any such third party as may arise, disclaiming any liability to the Contest.
Participants entering the section for Young Photographers may be required to provide documental proof of their age.
The digital material submitted will not be returned as the CDs/DVDs will be destroyed at the conclusion of the competition.
The personal data provided by the contestants will be treated in accordance with the provisions of Organic Law 15/1999, of December 13th, on the Protection of Personal Data, and they may exercise their rights of access, rectification and cancellation.
The act of participation in the competition implies acceptance of the present rules in their entirety. The Organization reserves the right to decide on any case not contemplated in these rules.
INSTRUCTIONS AND ADVICE
The MML-Photo is a mountain, nature and adventure photographic and video competition with no commercial interests and a non-profit organization. The rules by which the same is governed have the backing and recommendation of AEFONA – The Spanish Association of Nature Photographers.
Participation in the competition is open equally to any photographer or filmmaker, be amateur or professional, with no limit whatsoever to their geographical origins. The participation fee must be always paid by credit card, or PayPal, via on-line from the website of the Contest. All contestants may submit a photo to the contest for free.
In addition to the two absolute prizes, worth € 3,000 each, one prize for each of the fourteen categories that make up the contest will be awarded, as well as several honourable mentions.
Submissions will preferably be made online via the competition Website www.memorialmanrialuisa.com or alternatively through the media of CD or DVD or other similar hardware. Under no circumstances must the two options be used simultaneously. Leaving submissions to the final days (December 1st, 2023) is not recommended, as during these days the system is usually much more saturated.
From the same Website it is also possible to reserve the book portfolio for the 34-MML Edition.
Read the rules. Prepare and adequately distribute the photos within the eleven theme categories before uploading them online. Bear in mind that a photograph which does not fit with the theme of the category in which it is entered could be rejected by the competition technical management. The jury can transfer images from one category to another in order to enhance its value.
On-line submission of the photos and/or videos is very simple. It consists of two stages: A/ the registry of the competitors details and, where appropriate, payment of participation rights. B/ submission of the photos and, where appropriate, the data and link for downloading the videos. Once registered you will have a password via which you may subsequently access the system.
The name of the file with the image and the title of the photograph are different things. You can use any name for the file, even the one you have been using in your workflow, since the system will automatically assign a code by which it will ve identified in the future. However, the title that you assign to the photograph will be the one that identifies it publicly if it is awarded.
Each competitor will have to provide the organization with a valid email address, given that all notifications are made through that medium. We will always contact you from e-mail accounts: certamen@memorialmarialuisa.com, concurso@memorialmarialuisa.com and mml-photo@memorialmarialuisa.com . It is very important that you add them to your contact list to avoid potential blockage and rejections from anti-spam systems.
Do not forget to use the button “finish participation” within the application as soon as you finish uploading all the photographs and/or videos you wish to enter. Before the closing date you will be able to upload photos and/or videos at any moment, up to a maximum of five for each of the themed categories (14x5) and/or three videos.
Save the native camera file (original RAW or JPG) as it may be required by the technical management or jury for the exhibition in order to be compared with the participating file. To this end DNG files will also be permitted as long as they have been those used by the camera to register the image origin.
No manipulation or touching up may be used in the editing of photos apart from those permitted, given that otherwise the photograph may be rejected.
Multiple exposures will be permitted, as long as they have been registered on the camera in a single primary file. The use of HDR is permitted. Also, panoramic photos are admitted, as well as the Stitching and Stacking techniques, provided that the photos have been taken at the same location and consecutively.
Equally images converted to grey scale (B and W) and sepia toning will be permitted. Images with selective conversions of parts of the same will not be permitted.
Images of animals in captivity, models or pets will not be admitted, nor those of houseplants.
Use tools for white balance, colour saturation, contrast, focus, etc. with moderation... The elimination of a vignette is permitted.
Do not compress the photographs using Zip, Rar, Sitx or similar. Avoid using borders, frames, signatures, watermarks, etc.
Add a comment to the photo and explain the techniques employed in its creation. Give a geographical location. This field in the application does not have a limit for the number of words or characters. The EXIF metadata of the camera must be kept on the file.
There are no restrictions regarding the date of taking the photographs and/or videos.
Bear in mind when choosing the photos to enter that the jury will always look for images with meritorious composition representing a single action which have been taken with due technique and produce a notable visual impact. Participate with new and original images, and avoid those that are already well known.
The MML will ask authors of the videos, films or documentaries that pass to the final phase of the competition for a copy, in high resolution, preferably to 1920 x 1080 or higher. In its case they will also facilitate the file with the subtitles, preferably in format .srt , As well as promotional material.
We hope that the images in this competition represent the fascinating beauty of the mountain and nature, that they evoke feelings, emotions and admiration in the spectator, which will only happen when they are certain of their authenticity.
