| International Charity Model Search Official Rules Q. WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO ENTER? A. The Model Search is open to any professional photographer who resides in the United States and Canada. Q. WHAT ARE THE ENTRY REQUIREMENTS? Photographers may NOT enter their own families or relatives. Entries must represent a family grouping consistent with the theme “The Cutest Family”, and these families must reside in the United States or Canada. While this contest was designed to mean families residing within the same household and a more traditional definition of family, we recognize that many households now contain extended family and non-traditional family groupings. The primary requirement is that if minor children are photographed as part of a family, then the image MUST contain at least one parent or custodial guardian in the image as well. We will not accept images of children only. Grandparents and extended family members may be featured in the image as part of the family. All work submitted must be original and previously unpublished, and you must have written releases on file from any/all subjects pictured in the image. The image MUST have been taken on or after November 1, 2009 through the end of the submission deadline date of April 5, 2010. Entrant must have captured and created the original exposure. All digital manipulation must have been performed by the entrant. Only standard retouching is acceptable for entry into the Model Search, please use the standard retouching that you would use for normal client sessions. Entries may reflect the creativity of the photographer. Judging is based solely on which entries best represent the theme of North America's cutest family, and not on photoshop techniques used. The decision of the Model Search judges is final. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep reserves the right to reject any entry deemed inappropriate, or not meeting the entry guidelines in its sole discretion. By entering you certify that you have obtained all necessary releases, and you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS), its Partner Sponsors, and their employees, advisors, officers, and directors against any and all claims or liabilities arising out of, or relating to its consideration, display, publication and promotion or other use of each photograph or other material submitted. All submitted images will be viewable on a public web site/voting gallery. Decisions of the Model Search judges are final. As a condition of entry you license the image entered and recognized as winners, runners-up or honorable mentions to NILMDTS for advertising, display promotion, publication or other purposes in print, public displays, website, brochures or other uses to support NILMDTS and its allied associations as may be determined by NLMDTS. A photo credit shall be granted for any such use. GENERAL RULES OF PARTICIPATION: This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws. By participating, entrants and their participating entities agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor and waive any right to challenge the decision of the Sponsor regarding any claim of ambiguity in the Contest or these Official Rules, whose decision shall be binding. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, undeliverable or incomplete entries, whether due to system errors or failures, faulty transmissions or other telecommunications malfunctions, typographical, or otherwise. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Promotion or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor. If for any reason this Contest is not able to be conducted as planned, including, but not limited to, by reason of tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud or any other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest, then Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY’S FEES) FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. SPONSOR: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, 7201 S. Broadway #150, Littleton, CO 80122. Q. HOW DOES A PHOTOGRAPHER ENTER THE MODEL SEARCH? A. First you must purchase a 2010 Family Tour Registration or a 2010 Model Search Registration at www.sandypuctours.com. Once you have purchased a 2010 tour ticket or Model Registration, you can register your participation on this site. The Photographer Participation web page will be available October 2009, so be sure and check back at that time. Q. HOW DOES A FAMILY PARTICIPATE IN THE MODEL SEARCH? A. Families must reside in the United States or Canada. To participate, locate a local participating photographer in your area, and contact them to have your photo session done. For a list of participating photographers, please see our Participating Photographer’s Page [set up as hyperlink]. NOTE: Each photographer sets their own session fees and pricing. Q. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST FOR A PHOTOGRAPHER TO ENTER? A. Your registration for the 2010 Sandy Puc’ Family tour for $79 includes an entry into the Model Search Contest. Otherwise, you may register separately for the Model Search for $79 per photographer. Each photographer in your studio must enter separately. Q. HOW DO I DOWNLOAD THE MARKETING KIT? A. This is available in the photographer section of this web site. You will need an account login to access this section so make sure you visit the photographer section and register for an account. Once you have an account, you will be able to login and download the Marketing Kit. ** Note – you MUST allow 2 full BUSINESS Days after purchasing your registration to the 2010 Family tour or Model Search for your information to be available for verification on this site. Q. WHO CAN I ENTER AS PART OF A "FAMILY”? A. While this contest was designed to mean families residing within the same household and a more traditional definition of family, we recognize that many households now contain extended family and non-traditional family groupings. The primary requirement is that if minor children are photographed as part of a family, then the image MUST contain at least one parent or custodial guardian in the image as well. We will not accept images of children only. Grandparents and extended family members may be featured in the image as part of the family. All families MUST reside in the United States or Canada. Q. CAN I ENTER AN OLD PHOTO (TAKEN PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 1, 2009)? A. No, all images MUST be taken on or after November 1, 2009. Q. WHERE CAN I FIND THE RELEASE FORM? A. Due to the challenges in receiving release forms last year, we decided to research how other major national and international photo contests handle this. What we found is that they all simply require that each photographer use their regular studio release forms (which typically include permission for taking the images and their use), then when they submit images for a family they are asked to acknowledge that they have this release form on file. This is the format we have chosen to use as well this year. It is the photographer's responsibility to acquire the necessary releases and keep them on file at their studio. Q. HOW MANY IMAGES MAY I ENTER? A. Your $79 tour or model registration fee includes unlimited entries, but only 1 image per family may be entered. Please choose the image to be entered carefully, as no image replacement will be done once you submit the family’s selected image. Q. WHEN CAN I SUBMIT MY ENTRIES? A. Entry submission begins on January 4, 2010. Online voting opens January 4, 2010. Q. HOW DO I SUBMIT MY PHOTOS FOR THE MODEL SEARCH? A. Images are submitted in the photographer section of this web site. You must have an account login before you can submit your images. Please visit the photographer section of the web site and register for your account first. Once you have an account you will be able to access the Image Submission area after January 4, 2010. Q. CAN I SUBMIT ENTRIES FOR MULTIPLE CITIES? A. NO, each photographer MUST choose 1 TOUR CITY to compete in and all images submitted will be entered in the tour city selected by the photographer. If you registered to attend the 2010 Family Tour by Sandy Puc’ you will want to enter your families for that city. If you registered only for the 2010 Model Search and will NOT be attending a tour date, you may register in the tour city closest to you, and ALL of your entries must be registered in the same city. Q. WHAT IF I DO SHOOTS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS? A. You may submit entries from multiple locations but you MUST enter them all in the same TOUR CITY (see previous question). You may only submit residents from the United States and Canada. Q. WHAT FORMATS/SPECIFICATIONS DO YOU ACCEPT FOR SUBMITTING MY IMAGES? A. Only digital files will be accepted, and these must be uploaded at the time of entry. Print and e-mailed images will NOT be accepted. Submit low-resolution images only, in standard .jpg digital format. Images should be prepped at 1000 pixels longest edge at 72 dpi. File size should not be more than 200kb. A high-resolution, print-quality version (300ppi at 9x12 inches) must be available for print publication. PLEASE NOTE: Entries not complying with the contest format and entry requirements will be subject to disqualification. You may use these instructions to prep images: In Photoshop, go to: File > Automate > Fit Image Size suggestions are 500 X 500 or 600 X 600 for standard magnification (1000 X 1000 or 1200 X 1200 for enhanced magnification. Go to File > Save for Web, and save the file as a JPEG at Quality level 60. Your file should be named as follows: familylastname_photographerlastname_1. If you have more than 1 family with the same last name, please increment the number at the end of the file name. E.G. smith_yourlastname_1.jpg and smith_yourlastname_2.jpg We are not Photoshop experts, and these instructions have been provided to us, so if you have questions about how to save your file in the proper format, please consult Photoshop Help or Google for additional help. Q. WHEN IS THE ENTRY DEADLINE? A. Your entry must be received electronically no later than April 5, 2010 by 11:59pm (Mountain time). This deadline is a firm deadline. Submissions received after the deadline will not be accepted, regardless of the reason, including, but not limited to: computer issues, time zone, or high website, server traffic/congestion. Q. WHEN IS THE VOTING DEADLINE? A. Online voting closes April 8, 2010 at 11:59pm (Mountain time). This deadline is a firm deadline, and voting will NOT be extended past this date for any reason, including, but not limited to: computer issues, time zone, or high website, server traffic/congestion. Q. HOW WILL THE WINNER BE DETERMINED? A. The 52 City Finalists will be selected based solely on votes received. Votes can be purchased for $1 per vote with no limit to the number of votes that can be cast at one time. The family in each city with the most votes when voting closes, will move on to the final judging round. Only one family from each city will move on to the final round. Each image will be judged on the theme: “The Cutest Family”. The winner will selected by a panel of judges made up of photography and modeling industry experts. Q. WHEN WILL THE WINNER BE ANNOUNCED? A. The 52 city finalists will be announced April 9, 2010 when they are posted to the Finalist Gallery. Grand prizewinner and the runners up will be selected from the 52 city finalists by the judges and announced on April 24, 2010 at the final tour stop. Q. HOW WILL ENTRIES BE JUDGED? A. The Finalists from each city will be selected by votes only. The family in each city with the most votes when voting closes on April 8, 2010, will move on to the final judging round. Only one family from each city will move on to the final round. Each image will be judged on the theme: “The Cutest Family”. The winner will be selected by a panel of judges made up of photography and modeling industry experts. Q. WHAT ARE THE PRIZES? A. The Grand Prize winning family will win a new car. Winner is responsible for all taxes, licensing, and fees. 2nd and 3rd place families will win valuable prizes donated by our partner sponsors. NILMDTS reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value based on prize availability from our partner sponsors providing the prizes. The Grand Prize winning photographer will also receive a valuable prize package. Q. WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? A. Please visit the RULES and FAQS pages first. We respectfully request that you do not call the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation Headquarters Office, as we have only 3 open phone lines and must leave these available to assist families and hospitals in need of our services. If you still have questions, please send an email to models@nilmdts.org. We will respond promptly to email questions during our normal business hours M-F 9am-5pm Mountain time. |
