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Valdosta People’s Choice Photo Contest

Over the past decade, this annual event has been inspiring residents to capture the best of living in Valdosta on camera.  Whether photography is your passion, your hobby or just an occasional pastime, we invite you to visit the center to view the work submitted for this celebratory year.

Voting Ends, July 10

Vote for your favorite photos through  July 10.  The public can view the framed, displayed photos on display at the Turner Center, located at 527 N. Patterson Street.  All photographs reflect the life and beauty within Valdosta & Lowndes County.

Awards Reception, July 15

The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will host the 11th Annual Valdosta People’s Choice Photo Contest Awards Reception on Monday, July 15, from 5-7 p.m.

Overall winners will be announced at the event in both the adult and youth categories. A $300 cash prize will be awarded for first place, $200 cash prize for second place, and a $100 cash prize for third place from among the adult-submitted entries. Five honorable mentions will also be selected.

The public will also vote on the first-place youth photo (ages 16 and under) and one honorable mention. The youth first place winner will receive a $100 cash award.

All award winners and honorable mentions will have their works professional framed with an engraved nameplate. The photographs will remain on display through Wednesday, July 24, at which time they will become part of a traveling display that can be viewed from August until December 2019 in various community locations.

Official Contest Rules

These are the official contest rules that guided this year’s event.

Photo Formats
Each entry must include a completed and signed entry form, one 8×10 photo print, and one electronic JPEG of the photo on a compact disc (CD) or jump drive.  Multiple submissions may be included on the same CD/jump drive.  Unreadable images will be disqualified.

Photographer/Copyright
Entries must be submitted by the original photographer. Do not submit a photo taken by someone other than yourself. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any image submitted. Your submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Number of Entries
An individual may submit a maximum of two photos.  Please submit a separate entry form for each entry.

Photo Subject Restrictions
Photographs must be taken within the Valdosta City limits. Photos must be appropriate. Obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable content will not be considered. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts retain sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content. Photos containing recognizable people must be accompanied by a signed Photo Release Form.

Return of Photos
Photos, regardless of the medium, will not be returned. Please do not send your only copy of a photo.

Ownership/Use Rights
Contest participants grant the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts the non-exclusive right to publish, use, distribute, reproduce and publicly display entered photographs, and to create derivative works from all photographs, in perpetuity, in any of its online, print or other media publications, materials or exhibitions, for purposes of promoting the Valdosta community, through its publications, advertising and websites, and without payment or compensation. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts will make every effort to credit photographers when using photos, but there may be circumstances where it is not possible to do so. Subject to the rights granted to the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, contest participants retain all other copyrights and rights to future use of the photographs entered in the contest.

How to Enter
The application, jump drive/CD, and photograph(s) may be submitted online to bshenton@turnercenter.org, mailed or hand-delivered, to:

Valdosta People’s Choice Photo Contest
c/o Public Information Office
300 N. Lee Street, Room #102
Valdosta, GA 31601

–or–

Valdosta People’s Choice Photo Contest
The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts
527 N. Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA 31601

No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win.

Disqualification
The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserve the right to disqualify an entry for any violation of the contest rules. All contest decisions are final.

Submitting Prints & Photos on CD/Jump Drive
Prints must be 8 x 10 inches. Do not send negatives. Attach a label to the back of each print with the following information:

  • Your name
  • Photo Title

Do not write on the photo itself. If submitting multiple entries, each print should accompany a corresponding entry form. Again, prints will not be returned.

Additional Terms and Conditions
The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts are not responsible for computer system, hardware, software, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, or delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Furthermore, the City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts are not responsible for: (1) lost, misdirected, misplaced, illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, or late entries or (2) any act, failure to act, or delay regarding the transmitting or processing of entries. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend all or any portion of this contest without notice if factors beyond their control, including technical difficulties, disrupt or corrupt the fair or secure administration or operation of the contest.  The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts are entitled to interpret these rules as needed and their decisions are final. The City of Valdosta and the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts reserve the right to disqualify any entry that they have reason to believe is not the original work of the entrant or does not otherwise meet the contest rules. If a winner is disqualified or determined to be ineligible, the winner with the second largest number of people’s choice votes will be named and subject to all requirements set forth in these Official Rules.

By participating in the contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the City of Valdosta, the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts,  and their employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind resulting from your participation in this contest, including infringement of intellectual property rights. The City of Valdosta, the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts,  and their employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies assume no responsibility or liability for any damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind arising in whole or in part from this contest.

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