Calling all photographers!

Gloucester Cats Protection are on the lookout for the UK’s best cat photographs. Whether it’s a perfect portrait of puss; your feline friend being fabulous or your magnificent moggy in motion we are looking forward to receiving your entries.

What you could win…
The 12 luckly winners will have their photograph feature in our 2011 branch calendar and receive a free copy.

Entry fee
There is an entry donation of £2 per photo, please complete the entry form and you can email your photo to cpgloucester@hotmail.co.uk
Closing date is 20th August 2011 or if you would like to send a hard copy photo please email and we will send you the address for posting.

 Your photo will be judged on:

• Its technical quality – This is all about focus, clarity and quality
• Its visual impact – Think about this when you are taking your photo or enhancing it. Zooming in or cropping can make all the difference. A slight change of angle or contrast can give a good photo the wow factor
• Its composition – Whether the cat is the sole focus or shares the frame with other animals or humans, whether they’re on the prowl, running wild, up to mischief or simply relaxing they should captivate the audience
• Photo quality – this probably won’t be a problem if you are using a film camera, but on digital there can be a big difference between the high and low quality settings. Always use the highest available setting as this will be the biggest thing that affects the end result
• Print quality – The shortlisting and final judging are based on the print you send in. We recommend you submit the highest quality print possible. It doesn’t have to be huge, but 6 x 4in – a standard photo size – is the smallest you should go. Quality counts and the type of photo paper also has an effect. Use good-quality photo paper and set your printer to the highest photo quality it can do. If you are still not happy with the result, take the image on disc to a photo printer who will do it for you
• Previous CP Competitions – To get a better understanding of what we’re looking for and to give you some inspiration for your own shots,  a selection of previous entries and other photos we have used to the CP website.
  Visit: www.cats.org.uk/photo-comp

Extra information

• Digital prints on CD – We ask for digital images on disc as well as the prints because your pictures will be going into our photo library for future use in promoting the work of CP. Prints from film cameras can be scanned into the library system, but digital prints are often of variable quality. To get the best result we ask for the image on disc
• The copyright issue – The major factor is that you will always own the rights to your photographs. The declarations you sign on the form give Gloucester CP the rights to use them to either promote the work of the charity or to fundraise. The two declarations are separate to give you the opportunity to agree to one, both or neither. The agreement allows us to use images without paying you, but we will not own them nor sell them on. You are free to use the photographs yourself as well. If you don’t want to give your agreement to future use of images and just want to enter the competition, you can do this. Every year the fact that we have our own photo library saves the charity a huge amount of money
• The suggested donation – We suggest a donation of £2 per photograph entered. We realise that not everyone can manage this, but ask people to give what they can. Some people give more, which is always appreciated
• Sending your pictures – Each year we have a few entries that either don’t make it to us or arrive a little worse for wear. Make sure you pack your pictures as well as possible and, if you want to make doubly sure of its arrival, send it by recorded delivery so it has to be signed for. Also make sure you put adequate postage on it. Try not to leave it to the last minute just before the competition closes. We try to make allowances but need to have a cut-off date. Unfortunately, we are unable to receive entries by email

The Rules - By entering this competition, you are accepting these terms and conditions

• The copyright of any photograph entered into the competition remains with the photographer, but by signing the declaration(s) the photographer allows Gloucester CP to reproduce and use the photograph without additional permissions or payment to further the work of the charity
• Entrants must enter in the correct category
• All submissions must be the entrant’s own original work and must not infringe the rights of any other party
• Entrants must ensure that any images submitted have been taken with the permission of any person/persons featured within it. Where the subject is under 16, consent must be obtained from parents or guardians. If the photograph is of a cat that is not your own, please obtain the owner’s permission. This acknowledges that the image may be used for publicity purposes at a later date and be published or appear on the CP website
• No laws should have been breached when taking the photographs
  • Entrants under 16 need their parent or guardian to sign the form; proof of age may be required
• Photographs entered into the competition will become part of the Gloucester Cats Protection photographic library under the copyright terms above. We are therefore unable to return any photographs entered
• Both digital and traditional film photographs are acceptable. The competition will be based on the print supplied by the entrant so this should be as high quality as possible, not smaller than 6 x 4 inches and no
  larger than A4
• If supplying digital images, please also supply the image on disc in jpeg or tiff format
• Employees of CP and their immediate families are not eligible to enter. CP volunteers are free to enter the competition
• You may enter as many prints as you wish. There is a suggested donation of £2 per entry 
• Composite images will not be accepted. Gloucester CP reserves the right to exclude any image which is believed to have been excessively altered
• We cannot accept pictures taken on a camera that is less than 3 megapixels or on a camera phone
• The closing date is 20th August 2011. Gloucester CP cannot accept any responsibility for entries lost or damaged in the post or posted with insufficient postage.
• We are not able to accept entries by electronic formats
• Posted entries will only be acknowledged if a stamped, self-addressed postcard is included with the entry
• Gloucester Cats Protection reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners will be notified no later than end September 2011. A full list of prize winners will be published on the Gloucester CP website

Entry Form