Contest Official Rules

OFFICIAL RULES
“2018 VPG Catalog Photo Contest” is sponsored by Voluntary Purchasing Groups, Inc.

ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: $500 Visa Gift Card and reproduction of photo in 2018 VPG Product Catalog with photo credit to Entrant

ONE (1) FIRST PRIZE: $250Visa Gift Card and reproduction of photo in 2018 VPG Product Catalog with photo credit to Entrant

THREE (3) SECOND PRIZE CATEGORY WINNERS: $50 Visa Gift Card and reproduction of photo in 2018 VPG Product Catalog with photo credit to Entrant

HONORARY MENTION WINNERS: Reproduction of photo in 2018 VPG Product Catalog with photo credit to Entrant

ELIGIBILITY: The Contest is open only to individuals who are sixteen (16) years or older at time of entry, excluding direct employees of Voluntary Purchasing Groups and its subsidiaries or agents, their immediate families (defined as parents, children, siblings, spouse and grandparents) and those domiciled with any of the foregoing are not eligible.

All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply; void where prohibited. This contest will be open until 5pm April 1, 2017. To enter electronically, visit our website at http://www.fertilome.com All information provided by entrant must be complete, true and correct.

Submissions to the Contest must be received by 5pm EST on April 1, 2017 in order to be eligible; entries received after that date will be deemed ineligible to win. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, inaccurate, incomplete, damaged, illegible, or misdirected entries. Each entry must be submitted on an individual basis (i.e., no team, joint, or corporate entries) and all components of the entry must be the original creation of the submitting participant. Entries may not contain profanity, nudity, pornographic images, violent images, anti-competition messages, illegal material, or material that violates the rights of third parties. Entries may not include confidential information, trade secrets, trademarks or copyrighted material belonging to any person or entity other than the participant absent a suitable license or permission agreement (proof of which is required). Entries containing any forbidden matter or material otherwise deemed by Sponsor to be inappropriate will be disqualified.

Online entries will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. Entrants may enter as many times as he/she would like. File Specifications: submissions should be in JPEG format. Your JPEG compression must be set to maximum image quality. In Photoshop, save your file via Save As, select JPEG for your image type and put the quality slider to 12 (all the way to the right to 12.)

JUDGING: The judging will be done by a panel of VPG employees. Entries will be judged equally on creativity and aesthetic value. The decisions of the judges are final and binding in all respects. Judging will be completed by April 30, 2017 and potential winners will be notified by phone or email on or before May 15, 2017. Sponsor reserves the right not to select any winning submissions based upon the quantity or content of submissions. Potential winners will be required to sign and return a sworn Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release. If required documentation is not returned within seven (7) business days of notification, or if notification is returned as undeliverable, any prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected.

PRIZE AWARDS: There will be one prize winner in each category, and one Grand Prize winner for the overall contest. Winner will be featured in the VPG 2018 Product Catalog. Prizes will be awarded within sixty (60) days after winner verification. No prize substitution or transfer is permitted, except that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value for any reason (including cash, at Sponsor’s discretion). All taxes and any other incidental expenses on Prizes are the sole responsibility of each winner.

GENERAL

RULES & LIMITATIONS: By submitting a photograph, you represent, acknowledge, and warrant that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by you, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph.

You retain all ownership rights to the photos you submit. However, by submitting a photo, you hereby grant Voluntary Purchasing Groups a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, and display the photo in connection with the ferti·lome product catalog and ferti·lome.com website (and its successors' and affiliates') business, including without limitation for promoting and redistributing part or all of the product catalog (and derivative works thereof) in any media formats and through any media channels.

VPG is not responsible for technical, hardware or software failures, or other errors or problems which may occur in connection with the Contest, whether computer, network, technical, mechanical, typographical, printing, human or otherwise, including, without limitation, errors or problems which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes, in any Contest- related materials, or that may limit prize fulfillment or a participant's ability to enter the Contest. Sponsor reserve the right to amend these official rules and to permanently disqualify from the Contest any person it believes has intentionally violated these official rules.

Note on photo manipulation: Post processing images is allowed. This includes global adjustments to exposure, contrast, burning, dodging, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, and tone. Minor cleaning of images is permitted, including the removal of backscatter, dust and scratches. HDR, panoramas, focus stacking or other techniques that involve using multiple images taken at the same time and place are also allowed.

Adding, removing or moving animals, people, plants or other objects is not allowed. For example, moving a tree, removing a weed or changing the color of a flower is not acceptable. While digital manipulation is permitted, please keep in mind this not a Photoshop competition. All images should accurately represent the subject matter and nature. Images that appear to be overly processed may be disqualified at the judges’ discretion.

Back to the submission page