Why would we set up a photography competition?
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A picture is worth a
thousand words.
Real photos of genuine countryside workers illustrating the
highs and lows of countryside careers, the joyous successes and the grim
realities will showcase all the various elements of life and work in the
countryside and wildlife sectors acting (we hope) as an eye opener for many
readers who are perhaps just thinking about a career "working with
animals" or getting a "job outdoors". Everyone takes lots of photos, sometimes just
because but often with a purpose - for inclusion in literature or promotional material,
this is a chance to share those images, and those didn't make the cut, with
others who have an interest but little practical experience or knowledge of
working in our wonderful field.
Encourage exploration
For a couple of years I took part in the Wildlife Trust's 30
Days Wild Challenge and wrote a little about it. But before the first one I went out to take
some photos for the blog I'd created and was reawakened to my own local
environment. This I what I wrote: "It
was a beautiful evening, the light was amazing and I started to wish I’d taken
my ‘proper’ camera. But as it was I spent so long framing shots (even
just quickly) that we didn’t get far before the light began to fade and we
didn’t really walk as far as usual. Even so it was a lovely walk and
looking at the landscape, framing shots and really seeing the natural worl,d I
understood (at least I think I did) the reasons for the challenge. I saw and
felt everything, my senses were opened again. From the cool breeze on my face,
to the scent of the scots pines and rank odour of drying damp sheep, the range
of colours across the moors, the variety of grasses on the commons, the evening
bird song, the wind in the trees."
We want to encourage people to go out, take time to look for
the unexpected, the hidden and the lovely and in so doing reconnect with the
natural world all around us.
Free promotion
Not for CJS but for you, your projects, your sites, even
something to add to your CV. In keeping
with the CJS ethos of "promoting UK countryside careers and environmental
conservation worldwide" we see the competition as an opportunity to share
your photographs with a wider audience, introducing you to new audiences,
bringing new visitors to your site, increasing interest in your project. This is why we say you should include your
social media handles so that we can tag you in the posts we make. All photos that we post anywhere will be
credited to you and tagged where possible raising the profile of you the
photographer and any sites or projects that you've mentioned.
There are many
reasons but collecting a large number of free photos is not one of them!
If you're not looking for a load of free photographs why do
the rules say CJS has the right to use my images? Simply so that we can give you that free
promotion by sharing them on our social media and in blogs like these.
Having said all that we have to be honest and say that if
you send us an image that is perfect for a feature we may use it - however it
will be fully credited and tagged back to you. But the rules say I've granted
you use in perpetuity, why would you say that if you're not planning on using
them all over? Mainly because of the
recent passing of European Commission Law Article 13 relating to creator's
copyright (read more about this here)
Put simply it is a legal term so that if your photo posted to our instagram, in
our facebook timeline or on our twitter stream turns up again years in the
future we are all covered for copyright issues (rotten red tape! But better
safe than sorry). The images are yours and yours alone and you can ask us at
any time to take down / remove / untag your photos, email us the details and
consider it done.
Find out more about our photography competition, see some of
the entries, read about the amazing prizes we have on offer and how to enter
your photos here: c-js.uk/CJSPhoto