Why would we set up a photography competition?


Wet and windy mountain path maintenance on the Isle of
Rum NNR.Wet feet streak; 13 days!  #keeping it real
Entered by Georgia Hanock
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