2009 Guidelines

Submission Dates: July 1 through August 1 2009

Entries received before July 1st or postmarked after August 1st will be sent back or discarded.

Students must submit a photo with one of the following phrases as their theme. Any student from any category may choose which phrase they want to portray. They will be competing against their own age group, but could be competing against any of the given phrases.

• Journey’s End
• Against the Grain
• Beauty from Ashes

We try to choose themes that will leave a lot of room for students’ imagination and interpretation. We want students to come up with their own ideas of what best illustrates the given theme without us dictating the response.

Basically, what does the theme make you think of? Then take it from there and be creative. We hope that students will come up with many imaginative ideas to fit the theme. Our judges love it when a student comes up with something they had not thought of before.

Who

Category 1: Homeschoolers ages 7 to 10 as of July 1, 2009.
Category 2: Homeschoolers ages 11 to 14 as of July 1, 2009.
Category 3: Homeschoolers ages 15 to 19 as of July 1, 2009.

For the purposes of this contest an eligible student must have been home educated in the past year and received a majority of his or her education in the past year through home education.

Format

1. 8-by-10-inch color or black & white print on photo paper.
2. Prints should not be framed or matted.

Fee

1. $10.00—HSLDA Member Discounted Entry Fee
2. $15.00—Regular Entry Fee

The check should be made payable to “HSLDA” with a note of “Photography Contest” in the memo line. Please do not enclose cash.

Entry

1. One entry per person.
2. Entries must include a completed and signed entry form.
3. Do not put entrant’s name anywhere on the photo. You may, however, put entrant’s phone number on the back.
4. Entries must include entry fee (check or money order).
5. Original photos only. No digital manipulation or touchup is allowed, except for adjustments to contrast, hue, saturation, tone, and sharpness. These techniques must be applied to the image as a whole, not to only certain areas. Traditional techniques during film development and printing are allowed. In other words, we’re more interested in the skill of the photographer than in his or her ability to manipulate an image in the darkroom, digital or otherwise.
6. Photos may be cropped or changed to black-and-white images.

Timeline

1. Entries must be received or postmarked by August 1, 2009.
2. Winners will be notified by letter and/or email and announced on HSLDA's website and e-lert service by mid-September 2009.

Mailing

Photos should be mailed to:

HSLDA
Attn: Photography Contest
One Patrick Henry Circle
Purcellville, VA 20132-3197

Judging

Judges will select three winners and two honorable mentions in each category. Judging will be made based on subject, creativity, and composition. The decision of the judges is final.

Prizes for Each Category

Other Information

Proceeds from the contest will go to the Home School Foundation’s Special Needs Children Fund.
2. Photographs become the property of HSLDA and will not be returned. Entry in the contest
constitutes permission for HSLDA to use the prints for publication at its discretion.
3. All judgments are final and interpretations of the guidelines are at HSLDA's sole discretion.

Please contact Contest Coordinator Cherise Ryan at contests@hslda.org with any questions.