Photo Contest Criteria And Rules

The Texas Forest Trail Region, Texas Hill Country Trail, Texas Lakes Trail and the Texas Independence Trail (Heritage Trails) are nonprofit organizations that exist to promote Texas through heritage tourism, historic preservation, educational services & advertising & marketing. Photos are intended for use in the Heritage Trail’s publications, advertising, and general marketing purposes.

CRITERIA & RULES – By entry the photographer accepts these criteria, rules and conditions.

1. Participation: The contest is open to all U.S. residents at least 18 years of age, except staff and board members of Forest Trail and the immediate families of such staff and board members.

2. Eligibility of Photos: All photos must be the original work of the Entrant. Use of a photo from other sources/people is not allowed and will be disqualified. Entry must be submitted by a single individual; no joint/group entries. Entries that have been previously published or have won another contest are ineligible.

3. Location of Photos: Images must be taken within a county that encompasses the Heritage Trails. 

4. Number of Entries: An individual Entrant may enter a total of five (5) photographs per entry.

5. Entry Fee: There are no entry fees for participating in the contest.

6. Entry Deadline: All entries must be submitted online between September 16, 2024 through October 18, 2024. A direct link to the submission site will be posted on the Tex Heritage website at https://texheritage.com/photo-contest-2024/.

7. Content: Photos that are deemed obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violate any laws are strictly prohibited. Entries determined to be inappropriate or unsuitable by the sponsor will be disqualified.

8. Authenticity: The entry must depict the subject or location as it appears in real life; entry cannot use props or software to dramatically change the actual appearance of the image.

9. Model & Property Releases: By submitting a photograph, the Entrant acknowledges and agrees that he or she has obtained sufficient written consents from recognizable people or locations appearing in an entry. Such consent, authorizes both Entrant and the Heritage Trails to publish and use the photograph. Written consent must be retained by the Entrant and may be requested by the Heritage Trails.

10. Disqualification: An entry that does not follow the rules or category guidelines will automatically be disqualified.

11. Release Of Liability: The Heritage Trails and/or its employees involved in the contest will not be held liable for missing, mislabeled, or non-displayed photographs.

12. Copyrights: Entrants will retain all rights and ownership to any entry and are not restricted in the future use of their images. The Heritage Trails and its agents may credit images with the Entrant’s name at its discretion.

13. Display & Future Rights Use Rights: By submitting an entry to the contest, the Entrant grants the Heritage Trails and specific category sponsors a nonexclusive, royalty free license, in perpetuity, to display, reproduce, distribute, publish, and create derivative works of the entry, in any medium, without compensation.

14. Photograph Evaluation: All images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit, and support for the mission of Heritage Trails. Image eligibility, submission eligibility, and winner eligibility will be determined by the Heritage Trails in its absolute discretion.

15. Judges: Judges are Heritage Trails staff, board or partner members, sponsors and volunteers. Judges will determine awards for “Best Overall Photo” and “Sponsored Categories.” All decisions are final. The general public will select “Fan Favorite” by popular vote following the photo contest submission deadline.

16. Awards: Being awarded Fan Favorite Winner or a Sponsored Category Winner does not preclude an Entrant from winning the Best Overall Photo award or other honor determined by the judges. All decisions are final.

17. Grand Prize Award: The grand prize awarded for this contest has no cash value and cannot be exchanged, substituted, or redeemed for any monetary amount.

The prize is non-transferable and is to be accepted as awarded.

No purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win. A purchase does not increase the chances of winning.

The sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace the prize with one of equal or greater value if the intended prize becomes unavailable for any reason.

The winner is solely responsible for any and all local, state, and federal taxes, as well as license and registration fees incurred by participating in the promotion, including, but not limited to, transportation costs, gratuities, and other items of an incidental nature.

All decisions made by the sponsor regarding any aspect of this giveaway are final.

18. Announcement of Results: Winners will be posted in October, 2024 on social media and all websites owned and operated by the Heritage Trails.