Terms & Conditions
Terms and Conditions of Entry
These conditions of entry apply to all photography and video submissions to the Tūhura Photography Competition.
All entries must represent the natural world as authentically as possible, free from excessive digital manipulation, with honest captioning, and total regard for the welfare of the animals, plants and environment involved.
1. The competition closes 12pm, Sunday 1 February 2026. No entries will be accepted after this date and time.
2. All entries must be submitted online. If you have no internet access but would still like to enter, please call the Tūhura Photography Competition team at 03 474 7474 or email [email protected].
3. Entrants for the Wildlife, Botanical and Landscape Categories must reside in Otago at the time of entry (proof of residential address may be required).
4. Entrants for the Wild Aotearoa Category may reside anywhere in New Zealand, including Otago, at the time of entry (proof of residential address may be required).
5. Entrants must be amateur photographers. For the purposes of the competition, you are considered a professional if 20% or more of your income is or has been derived from photography.
6. Images submitted must not be commissioned images, images used for a commercial purpose, or images entered in other photography competitions.
7. The entrant must be the original author of the work entered, as described in the Copyright Act 1994. Any attempt at plagiarism, such as copying the composition of another artist’s image, will result in immediate disqualification.
8. Photograph entries will not be returned.
9. Subjects of photographs can be from any location worldwide.
10. For the competition, "wildlife" is deemed to include domestic and non-domestic animals, with the exception of the Wild Aotearoa Category, which is restricted to non-domestic animals.
11. Photographs must be submitted to the following categories:
- Wildlife
- Youth (up to 18)
- Adult (19+)
- Open to entries from Otago residents only
- Botanical
- Youth (up to 18)
- Adult (19+)
- Open to entries from Otago residents only
- Landscape
- Open to all ages
- Open to entries from Otago residents only
- Wild Aotearoa
- Open to all ages
- Open to entries from residents of all regions in New Zealand
12. Photographic entries must have been taken on/after 1 January 2025.
13. Each person can submit a maximum of 15 photographic entries overall (up to 10 entries per category). Multiple categories can be entered.
14. If more than 15 photographic entries are submitted, only the first 15 photographic entries sent will be counted.
15. Photographic entries must adhere to the following specifications: maximum file size 10 MB; photos must be submitted as JPEGs; borders, watermarks or signatures should not be included.
16. Submitted photographic entries that fail to meet the specified format will not be considered and will be disqualified from entry with no correspondence.
17. Panoramic photographs will not be accepted as entries in the Wildlife, Botanical, or Wild Aotearoa Categories. Panoramic photographs are accepted in the Landscape Category only.
18. Images that are heavily digitally altered will not be accepted as entries to the competition. The following digital adjustments are permitted, provided that they are a true representation of nature and do not deceive the viewer or misrepresent the reality of nature, or what was originally captured by the camera: tone and contrast, burning, dodging, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction, minor cleaning work, HDR, stitched panoramas (Landscape Category only), and focus stacking. The following adjustments are not allowed: adding, moving, or removing objects, animals, parts of animals, plants, or people; the removal of highlights, backscatter, bubbles, debris, and similar; composites; painting the foreground / painting out the background.
19. We prohibit the use of AI or generative imaging in any part of photographic submissions to the competition. If judges are suspicious of an entry being AI-generated, they may request to see the raw file for the entry.
20. Entrants may be required to provide the original source file of their photo for enlargement and display purposes or for checking the degree of editing. Please note that images may be cropped for display purposes in the competition exhibition or marketing collateral.
21. Entrants agree to grant Tūhura Otago Museum a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use submitted images for marketing and editorial use.
22. The organisers acknowledge the moral rights provisions of the Copyright Act 1994, including the right to be identified as the author of the work and the right to object to derogatory treatment of the work. To preserve the artistic integrity of the entry, no work will be intentionally edited, altered, demeaned, or misrepresented in any way.
23. It is the entrant’s responsibility to obtain appropriate written permission from people or owners of property, animals, or plants that are identifiable in their work. The entrant must produce evidence of that consent to the organisers if requested.
24. Drone photography must follow Department of Conservation Drone Guidelines, including applying for drone permits if flying over public conservation land and following appropriate safety guidelines. Flying drones in the vicinity of marine mammals can stress or disrupt them. DOC states that you must fly no closer than 150 m horizontally from a point directly above any marine mammal.
25. The entrant fully indemnifies the organisers against any claims arising from the display or use of unaltered work as described herein and from the infringement of intellectual property rights of any third party.
26. The organisers reserve the right to not show entries in the exhibition that have been deemed inappropriate for the Museum's audience.
27. The organisers reserve the right to not show all entries in the exhibition. The selection of images in the exhibition is at the sole discretion of the organiser.
28. No correspondence will be entered into with the entrant if their entry is not selected for the exhibition.
29. If the organisers are unable to open or upload the entries submitted because of technical errors caused by file quality, or if the file is damaged, the organiser reserves the right not to include the entries in the competition. No correspondence will be entered into with the entrant.
30. All entries will be treated with care, but no responsibility will be accepted in the case of loss or damage. Insurance is the entrant’s sole responsibility unless agreed in writing with the organisers.
31. Entrants agree to be contacted by the organisers regarding this competition and subsequent exhibition, as well as for future Tūhura Photography Competitions.
32. The entrants consent to these Terms and Conditions when they submit entries to the competition.
33. Tūhura Otago Museum staff and immediate families of the competition organisers and judges are not eligible to enter the competition. "Immediate" refers to siblings, parents, children, or spouses/relationship partners.
34. Winning and highly commended photographs will be announced at a prize-giving on Wednesday, 1 April 2026, followed by the opening of the exhibition of winners and selected entries.
35. If COVID affects our ability to run the competition or exhibition in a way that is beyond our control, we reserve the right to change dates, regulations etc. as needed. For example, if the supply chain affects our ability to obtain prizes, we reserve the right to give another item of a similar value that may be more easily obtained in New Zealand.
36. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
37. Prizes are non-transferable and are not redeemable for cash.
38. The entrants consent to their photographic entries being used in future exhibitions held by Tūhura Otago Museum. All entrants will be credited.
If you are unable to enter online, or if you have any other comments or questions, please contact:
[email protected]
03 474 7474