Photography Competition: Terms and Conditions

You must read these terms and conditions before entering. It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that they have read these terms and conditions. A submission to this competition is an agreement that the entrant has read and will abide by the rules of the competition, as laid out in these terms and conditions.

The Royal Parks’ Creating Spaces for Life photography competition (the “competition”) is being run by The Royal Parks Limited (a charity registered in England and Wales no. 1172042 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales no. 10016100 (VAT No. 261 4640 19)) having its registered office address at The Old Police House, Hyde Park, London W2 2UH (“The Royal Parks”).

All entries will be shortlisted by The Royal Parks and the winners will be chosen by a panel of judges. The judges’ decision is final. The competition is made of three categories – the Junior Category, the Young Adult Category, the Adult Category (as described in the section ‘Categories’ below). The winner, and two runners up of each category will receive a prize, as detailed below.

Section links
Competition Description Donation Copyright and Permissions Liability Categories Judges	Eligibility Photography Consent of usage Ethics Prizes Additional Information

Competition Description

Spanning over 5,000 acres across the city, the Royal Parks are one of the reasons that London is one of the greenest cities in the world. That’s why we believe that the parks create spaces for life every single day. Whether that’s creating a space for wildlife to call home or creating a space for you to make memories with family and friends, the Royal Parks exist for life to flourish in. And in our new photography competition running this spring, we want to see exactly what this means to you. For this competition, we want to see your photographs that show the life which thrives in the Royal Parks at this time of year. Life in London comes in many forms; not only from the wide expanse of land or the thousands of trees, but from the birth of ducklings, goslings or cygnets along the waterways, to the vibrant bloom of roses, daffodils and tulips in the flowerbeds. Whether that's broad landscapes or macro shots, we want to see what how you view the spaces for life that the Royal Parks creates.

Eligibility

Due to the nature of the prizes for each category, entry to the competition is open to full-time residents of the United Kingdom only.
Employees or relatives of an employee of The Royal Parks are not eligible to enter. Suppliers to The Royal Parks are also not eligible to enter. This includes but is not limited to, photographers hired by The Royal Parks.
This competition is open to both professional and amateur photographers.
Entrants under the age of 18 must have their image submitted by a parent or legal guardian. In doing so, the parent or legal guardian are consenting to having read these terms and conditions and are consenting to the entry.
In entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any prize you may win. The Royal Parks may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition. We will never ask for original copies of any personal documents. Any proof which may be requested will be immediately destroyed after being verified and no record of this will be kept.

Donation

As a charity, we need to raise 80% of our income ourselves.

Upon using the online form to submit an entry to the competition, all entrants will be provided with the option to donate to The Royal Parks.
This donation is entirely optional and will not have any effect on an entrant’s chance of winning the competition.
All donations will support the general purposes and objectives of The Royal Parks.

Photography

Entries must be an original photograph that you have taken which fulfils the criteria for the category for which you are applying.
All photography must be of or taken in one of the eight Royal Parks, Victoria Tower Gardens or Brompton Cemetery. The Royal Parks are Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park, St. James’s Park, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park, Richmond Park and Bushy Park. Upon submission, details of where it was taken must be included.
Editing and adjustments are allowed, however, the photographer must declare the alterations that are made to the image that they are submitting.
Entries that are automatically generated by computer or created by artificial intelligence are strictly prohibited and will be automatically disqualified.
If anyone is identifiable in the photo, you must ensure you have discussed it with them and they are happy you are submitting the photo into The Royal Parks' competition. We cannot accept photos featuring children under the age of 16 without written permission from their parent or legal guardian.
Photos can be taken on any photographic device relevant to the category for which they are being entered but submitted files must be no bigger than 5MB. If your submission is shortlisted, then The Royal Parks may ask for a higher resolution image.
Entries that The Royal Parks regards as be lewd, inappropriate, offensive or that promote inappropriate behaviour will be disqualified without notice and may be reported the police.

Copyright and Permissions

All submissions must ensure that the image does not include visible trademarks or intellectual property rights of any third party without their permission or in any way that would infringe on the use of the image by The Royal Parks, as detailed below under “Consent of Usage”
By submitting an entry to this competition, you are confirming the following:
- That it is an original image taken by you;
- In the case of multiple photographers’ involvement in the submitted image, that you have the permission of all other parties to enter the competition;
- That you have not licensed the image in any way which would be infringed on the use of the image by The Royal Parks, as detailed below under “Consent of Usage”;
- That the image does not include visible trademarks or intellectual property rights of any third party without their permission or in any way that would be infringed on the use of the image by The Royal Parks, as detailed below under “Consent of Usage”;
- That the image does not contain any product placement or promotion of a specific product or service;
- That you have explained to anyone identifiable in the photo, that you will be submitting it to The Royal Parks, that they have had the opportunity to read these T&Cs regarding the use of the photo and you have their permission.

Photographers grant The Royal Parks the right to use your name for the sole purpose of identifying you as the author of your entry and/or as a winner of the competition.
Photographers maintain the copyright to any photos submitted and grant The Royal Parks a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual licence to use, republish, edit and/or modify your entry in any of their publications, websites, social media and/or in any promotional material relating to The Royal Parks or the competition.
If The Royal Parks wishes to use any submitted images for commercial purposes, the photographer will be contacted for permission.
Whilst The Royal Parks will endeavour to credit the photographer whenever their submitted image is used, it shall have no liability should the credit be inadvertently omitted for any reason.

Liability

The Royal Parks cannot accept liability for any loss, damage or injury to the self or any equipment that occurs in any stage of the process of taking, editing or submitting a photograph, or as a result of a winner taking up their prize, for this competition, except where this was caused by The Royal Parks’ negligence.
We cannot be held responsible for emails that do not arrive due to your email security settings or restrictions placed by your Internet Service Provider. You must ensure that your settings accept emails from competition@royalparks.org.uk

Ethics

At The Royal Parks, we strongly advocate for keeping wildlife wild. We want visitors to help nature thrive in the parks by observing wildlife in its natural habitat, rather than seeking an up-close-and-personal encounter. As such, any photography that takes place in The Royal Parks must ensure that:

No animals are harmed or in any way distressed in the process of capturing an image for this competition.
No habitats are affected in any way in the process of capturing an image for this competition.

In addition:
Entries must not misrepresent the reality of animal behaviour.
Any information provided with a submitted photograph must be accurate.
Photographs of deer are strictly prohibited and will not be accepted.
The Royal Parks reserves the right to question the photographer about their methods for taking the photograph. If, during questioning, the entrant discloses information that breaches any of the rules or ethics described in these terms and conditions, The Royal Parks reserves the right to disqualify the entrant from the competition.

Prizes

Winners for each category will receive the following prizes:

First Place

For the Young Adult and Adult category, the winner will receive two tickets to British Summer Time Hyde Park 2024. For the Junior category, the winner will receive four tickets to British Summer Time Hyde Park 2024 (due to age restrictions in place for attendees of the concert).

Where possible, the winner will be able to choose which performer and date they would like to attend. However, ticket allocation will be subject to availability so we cannot guarantee access to the performance of the winners choosing.

Second Place

For each of the three categories, the second placed entrant will receive up to four tickets for a boating session at their choice of either Hyde Park, The Regents Park or Greenwich Park on a date of their choosing.

Third place

For each of the three categories, the third placed entrant will receive up to two tickets for a walking tour of their choice within the Royal Parks. Winners of this prize will be presented with details of upcoming tours to select.

The Royal Parks reserves the right to alter any prize to one of comparable value if necessary. Any such changes will be communicated to the relevant winner. Prizes are not transferable, exchangeable or sellable and no cash equivalent is available. Transport and accommodation are not provided. Some prizes are subject to specific dates and times. No alternate prize will be offered to the winner if these dates and times are unsuitable for them. If a winner does not respond to repeated attempts by The Royal Parks to contact them within two weeks of the winner reveal, then The Royal Parks reserves the right to offer the prize to another entrant. Should the prize be offered to another entrant, the time that they have to respond will be dependent on the prize, and whether or not the prize is exclusive to a specific date.

Judges

Entrants will be shortlisted by The Royal Parks fundraising team (comprising of up to six individuals). Shortlisted competition entries will be judged by a panel of three judges. The decision of the panel of judges (acting reasonably) will be final.

If, in the reasonable opinion of The Royal Parks, there has been an attempt by an entrant to bribe in any way any judge or member of the shortlisting committee, such entrant will be immediately disqualified.

The Royal Parks will send the full names of the judges to anyone who writes to Sophie Wilby at The Royal Parks within one month after the closing date of the competition requesting details of the judges and who encloses a self-addressed envelope. The Royal Parks registered address is Old Police House, Hyde Park, London W2 2UH. Alternatively, a list of names of the judges may be viewed on our website from the closing date for a minimum period of 30 days.

Additional Information

These terms and conditions are governed by English law. If any entrant to this promotion wishes to take court proceedings, then they must do this within the courts in the England and Wales. The Royal Parks reserves the right to disqualify any entry that breaches these terms and conditions at any time during the competition. Disqualification may not be communicated to the photographer.

The Royal Parks reserves the right to make amendments to these terms and conditions without notice at any time. It is the responsibility of the entrant to regularly review these terms and conditions to ensure that they are aware of any alterations or amendments.

The Royal Parks reserves the right to cancel this competition at any time. In such an instance, all entrants will be informed.

The Royal Parks will not accept responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause, including, for example, as a result of any postal failure, equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind.

The Royal Parks will not accept proof of posting or transmission as proof of receipt of entry to the competition.

If you have any questions about this competition, please contact competition@royalparks.org.uk.