1. By entering the competition, each entrant warrants that:

• Their entry or entries are their own original work.
• All details provided with their entry are true and accurate.
• They have all necessary rights and authorities to grant ReefWatch Marine Conservation the rights granted under these rules.
• Use of their entry by ReefWatch Marine Conservation, in accordance with these rules, will not infringe the rights of any third party.
• Their entry does not breach any law.
• The award of any prize to them would not breach any law.

2. This competition is open only to Indian Nationals.
3. Blue India competition is open to candidates of all skill levels.
4. All submitted images and videos must be original work by the entrant. We will reach out to short-listed candidates for unedited/RAW formats of their images to prove that it is their original work. Any submission deemed to be plagiarized will be immediately disqualified.
5. Short-listed candidates might be asked for proof of nationality and/or age if needed.
6. The entrant is required to provide a unique title and description for each image submitted.
7. All entrants retain copyrights to their images and videos.
8. ReefWatch Marine Conservation and selected competition partners retain the right to publish the selected contest entries in print or online and to promote future events.
9. All images need to have been taken underwater, except when noted otherwise in a category description.
10. Candidates are allowed to use natural light and/or artificial lights such as strobes and flashes.
11. Entries may have been taken from any camera – point and shoot, DSLRs, etc.
12. It is not mandatory for applicants to be certified divers.
13. All decisions by the jury or ReefWatch Marine Conservation will be final.
14. All  entrants will be approached impartially.
15. Winners will be notified by email or phone. We will try both these methods of communication and if we have not had a response from the winner within a two-week period, we will choose a new winner. Winning prizes cannot be exchanged for the cash equivalent or for an alternative in any circumstance.

16. Each entrant acknowledges and agrees that:

• ReefWatch Marine Conservation may disclose an entrant’s personal information to its employees, contractors, partners, and agents to assist in the conduction of the competition.
• The names of prize winners and awardees may be published in accordance with these rules.
• ReefWatch Marine Conservation may use entrants’ personal information for any promotional, marketing and publicity purposes, subject to privacy and spamming laws as they apply.
• ReefWatch Marine Conservation reserves the right to reproduce or publically display and/or publish winning images. Credit will be given to all entrants.

17. ReefWatch Marine Conservation has the authority to deem any entry void if our wild life photography ethics are not adhered to.
18. Entrants are encouraged to edit submitted images to present it at its best. This might include but is not limited to editing for colour, contrast, sharpness, vibrancy, clarity and composition. However, we will not accept images with major edits that include removing or adding major elements, compositing of two different images etc.
19. All entries must come via the application form, with all the requested details provided.
20. Under no circumstance will ReefWatch Marine Conservation be liable for any:

• Lost, late, misdirected, or incomplete submissions.
• Injury or damage to any participant or to any computer related to, resulting from or in connection with the contest.

1. Applications open on 15th August 2019.
2. All entries must be received before 1st October  2019.
3. All winners will be announced on 18th October 2019.

The following rules are the general rules that all entrants under the photography category must follow. Please also read the rules specific to the category you wish to enter under and our conservation guidelines.

1. Entries must be submitted in JPEG format and should be sized to 2000 kb / 2 mb per image. However, please also retain the higher resolution image – if we need this to be enlarged and printed, we will reach out to the entrant.
2. You may submit as many entries per contest as you wish, unless specifically mentioned otherwise in the contest specific rules.
3. You will be able to upload only one image at a time using the website’s upload function.
4. Images can be uploaded based on category (Under 18, Conservation, General). So multiple images can be in one category or one image per category.
5. All images must include the EXIF metadata and have the following details:

• Name of candidate
• Place and time
• Title and description of the submitted photograph or artwork
• Environmental conditions
• Device/ Camera used
• Lens, extension tubes, filters, reversing ring, etc used
• Exposure and / or additional equipment
• Category

6. Photographs previously submitted to Blue India should not be re-submitted.
7. All submitted photos must contain the original EXIF metadata information. However there must be no border(s), logo(s), copyright marks, identifying marks, or any other visible references and/or marks on the image.

1. Entrant must submit Youtube / Vimeo / URL link to the video and please mention a password if applicable.
2. Each video must be 4 minutes or less.
3. If music is used, it must be properly credited and royalty-free music can be used.
4. All voice-overs and editing must be credited.
5. 70% of the video must be shot underwater.
6. Entrants must have shot the footage themselves.
7. All videos must have the relevant details

• Name and age of candidate
• Year the video was shot
• Place and time
• Environmental conditions
• Device/Camera used
• Exposure and/or additional equipment

8. Videos previously submitted to Blue India should not be re-submitted.

Open application form

1. Candidates applying for this category must be under 18 as of August 2019.
2. Entrants can use any camera and lens.
3. Images submitted under this category must be shot underwater.

Open application form

1. 1. Can be shot on any camera and lens.
   2. Images submitted under this category need not necessarily be shot underwater. However, they have to depict conservation issues related to marine life and the ocean.

Open application form

1. INR 500 will be charged for up to three images submitted.
2. You may submit more than three entries, however an additional INR 500 will be charged for every three images.
3. Payments can be made directly from our secure website payment gateway.

1. Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo.
2. Conservation rules will apply to all entries, and decisions will be final.
3. Entries suspected of exhibiting the following behavior will be disqualified:

• Divers visibly damaging the environment (e.g. gear dragging or kicking up sand).
• Animals with signs of stress (e.g. puffed puffers, inking octopus).
• Animals moved to an unnatural environment or risky location.
• Animals being fed.
• Marine life being touched (e.g. coral polyps, seahorse tails).
• Divers exhibiting poor buoyancy control.

COMING SOON