Terms and conditions

1. The competition is open to any primary or secondary aged student living or being taught (in school or at home) in Essex, including the unitary authorities.
2. A maximum of 3 photos can be submitted per person.
3. We will only consider entries submitted in the correct format (as instructed on the online entry form) and of sufficient resolution for screen and print. Minimum suggested resolution is 1400 pixels on the longest edge.
4. Images must not be previously published or entered into another competition, with the exception of the current year's Chelmsford City Photo Competition (if it is running).
5. By submitting an image, the entrant declares that it is his/her own work and free of any copyright other than their own personal copyright. It is the responsibility of entrants to ensure that they do not infringe on the copyright or other rights of any third party.
6. Copyright for the submitted images remains with their authors. However, by entering the competition, participants grant CSES a nonexclusive, perpetual licence to use the submitted images for any legitimate purpose, including promoting the Society.
7. If photos contain people, the entrant is responsible for gaining their consent and (if necessary) securing use of their image free of copyright, fee or any other restriction. If your image contains the picture of anyone aged under 18 then you must submit an image consent form signed by their legal guardian.
8. Photos will not be accepted into the competition if they are deemed inappropriate, this includes images that are offensive, previously published, copyrighted or deemed not to be in accordance with the spirit of the competition.
9. Prizes available in each category are as follows: 1st prize £50 voucher, 2nd prize £20 voucher, 3rd prize £15 voucher.
10. Prizes will only be awarded subject to receiving a sufficient number of submissions at an appropriate standard of quality.
11. CSES reserves the right to cancel the competition or alter the rules at any stage if circumstances arise outside of its control.
12. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition. Students will automatically be enrolled for free as a member of CSES and receive information about our activities and events. You can opt out of this at any time.
13. Our decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final. This includes any judging decisions.
14. Winners, and those who are highly commended, will be notified by email. First names and schools/colleges (where appropriate) will be published alongside the winning images via our digital channels. If you do not wish for this data to be shared, please tell us by email.

If you have any queries, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Photography tips

While you will get more control and better quality using a camera, smartphones have come a long way in the past few years and if you don't have the time or inclination to carry around a large camera, your smartphone (or even tablet) is often more than enough to get a great photo.

There are several websites that provide advice on how to make the most of photos taken with your phone. Try looking at this Beginners' Guide or Phone Photography 101.

Key things to remember are:

• Often better to turn the phone sideways and use two hands to take the picture as this minimises camera shake.
• If there is strong contrast in the scene (a light area and a dark area) or you find that you cannot get the sun behind you, the HDR (high dynamic range) setting will generally give a better image that is closer to what the eye sees. Note that this can mute the colours slightly and add a slight blur, so you may want to enhance the image afterward for best results.
• Use a tripod or some sort of support, even just someone's shoulder, and turn on the camera grid lines to help you align and compose the image. The best images typically have the main subject within one of the thirds of the frame.
• Try to get as much lighting, especially natural lighting (sunlight) as possible. The hours after sunrise and after sunset are usually the best light for photos but, in any case, use the phone camera flash as little as possible as it often does not improve the result.
• Use digital zoom as little as possible and probably never above 2x. Just get closer, or maybe try an add-on lens. The more you zoom in, the more unsteady the shot will become.
• If you find the built-in camera app on your phone is too basic or difficult to use, Google Camera is worth a look, and may give you more control of how the image turns out.

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