CALDERA FESTIVAL

Only pictures and films meeting all criteria in their respective categories are eligible for the 2nd Caldera Festival. There are two categories for photography and two categories for cinematography which are: Wedding Documentary (Photography), Couple Portrait (Photography), Wedding Film (cinematography), Elopement / styled shoot film (cinematography). The rules of entry, judging and nominating are detailed below. Please read these carefully and accept before submitting your pictures and films. You can enter this competition until the 20th of February 2019.

GENERAL RULES

  • The contest is open to photographers and videographers from all over the world

  • Caldera Festival will be open for entry from October 19th 2018 till February 20th 2019

  • By submitting to the Caldera Festival you accept and acknowledge the rules and regulations regarding participating in this competition.

  • Entrant must have captured and created the original picture or film

  • There is no restriction as for when the picture or film have been created

  • No identifying studio signature, logo or photographer name should be visible on the front of the image

  • film links can be submit through the vimeo, or YouTube channel of the author

  • Each image or film may be submitted in only one category (the jury has the right to change the category if it appears to be more suitable)

  • No plagiarism or copy of the original photo is allowed

  • All processing, manipulation and printing or rendering, must be done by the entrant or under their direct supervision.

  • Only light retouch and cropping the image is allowed, no cloning of objects or things that significantly alter the image

  • The entrant should be able to provide the raw file of the picture upon demand by the jury

  • No images taken at a workshop or seminar or under the guidance of an instructor are eligible to be entered into the competition. Only the images made by the instructor can be entered in the appropriate category.

  • Entries into the wedding portrait and documentary categories must have been created from one single capture (with the exception of multiple exposures/bracketing of the same subject in order to achieve HDR for example).

  • With the exception of textual elements, entries must be 100% photographic in origin.

  • All photographic elements must be captured by the entrant. Stock images like skies, trees, buildings, illustrations, or any element not created by the entrant are not allowed.

  • Non¬photographic filters and actions produced by third parties that enhance characteristics of an image but do not add elements to an image are permitted in all categories.

  • Non¬photographic graphic elements like patterns, textures, frames and motifs are not allowed.

  • There is no maximum number of entries per participant.

  • There are three submission deadlines, Earlybird Deadline, Regular Deadline and Late Deadline

  • Submission fees depend on the submission period, and earlier submission benefit from discounted prices

  • Earlybird Deadline 25%: discount on submission fees, Regular Deadline: 15% Discount, Late Deadline: Full Submission Fees

  • Fees featured on the webpage are inclusive of the corresponding discounts 

  • Submission fees are inclusive of Greek VAT 24%

  • Entry fees are final and in no way refundable

  • Films entering the competition should have a maximum length of 8 minutes 

  • Films longer than 8 minutes will not be excluded but only the first 8 minutes will be judged

  • Pictures entering the competition should be 2000pix on the longest side, 72dpi, and less than 2Mb in size

  • All films must be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube, preferably in highest quality possible

  • Films with speeches or dialogues in languages other than English should be subtitled in English. Although this is not a prerequisite to enter the competition, your film will be better judged if the judge can understand the story and dialogues

  • Inappropriate, unethical, sexual or political content will result in a disqualification from the contest

  • The organizers of the Caldera Festival hold the right to disqualify participants entry based on the entry, judging and award regulation

  • Decisions are definitive and are without discussion

  • The jury has the right to disqualify or re-categorize any entry if it does not meet our basic requirements

  • Rules may be changed or modified without further notice

IMPORTANT NOTICES

  • Entrants must be at least 18 years of age as of the date of entry. CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED

  • Members of the jury, organizers of the Caldera Workshop and affiliated persons (possibly working under the same brand) cannot enter the contest

  • You can enter the contest as a studio, however you should specify a physical person that is legal responsible for the Studio

  • Applicants agree that any entry, or part thereof, may be used by the Caldera Festival and Workshop in any part of their publications, affiliated publications, printed materials or electronic media, such as, but not limited to, their websites or their affiliate’s websites and social media platforms.

  • The author retains copyright of their work and will be mentioned and tagged in such case

  • The author submitting the picture or the film declares that he has authorization from any person contained in the images or film to have them publicized. If any image is asked by a person contained in the image to be taken off the site, the image will be removed, disqualified and your award will be lost. The author submitting an image or film is solely responsible about getting such authorizations and the organizers of the contest do not have any responsibility in this regard

  • The author submitting a film declares that has legally purchased the rights to use commercial music/soundtrack/sound effects in the film. The author submitting a film is solely responsible about clearing such rights and providing proof of copyright clearance. The organizers of the contest do not have any responsibility in this regard. Any film not complying will be removed, disqualified and your award will be lost.

  • Each picture and film submission consists of an entry form (submitted online), an entry fee and the uploaded digital files

  • The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below. The entry must not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Sponsors, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Entries deemed inappropriate will be disqualified.

  • Online entries must be made by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry.

 

CATEGORIES AND CATEGORY SPECIFIC RULES

WEDDING DOCUMENTARY (PHOTOGRAPHY)

  • Images entered in the Wedding category must be made on the day that the ceremony was performed

  • Pictures in this category will strive to capture the actual emotion and atmosphere in the moment of the preps, ceremony or party through the creative vision of the photographer

  • Pictures where the photographer looks for shocking juxtapositions as well as visual appeal of color and design, and records both positive and negative acts and feelings

  • Pictures through angles and compositions that are fresh and free. Attempting to express a real life, real time approach to images that are less formulaic and more individualistic

  • Photography in the documentary category may contain a combination of styles meant to capture real emotions, overlooked details and serendipitous actions. 

  • The photographer or photographers must have been officially commissioned by the subjects to record their event

  • Pictures may, or may not include the wedding couple

  • The judges are looking for the most creative, original, artistic, documentary (photo journalism) shot

  • All other bridal images will need to be entered in the couple/portrait category

COUPLE PORTRAIT (PHOTOGRAPHY)

  • Pictures focusing on Bride and Groom Together & Bride or Groom Alone

  • Images of a bride and groom created on their wedding day or in another day where they are the main focus of the image

  • Prewedding pictures, engagement or other couple session pictures may also enter this category

  • Any photographs of a couple taken before their wedding day in non- wedding day attire may enter

  • This category can include portraits both posed and moment -based

  • The judges are looking for the most creative, original, artistic, couple portrait shot

WEDDING FILM (CINEMATOGRAPHY)

  • All films in the wedding category will refer to a real wedding and must contain a significant part shot during the wedding day

  • The videographer or videographers must have been officially commissioned by the subjects to record their event

  • Films may also include parts of footage from another day or moment out of the wedding day (couple shooting, after day shooting, trash the dress, prewedding, interviews, speeches etc) in order to enhance the storytelling, but the main part of the film should refer to a real wedding day

  • The judges are looking for the most creative, original, artistic wedding story. Elements that contribute to a good entry and are judged are: story, editing, cinematography, color grading

ELOPEMENT / STYLED SHOOT FILM (CINEMATOGRAPHY)

  • All films in this category may be from an elopement, a love story or a styled shoot with a couple

  • The films in this category may include elements of more directed work with respect to a real wedding

  • The judges are looking for the most creative, original, artistic couple story. Elements that contribute to a good entry and are judged are: story, editing, cinematography, color grading
     

JUDGING PROCEDURE

Judging starts on February 21st. The jury consists of speakers of the Caldera Workshop and 2 external Super Judges. The organizers of the Caldera Festival strive to ensure that the competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner. Voting members of the jury will make their choices based solely on the artistic and technical merits of the eligible pictures and films and achievements. Contacting or trying to influence the jury to vote in favor or against one picture or film will result in disqualification of the photographer or cinematographer from the festival. The jury will judge all categories regarding specific key-selection-criteria.

Depending on the number of the entries there might be a pre-selection process of the pictures and films to be judged by the jury in the final phase. All shortlisted pictures and films that pass to the next phase get the laurel of Official Selection of the Caldera Festival. This laurel can be used and displayed for promotion of their pictures and films.

Voting and judging results of the jury won’t be made public. After the judging process, there will be one winner and two nominees in each category. Nominations and winners will be announced in April on the website and social media of the Caldera workshop by the Organizers of the Festival. All nominees and winners will get a winner or nominee laurel corresponding to their category and achievement. This laurel can be used and displayed for promotion of their pictures and films.

WINNERS

Winners will be notified by the organizers after the official results. The award statue will be sent to the winners. Winners will get gifts from sponsors/partner companies. All nominated photographers and filmmakers will receive a 15% discount on the next edition of the Caldera Workshop.

All nominated and awarded pictures and films will be showcased on the dedicated Caldera Festival page. All nominated and awarded photographers and filmmakers may also get a written interview by the organizers of the festival to be published on the festival page.

 

REVIEWS

Participants may ask to receive a short written review for their picture or film from the judging pannel while submitting their work to the contest. This has to be selected at the moment of the submission by the participant and comes at an additional cost, as indicated in the corresponding category. The review will be done through a dedicated form which will address different relevant topics. For photos, the review form will concern the following: Adherence to theme, Composition, Color-Light-Exposure and Focus, Storytelling, Originality-Uniqueness of Concept, Overall Impression-Impact, Technical Execution, Artistic Merit. For videos the review form will concern the following: Adherence to theme, Cinematography, Color-Lighting-Exposure and Focus, Storytelling, Editing, Sound, Originality-Uniqueness of Concept, Overall Impression-Impact, Technical Execution, Artistic Merit. There will also be an overall comment for the work submitted and the total score of the submission will be made available.

 

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

There are three submission periods with different costs as you can see below. Final deadline for submission is  February 20, 2019. 

30 NOVEMBER 2018 
EARLY BIRD DEADLINE
25% Discount on submission fees

31 JANUARY 2019
REGULAR DEADLINE
15% Discount on submission fees

20 FEBRUARY 2019
LATE DEADLINE
Full price Submission Fees