The Royal Society Photography Competition in Science 2019 and a Prize of £1000

The Royal Society has launched its 2019 Publishing Photography Competition, which celebrates the power of photography in capturing scientific phenomena happening all around the world, and the role great images play in making science accessible to a wide audience. The competition is open to scientists, and winning entries will be chosen according to 2 key criteria: they should be aesthetically pleasing, and convey an interesting scientific phenomenon.

Participation categories:

1. Astronomy – for images of astronomical bodies, or that demonstrate astronomical or astrophysical phenomena.
2. Behavior – for images that show the behavior of living species.
3. Earth Science and Climatology – for images of physical processes or features related to Earth, including its oceans and atmosphere
4. Ecology and Environmental Science – for images that demonstrate the interaction of species within the environment and the environment itself.
5. Micro-imaging – for any images taken using microscopes and other high-magnification imaging devices.

Eligibility criteria:

1. The Photography Competition is open to scientists studying or working in science at graduate level or above, except employees of the Royal Society, their families, agents or any third party directly associated with administration of the prize draw.
2. No more than 20 entries per person are permitted, and each entry may only be submitted to one category.
3. Photographs must not have been taken more than five years prior to the competition opening date of 30 May 2019.
4. Entries must not have been selected as a winner in any other competition prior to the opening date of 30 May 2019.
5. In entering the Photography Competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim any prize you may win. The Royal Society may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the Photography Competition.
6. The Royal Society reserves all rights to disqualify you if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the Photography Competition.
7. Entries should be no larger than 10MB and be at least 300dpi, and should be submitted as either JPEG or TIFF files with no watermarks, signatures or borders included.
8. Permitted digital adjustments include tone and contrast, cropping, burning, sharpening, dodging, noise reduction, minor cleaning work, HDR, stitched panoramas, and/or within-camera focus stacking using multiple exposure taken at the same location at the same time. Any adjustments must be reported within the description and should not misrepresent the reality of nature. Focus-stacking after the images are taken is allowed for submissions to the micro-imaging category only and must be clearly explained in the description.
9. The addition or removal of any animals or parts of animals, plants, people, objects, etc. is not allowed.
10. Entries must be accompanied by a description of the scientific phenomena shown, with information that could include, but is not limited to: location, species, behavior and scientific context. A further description should be provided of how the shot was achieved technically, including any post-processing.
11. Submissions to the behavior, ecology and environmental science, earth science and climatology, and astronomy categories that include computer manipulated and generated images, composite images, scientific illustrations, data visualizations, x-rays and CT scans will NOT be considered. However, submissions to the micro-imaging category ONLY can include micro-CT x-ray scans.
12. Images must not be false-colored.

Prize:

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the competition, the overall winner will receive £1,000 and the category winners will each win £500.  As well as an overall winner, a category winner and runner up will be selected for each category.