Local Artist Partners with the Community Services Department!
Photo taken by Evelyn Wilbur * edenluna.com

The City of West Covina’s Community Services Department is proud to partner with Bill Wilbur on a photography and creative writing contest, spanning several months. Mr. Wilbur is an artist and published author; his most recent western-themed novel is Saragosa, written for his father.

In an effort to recognize more local artists, Mr. Wilbur will assist the City with a large-scale photo and creative writing contest over the next several months. Now’s your chance to have your own work reviewed by a professional writer and photographer! For participation rules read below or call (626) 939-8430.

West Covina Artist Photography Contest

For information, call (626) 939-8430.

The City extends an open invitation for West Covina residents to participate in an on-going photography contest for youth and adults. Each month the contest themes will be posted (see themes below), and winners will be selected. Judges will include local artist Bill Wilbur and members of the West Covina City Council. Both amateur and professional photographers are welcome to participate.

Winning contestants will receive a certificate of recognition from the West Covina City Council. Photos must be submitted in digital format and sent to artist@westcovina.org; see contest rules for details.

No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win

Photo Eligibility
To enter, you must be a West Covina resident capable of proving residency (utility bill/license etc), and age if necessary. The photo subject must be relevant to the monthly theme and submitted by the last day of the corresponding month. All entries must be submitted as digital images.

Photographer/Copyright
Entries must be submitted by the original photographer. Do not submit a photo taken by someone other than yourself. You must be the sole owner of the copyright of any image submitted. Your submission of the photo and entry form is your guarantee that you are the author and copyright holder of the photo.

Number of Entries
An individual may submit only one photo per theme per monthly contest-according to the appropriate age category.

Photo Subject Restrictions
Photos must be appropriate for posting on a public government website. Obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable content will not be considered. The City of West Covina retains sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content. Photos containing recognizable people must submit a typed statement in the body of their email, explaining who is photographed in the image and confirming that the individual has given approval to use their image.

Ownership/Use Rights
Photographers retain the copyright to their photographs. By entering the contest, photographers agree to have their submitted photograph used in City publications, including the City’s website without any fee or other form of compensation, and agree that the City may make and retain copies of the photograph for archival purposes. Photos will be credited to the photographer named in the entry form. Entries (including nonwinning entries) may be selected for use in City publications/website at the City’s discretion. In the event that ownership of any photograph submitted to the City of West Covina is contested in any manner, the City retains the discretion to disqualify that photograph and discontinue use of the photograph.

How to Enter
Digital photos may be submitted to artist@westcovina.org. Each entry must include the full name, age, address, and telephone number for the individual responsible for taking the photograph. Applicants needs to submit their entry under the appropriate category: Youth (ages 10-17) or Adult (ages 18+). The category of submission is meant to correspond with the age of the photographer.

Judging
Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, photographic quality, and effectiveness in conveying the monthly theme of the contest category. The panel will judge the entries and all contest decisions are final. Entries that fail to comply with the Official Contest Rules will be disqualified. The panel will include published author Bill Wilbur and members of the West Covina City Council or their designees.

Winners
Judges will select one winning photo, per age category, for each of the monthly contests. At the discretion of the panel, one or more honorable mention winners may be selected. Winners will be notified approximately 2-3 weeks after the contest deadline by phone and email using the information collected in the submission. No financial compensation is provided to winners.

Submitting Digital Images
Digital images should be submitted to artist@westcovina.org. Images should be formatted to 72 dpi, no larger than 600 by 450 pixels and no smaller than 450 by 338 pixels. Panoramic photos are not eligible. Images should be submitted in JPG (at high quality) or TIFF format. File sizes must be less than 500K per image. Images will not be returned.

Image Modifications:
Minor digital enhancement is permitted, but images that have been significantly modified or appear unnatural will be disqualified.

• No borders or frames may be added to images.
• No watermarks, signatures, or copyright notices may be added to images. All winning images will be displayed with the photographer’s name.
• Adding or replacing elements in an image is not permitted.
• Artistic filters are not permitted.

• Images may be cropped and rotated as necessary as long as the rectangular format is maintained and the size is within the specifications above.
• Images may be resized as long as the aspect ratio is maintained
• Red-eye removal and spot editing
• One-step enhancement (such as “AutoFix”, “QuickFix”, “Auto Levels”, etc.)
• Use of filters to sharpen, soften, blur, despeckle, or remove noise.
• Use of corrective functions to improve the natural appearance of the image, such as levels, contrast, brightness, curves, intensity, tone, hue, saturation, lightness, value, color balance, and tint.

Additional Terms and Conditions
The City of West Covina (the City) is not responsible for computer system, hardware, software, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, or delayed computer transactions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Furthermore, the City is not responsible for: (i) lost, misdirected, misplaced, illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, or late entries or (ii) any act, failure to act, or delay regarding the transmitting or processing of entries. The City reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend all or any portion of this contest without notice if factors beyond the City’s control, including technical difficulties, disrupt or corrupt the fair or secure administration or operation of the contest. Void where prohibited. The City is entitled to interpret these rules as needed and its decisions are final. The City reserves the right to disqualify any entrant that the City has reason to believe is not the original work of entrant, or does not otherwise meet the contest rules. If a winner is disqualified or determined to be ineligible, an alternate winner will be selected using the same judging process/criteria described above. Alternate winners are subject to all requirements set forth in these Official Rules.

By participating in the contest, you agree to release and hold harmless the City and its employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind resulting from your participation in this contest, including infringement of intellectual property rights. The City and its employees, officers, affiliates, agents, and advertising and promotional agencies assume no responsibility or liability for any damages, injuries, claims, causes of actions, or losses of any kind arising in whole or in part from this contest.