Photo

The organizer and the right holder of the Golden Turtle Contest, exhibitions and all facilities and events related thereto is the MY EQUATOR Charity Social Support Fund.

Anyone may submit his/her works to participate in the competition, except for the competition organizers and the professional jury members. Authors from any countries can participate in the contest without restrictions. The official competition languages are Russian and English.

Decisions to award the Semi-Finalist, Finalist or Winner statuses to artwork shall be made by members of the Professional Jury and the Jury of Peers and may not be appealed.

Basic Concepts

Author (photographer) shall mean a person who made a photograph and presents his/her work to the competition, has full copyrights and powers to decide on all organizational issues related to the participation of the work in the competition.

Photography (work, picture, image) shall mean a picture taken by a photocamera that complies with the competition conditions and is owned by the author.

Graphics editor shall mean any computer program (Adobe Photoshop, Apertura, CorelPhoto-Paint, etc.) that was applied for the digital processing of a photograph.

RAW. The RAW format shall mean any data obtained directly from a matrice without processing. This format shall confirm the authenticity and integrity of a frame. For any frames made by film cameras, an additional procedure for providing the original will be announced.

THE "GOLDEN TURTLE" INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE FESTIVAL ETHICAL STANDARDS 

Based on the ethical code of the International League of Concervation Photographers (ILCP)

We believe that all the participants of the GOLDEN TURTLE International Wildlife Festival and its photo contest should put ethical treatment of nature and animals in the center of their art. We encourage each author to be an example and a rolemodel for ethical behavior and professionalism for other photographers and wildlife lovers.

To achieve the goals of the Festival and its creative competitions, the following ETHICAL STANDARDS were adopted:

1. Minimal possible interference in the life of animals and their habitats

We always place the welfare of our subjects above all else. Key to this is the maintenance of safe, informed and responsible working distances and minimizing our impact on the landscape by following the “Leave No Trace – Pack It In, Pack it Out” ethic that maintains the integrity and character of the places we work.

2. Use of Captive Animals

In some cases, photographing captive animals can be a valuable source of rare imagery that can be valuable for specific conservation goals. However, the use of captive animals must be governed by the same ethical considerations as elsewhere:

• The welfare of the animal should be paramount.
• Any institution that exploits animals solely for profit should not be utilized or supported.
• Images of captive animals will be honestly and accurately captioned and never represented as wild.

3. Digital Manipulation

Image manipulation must never alter essential content in such a way that it either misrepresents actual events, or deceives the intended audience, in any context in which the truth of the image is assumed. 

Creative manipulation, when performed, must be fully disclosed to the end user.

4. Truth in Captioning

Photographs deliver information, which should be both accurate and honest. Inaccurate or dishonest captioning reduces the effectiveness of the image as a tool for conservation, subverts its message and undermines public trust.

The authors and the works shall be registered at the Golden Turtle Competition web-site in the respective section by a special form. 

Carrying out the Registration procedure by filling out a web form on the website http://www.wncontest.ru/, the Participant confirms that he has read and agrees to the terms of the Consent to the processing of personal data and has accepted the obligations indicated therein.

The author shall complete the registration procedure, then he/she is given a login and a password that are sent to the e-mail address specified in the course of registration.

Then, the author may begin to upload his/her own artwork, edit it, delete it, etc.

To participate in the competition, the author shall provide the following information on his/her work:

• Author's name;
• Description of the shooting conditions containing no less than a 200 symbols (the shooting idea, features of interest, difficulties of the process, specific behaviour of the subject);
• Story related to the photo no less than a 300 symbols (how the shooting went, the preparation process, something emotional that happened on the day of shooting, the story associated with the object of shooting, a funny story associated with this shot)
  
• Description of the device used (the camera model, the lens, the name of any other equipment may be specified optionally);
• The shooting parameters (optical exposure, aperture, photo sensibility, etc.);
• The species of the animal in the picture.

• The author may submit to the competition no more than 20 works.
• One photograph may be presented in one category only.  
• No images of pets and livestock (cats, dogs, mice, rabbits, sheep, horses and other domesticated animals) are accepted to participate in the competition.
• Laureates, winners of other competitions can participate in the competition, but will not be able to participate in prize final voting.
• Frames from the video are not accepted to participate in the competition.
• Focus stacking is permissible.
  

In case a work becomes a semi-finalist, the work shall be assigned the semi-finalist status and the author shall be sent an email of the status assignment and a request to submit the RAW file and the large format of the file submitted to the competition, specially prepared for printing.

The files shall be submitted within 10 calendar days from the date of sending the respective letter.

The author shall provide the organizers with the files through a special form in his/her personal online account.

If it is not possible to prepare a quality image for the exhibition, the work shall not be displayed but shall remain a finalist.

A work shall not be accepted to participate in the Golden Turtle Photo Contest, if:

• The work does not meet the requirements specified in these Regulations;
• The experts, the jury members and the organizers have a reason to believe that the picture was taken by cruel and unethical methods of treating animals;  
• The work description includes foul language;  
• The frame is a compilation of several frames (except for cross-linked panoramic pictures allowed in the Landscape category);
• Shooting was made in a zoo or other similar places (except for the Man and Nature category);
• The presented frame is an awardee/winner of other major wildlife photography competitions.

The competition organizers reserve the right not to accept any works that are not of a certain qualitative and technical level, without specifying a reason.

The author should be the right holder of the works they submit. By submitting their works to the Golden Turtle competition, the author agrees with the terms and conditions of the Lisence Agreement.

The participant warrants that his/her work does not infringe intellectual rights of any third parties. In case any third parties make any claims, the participant shall be fully liable for his/her work.

Exhibition copies that are printed at the expense of the Golden Turtle Competition organizers for displaying at the exhibition shall remain with the organizers and may be used by them for the statutory activities of the MY EQUATOR Charity Social Support Fund.

The Photographer of the year

The Photographer of the year receives a cash prize in the equivalent of 150,000 Russian rubles, a glass trophy, a diploma, an album with all the finalists of the competition and prizes from partners.

Winner in the adult categories

The winners in the adult categories receive a cash prize in the equivalent of 75,000 Russian rubles, a glass trophy, a diploma, an album with all the finalists of the competition and prizes from partners.

Winner in the young categories

The winners in the young categories receive a glass trophy, a diploma, an album with all the finalists of the competition and prizes from partners.

Stage 1 — Registration of works

Done by: the administration of the photo contest; online

Timeframe: from December 01, 2024 until March 31, 2025                     

Rules: Done based on the approved and published standards (see: http://www.wncontest.ru/en/photo/rules/). All selected works receive the REGISTERED status (a.k.a. accepted into the competition)

Deliverable: an image bank of registered artworks

Stage 2 — Preliminary selection

Done by: the members of the Jury of Peers; online

Timeframe: April 1 - 30, 2025                     

Rules:

• The Jury of Peers is formed from the competition finalists of the past years, as well as the experts, who have declined the offer to join the professional jury, and preferred to submit their artwork to the contest as participants
• Participation in the Jury of Peers does not prevent the members from submitting their artwork to the contest as participants
• The assessment is based on a 3-point scale and is carried out in the member’s private online account
• The highest and lowest scores for each photo are not included in the final score 
• The members of the Jury of Peers have an opportunity to change their assessments during the entire pre-selection period
• The members of the Jury of Peers do not have the opportunity to evaluate their own photos. Instead, the average score from the ratings of this photo of other members of the Jury of Peers is added to the score
• Based on the assessment results, the system automatically generates a rating list in each category out of the works. Based on the target number of quarter-finalist works for evaluation by members of the professional jury (the decision is made annually by the organizers of the Festival), a "passing score" is established in every category
• The selected works receive the QUARTERFINALISTS status
• The organizers of the Festival may decide to change the category for the works that received the highest score (in the event that the author was mistaken with the choice of the category).

Deliverable: an image bank of the quarterfinalists in each category, published in the professional jury members’ private online accounts

Stage 3 — QUARTERFINAL

Done by: the members of the professional jury; online

Timeframe: May 1 - 10, 2025                     

Rules:

• A professional jury (5 to 11 people) is formed out of professional photographers, winners and runner-ups of international photo contests
• Participation in the professional jury does not allow its members to participate in the competition as authors by submitting their artwork
• Members of the professional jury vote for works that, in their opinion, deserve to be in the final
• The number of votes from members of the professional jury is published in the personal accounts of the participants
• Works that receive at least one vote from members of the professional jury advance to the semi-finals
• The selected works receive the SEMIFINALISTS status; authors are notified of the status update and receive a request to provide the full-size files (original artwork), the source files (RAW files) and the text descriptions of their works. All information received is published in the professional jury members’ private online accounts 

Deliverable: an image bank of the semifinalists in each categoty, published in the professional jury members’ private online accounts

Stage 4 — SEMIFINAL

Done by: the members of the professional jury; online

Timeframe: May 21 - 31, 2025                     

Rules:

• The assessment is based on a 5-point scale and is carried out in the member’s private online accounts 
• The highest and lowest scores for each photo are not included in the final score
  
• The results of the assessment of each member of the professional jury are published in the member’s private online accounts of the contest semifinalists (the authors can only see the scores of the their own artwork)
• Based on the target number of finalists for exhibiting during the Festival (the decision is made annually by the organizers of the Festival), a "passing score" is established in every category 

Deliverable: the preliminary list of the finalists (200-250 photos), published in the expert commission member’s private online accounts

Stage 5 — ADDITIONAL CHEK BY THE EXPERT COMMISSION

Timeframe: June 1 - 10, 2025                     

Rules:

• All works in each category that have received a "passing score" and above undergo an additional check by the expert commission of well-known biologists and experts in the field of professional photo processing (2-3 people) to establish compliance with the ethical standards of interaction with the subject of photography and non-excessive use of photo editing software.
• After passing this verification, all works in each category that have received a "passing score" and above become the finalists.
• The authors are notified of the status update; the works are published in the professional jury member’s private online accounts without the scores assigned during the previous stages of selection.

Deliverable: the list of the finalists (200-250 photos), published in the professional jury member’s private online accounts

Stage 6 — FINAL

Done by: by members of the professional jury; online

Timeframe: June 11 - 15, 2025                         

Rules:

• The winners are determined through the use of the double-rating system.
• Each of the members of the professional jury forms their personal TOP-3 rating of the best works in each category (1st place = 3 points, 2nd place = 2 points, 2rd place = 1 point).
• The system automatically selects one work in each category that has scored the maximum number of points based on the results of the voting by members of the professional jury, and separately the work that has been in the TOP-3 best more often than others. If the work tops both ratings, it becomes the winner of the category. In the event that different works top these ratings, an additional vote is held by all members of the professional jury only between the works that claim victory
• The work receives a highly commended mark if it received 3 votes from members of the professional jury in categories where up to 10 works reached the final; if it received 2 votes from members of the professional jury in categories where 11 to 20 works reached the final; if it received 1 vote from members of the professional jury in categories where 21 or more works reached the final
• Authors of works that win in one or more categories are nominated for the title of Photographer of the Year. For works that win in a category, applicants receive 5 points for each work that wins in the final; for works that receive a highly commended mark, applicants receive 2 points for each work that receives a highly commended mark; for works that make it to the final, applicants receive 1 point for each work that makes it to the final. The author with the highest number of points becomes the Photographer of the Year. In case of a tie among applicants, an additional vote is held by all members of the professional jury

Deliverable: a list of winners and works with a highle commended mark in each category, as well as the name of the Photographer of the Year, published in the personal accounts of the members of the professional jury

Stage 7 — Special categories

Done by:  the partners of the Festival, who have established special categories

Timeframe: June 16 - September 30, 2025                         

Rules:

• The partners of the Festival, who have opted for an appropriate sponsorship package, has the right to establish their own categories (upon approval from the organizers of the Festival)
• After the final selections are finished by the members of the professional jury, the partners of the Festival get access to all the finalists that did not become winners in the basic categories and pick the works they wish to award (the level of access depends on the category)

Deliverable: an additional list of winners in the special categories