• This competition is open to everyone resident in or holding an Australian or New Zealand passport, citizenship etc., EXCEPT the Marine Life category, which is open to everyone. Exceptions include all ADEX OZTek Show staff, judges and families of Staff and Judges.
• Images must have been taken underwater. You must have been in the water when taking the photo. (i.e. No pole cam shots). Over-under images accepted.
• All images must be, or have been, taken between October 2022 and January 31, 2025
• Entrants must be 15 years of age or older
  Note: If a winner is under the age of 18, the relevant prize will not be awarded until the winner’s parent or legal guardian agrees (in a form acceptable to the Promoters) to ensure the winner complied with these terms and conditions.
• ADEX OZTek Show is adopting the Conservation Rules established by EPIC®. Marine life should never be stressed or endangered for the sake of a photo. Conservation rules will apply to all entries, and decisions will be final. All photos must be taken in or around a water environment like an ocean, lake or pool.
  Entries suspected of exhibiting the following behaviour will be disqualified:
  • Divers visibly damaging the environment (e.g. gear dragging or kicking up sand)
  • Animals with signs of stress (e.g. puffed puffers, inking octopus)
  • Animals moved to an unnatural environment or risky location
  • Marine life being touched (e.g. coral polyps, seahorse tails)
  • Divers exhibiting poor buoyancy control
  • Entrants must be the sole author and owner of the copyright of all images entered and have a model agreement if a model has been used.
• Entries which have previously won 1st or 2nd places in any major national or international UWP competition will not be eligible.
• A winning image is defined as follows:
  • Any image placed 1st or 2nd in any contest that resulted in prizes worth $100 AUD or more.
  • Any image placed 1st or 2nd in a major photography contest (determined by judges).
  • Any image placed 1st or 2nd in any photo-of-the-year type contest. Photos of the day, week, or month, are fine, as long as they have not resulted in prizes worth $100 AUD or more.
  • Any single image that was part of a portfolio, but did not place as a single image, is eligible to be entered.
• Initial entries are limited to jpeg digital files maximum of 2500px on the longest side. Entries can consist of transparencies (35mm) taken with any lens configuration but need to be transferred to digital jpeg format. Images will be viewed on a large monitor and should be in the AdobeRGB 1998 or sRGB colour space.
• Winners will be asked to supply raw files or original jpg for manipulation verification & printing / display at ADEX OZTek Show 2025.
• Winning images will need to provide metadata.
• An image can only be assigned to one category per competition.
• All categories are subject to the same Digital Manipulation rules:

  Image Manipulation - Please note:

  a. Each category allows for the adjustment of brightness, contrast, colour, and sharpness.
  
  b. Cropping is allowed but entrants are advised to ensure their image has sufficient pixels to present well to the judges and for high quality exhibition printing. Entrants selected for final judging must be able to provide their finished files at 3500 pixels on the longest side.
  (Note: Initial entries submitted online are limited to a maximum of 2500 pixels on the longest side. However, if your images are selected for final judging and possible exhibition printing - each image needs to meet the minimum acceptable size for use in the exhibition - 3500 pixels on the longest edge).
  
  c. Limited removal of backscatter. This does not include adding any dust/scratches layers, removing divers, fish, bubbles, ropes or painting/burning the background of an image black. Removal of backscatter allowable (tone and contrast, burning, dodging, cropping, sharpening, noise reduction and minor cleaning work)
  
  d. Digital manipulation NOT allowed includes cloning, removal or moving of objects (e.g. fish) and other distractions. This photography contest is NOT a Photoshop contest, and all entries should represent reality. Cave, Wreck, Marine life, Marine life with Diver & Wide Angle Categories will not accept composite images (bending exposure in-camera or in post-processing, HDR, Focus).
   
• Before selecting winning entries, we reserve the right to audit your original RAW or JPG files. We will be requesting the metadata on winning images.
   
• To be eligible for entry, images must meet the following category criteria:
  • Wreck – an image taken of a wreck, or part thereof, with or without divers. Underwater images larger than a 7x 5 inch picture area.
  • Cave - an image taken inside a cave or cavern, with or without divers. Underwater images larger than a 7 x 5 inch picture area.
  • Marine Images with Diver – any underwater image featuring marine life with a diver or divers in the shot, where the focus is the marine life or environment. Underwater images larger than a 7 x 5 inch picture area.
  • Marine life / Wide Angle (International Category) – Must not include diver in the shot. Macro images will not be accepted in this category. Underwater images larger than a 7 x 5 inch picture area.
  • Macro & Super Macro Marine Life – Any underwater image of a 7 x 5 inch or smaller picture area.
     
• Photographic Competition: A limit of 3 images per category per entrant.
  No image may be entered in more than one category. Please be careful when selecting the category for your entries.
  Example: IF there is no marine life obvious in the Marine Life category, the image will not be included in the judging.
• Entry to Photographic Competition:
  $10 AUD per category or a $40 one-off entry fee which covers all six categories.
  Example: You can enter one category only for $10 and upload 3 images.
  Alternatively, you can enter all 5 categories for a maximum $40 and enter a total of 15 mages (3 images per category)
• All images are subject to the overall competition terms & conditions
• The judges and organisers’ decision on all matters relating to the competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Judges will be announced on the website closer to the event.
• Should the quality of entries fall below the standard required, the organisers reserve the right not to award prizes.
• Prizes* will be provided to each category winner and be shown separately on the website. Prizes are not transferable or redeemable as cash and need to be taken within the time specified by the provider.
• First place images (minimum) will be displayed at the ADEX OZTek Show ‘25 Photographic Exhibition in March 2025.
  * Prizes may take up to 6-8 months to be delivered depending on the prize and availability
• Image Copyright remains with the photographer; however, ADEX OZTek Show retain the right to publish the contest entries in print or online to congratulate or feature the winners and their respective images, and to promote future events. Winning images will be included in a press release for third party websites and publications in the context of congratulating and/or featuring the winners and winning images, and to promote future competitions. Strict guidelines requiring photo credit and specific one-time press release usage are issued along with the press release.
   
• CLOSING DATE: All entries & payment must be received by January 31st, 2025
• Registration and uploading of images will be via the website - https://ADEXoztek.com.au/Photography entrants can start to upload images from December 1 through to January 31, 2025
• Payment of registration and entries must be received by January 31, 2025 - the closing date of the competition.
   
• Registration, payment of entry fees:
  General Competition: AUD$10 per category or $40 for entry in all five categories.
• Web images should be sized no greater than 2500 pixels on their longest dimension. For correct colour reproduction we recommend participants use the Adobe sRGB colour space.
• Each images digital file must be named using the following format:
  Name of FirstName_LastName_CATEGORY_photo number
  
  Example: Jo-Bloggs_CAVE_1 / Jo-Bloggs_CAVE_2 / Jo-Bloggs_CAVE_3
  Jo-Bloggs_WRECK_1
  Jo-Bloggs__MARINE_WITH-DIVER_1
  Jo-Bloggs__MARINE_LIFE_1
  Jo-Bloggs__MACRO_1
   
• Submission of images in the ADEX OZTek 2025 Underwater Photo Competition implies you have read, understood, and accepted all of the competition rules.
• Image uploads will be available through the website https://www.adexoztek.com.au/Photography from December 1, 2025

Good luck, we look forward to enjoying your images.