2022 SLORRM Photo Contest

Updated July 1, 2022

This Photo Contest is being run in conjunction with the 2022 Central Coast Railroad Festival (CCRRF). You may submit photos (per the rules below) beginning now until the deadline (September 15, 2022). For more information about general Festival activities at the Museum, click here.

Through this contest, the SLO Railroad Museum is looking for photos with which to promote the Museum's mission of preserving the railroad history of the area. Winning photos will help elicit a desire to visit the Museum to see more. Photos should include railroad-related content from within the Central Coast of California (roughly San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County).

Winning photographs will be displayed at the Museum for a year beginning at the 2022 Central Coast Railroad Festival. A brief presentation will be made to winning photographers at the Museum on Saturday, October 8th, at 10:30am.

Many thanks to our 2022 Photo Contest sponsor: To Shiny Rails.

See the Photo Contest Winners.

Rules/Guidelines:

  • Updated: 8/2/2022.
  • SLORRM Photo Contest Judges may not submit photos to this contest.
  • Judging will be "blind," that is, the judges will not know whose photographs are whose.
  • Our three judges (Jamie Foster, Alan Upshaw, and Brent MacGregor) will be the sole determiners of the winners.
  • The entrant must be the photographer.
  • Submission is by email, and each email will contain: Name of the photographer/entrant, contact info, date taken, location taken, and a brief caption. The filename of the attached photo will include the photographer's/entrant's first and last name. Submittals are closed for 2022.
  • Contest entries must be received no later than September 15, 2022, at 5:00pm PDT.
  • All submissions must be digital files in a commonly used format (JPG, PNG, etc., no raw or proprietary formats). Images must be at least 3,000 pixels on each/both sides (minimum 3,000 pixel width AND minimum 3,000 pixel height). Photos not meeting the size requirements will not be considered.
  • Photographs may be in any color range from full color to black-and-white.
  • Photographs may be either vertical or horizontal format.
  • Entry into the contest is free.
  • Entrants may submit up to three (3) OF THEIR OWN photographs.
  • Photographs must be taken within the Central Coast of California (roughly San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County) and include railroad-related content. Through this contest, the SLORRM is looking for photos with which to promote the Museum's coverage of railroading in the area both historically and currently. Winning photos will help elicit a desire to visit the SLO Railroad Museum to see more.
  • Entrants must be 18 years of age or older.
  • There will be one first-place winner with a prize of $100, one second-place winner at $50, and one third-place winner given a free one-year membership to the Museum. SLORRM may choose to acknowledge Honorable Mentions with no cash prize or award.
  • By submitting your photograph to this SLORRM photo contest, you agree to the following:
    • You certify that you are the person who took the photograph(s) submitted here, that you own the copyrights to the Photographs, and that you have the authority to enter into this release.
    • You grant SLORRM the royalty-free and non-exclusive right to use your Photographs as follows: (i) on the SLORRM website (ii) for SLORRM posters, brochures, and activity guides (iii) in SLORRM electronic emails (iv) and in other internal or external marketing materials or media coordinated by the SLORRRM. You further waive the right to inspect or approve the final use of your Photographs by the SLORRM.
    • You understand that SLORRM will request additional permission from you before using your photographs for purposes other than listed above.
    • You will give SLORRM all copyright information for your photograph so that SLORRM can include the proper credit for published photographs, whenever possible.
  • Minor digital enhancement is permitted, including: cropping, red-eye removal, filters, corrective functions, and legitimate manipulations such as burning and dodging, brightness and contrast, color adjustments, saturation, stitching and cropping. In cases where a photograph moves into "digital art", the image might not be considered.
  • Entrants should not place borders or frames around their images, or place watermarks, signatures, dates, or copyright notices on their images.
  • SLORRM reserves the right to crop submitted photographs for display purposes, if necessary, and for other needs as required.
  • Entries that fail to comply with these guidelines will be disqualified.
  • SLORRM reserves the right to change these Photo Contest Guidelines as necessary.
  • SAFETY. The Museum is immediately adjacent to private railroad property. Photographers must respect all safety policies and right-of-way boundaries when photographing on or near railroad property anywhere, any time. Any photo that appears to have been taken while trespassing on the right-of-way or violating other railroad safety policies will be disqualified.
  • All winners including honorable mentions will be notified by October 1, 2022. Non-winners will not be notified.