Photo Contest Submission Criteria

THIS IS A SUMMARY OF SUBMISSION CRITERIA FOR RCRC’s TENTH ANNUAL RURAL COUNTY PHOTO CONTEST. SEE THE OFFICIAL RULES FOR COMPLETE DETAILS.

Submissions must be received between Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at 8:00 A.M. Pacific Time (PT) and no later than 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday, July 31, 2026. Entries may be submitted online at www.rcrcnet.org/photo-contest or by email to photocontest@rcrcnet.org.

By entering the contest, participants agree to the Official Rules and acknowledge that all decisions made by RCRC are final. By submitting a photograph, entrants grant RCRC permission to use the image in publications, marketing materials, social media, and on its website without compensation or further consideration.

Entry Limit: Up to three (3) photographs per participant.

File Requirements:

• High-resolution digital image (minimum 300 dpi)
• .jpg, .jpeg, or .png format
• Maximum file size of 10 MB per image

Each submission must include:

• The location where the photograph was taken, including the California county
• Photographer’s full name
• Photographer’s email address

Submitted photographs must:

• Be the original work of the entrant
• Be taken within one of RCRC’s 40 member counties
• Not contain text, watermarks, logos, or other graphic overlays
• Not contain content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, hateful, sexually explicit, or otherwise inappropriate, as determined by RCRC
• Include a signed release for any recognizable individuals appearing in the image, or for any intellectual property owned by another party that is prominently depicted
• Comply with RCRC’s artificial intelligence policy

Artificial Intelligence Policy

The use of generative artificial intelligence to create, add, remove, or materially alter image content is prohibited. Entries must accurately represent the original scene as photographed. AI-assisted or software-based adjustments are permitted only for minor enhancements, such as exposure, color correction, cropping, sharpening, or noise reduction, provided they do not change the factual content of the image. RCRC reserves the right to disqualify any submission suspected of containing prohibited AI-generated or substantially AI-altered content and may request original image files to verify authenticity.

VIEW OFFICIAL RULES