Content Guidelines
Nature photography records all branches of natural history except anthropology and archaeology. This includes all aspects of the physical world, both over water and underwater.
Nature images must convey the truth of the scene. A well-informed person should be able to identify the subject of the image and be satisfied that it has been presented honestly and that no unethical practices have been used to control the subject or capture the image. Images that directly or indirectly show any human activity threatening a living organism's life or welfare are not allowed.
The most important part of a Nature image is the nature story it tells. High technical standards are expected, and the image must look natural.
• Objects created by humans, and evidence of human activity, are allowed in Nature images only when they are a necessary part of the Nature story.
• Photographs of human-created hybrid plants, cultivated plants, feral animals, domesticated animals, human-created hybrid animals, and mounted or preserved zoological specimens are not allowed.
• Photographs made where the scene is natural and the animal is unharmed in a carefully managed environment, such as Zoo, rescue centers, and ethically managed natural environment farms are permitted.
• Attracting or controlling subjects through the use of food or sound for the purpose of photographing them is not allowed. Maintained situations such as provided supplemental food due to hardship caused by weather conditions or other conditions beyond the animals' control, where photography is incidental to the feeding of the animal does not fall under this provision.
• Controlling live subjects by chilling, anaesthetic, or any other method of restricting natural movement for a photograph is not allowed.
• Human-made elements shall be permitted under the following circumstances:
a) When they are an integral part of the nature story, such as a songbird singing atop a fence post a manmade object used as nest material, or a weather phenomenon destroying a man-made structure.
b) When they are a small but unavoidable part of the scene, such as an unobtrusive footprint or track in the background.
c) Scientific tags, collars, and bands are specifically allowed.
When photographing at a zoo, sanctuary, or rehabilitation centre, it would be construed that the photographer ensured that it’s properly accredited and conforms to best practices.
Allowed editing techniques:
• Cropping, straightening and perspective correction
• Removal or correction of elements added by the camera or lens, such as dust spots, noise, chromatic aberration and lens distortion
• Global and selective adjustments such as brightness, hue, saturation and contrast to restore the appearance of the original scene
• Complete conversion of colour images to grayscale monochrome
• Blending of multiple images of the same subject and combining them in camera or with software (exposure blending or focus stacking)
• Image stitching - combining multiple images with overlapping fields of view that are taken consecutively (panoramas).
Editing techniques that are not allowed:
• Removing, adding to, moving or changing any part of an image, except for cropping and straightening.
• Adding a vignette during processing
• Blurring parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene
• Darkening parts of the image during processing to hide elements in the original scene
• All conversions other than to complete grayscale monochrome
Conversion of parts of an image to monochrome, or partial toning, desaturation or over-saturation of colour.
