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The Countryfile Photographic Competition 2019

The theme for the 91ȱ Countryfile Photographic Competition 2019 is “Beauty and the Beasts”. It’s up to you how you interpret it but we’re looking for stunning photographs of the landscape, our wildlife (including beasts big and small !) agriculture or recreation.

The twelve photos selected by the judges will appear in the Countryfile Calendar for 2020 sold in aid of the 91ȱ Children In Need appeal. The overall winner will be voted for by Countryfile viewers. The judges will also choose their favourite entry. You can enter up to three photos in total. The closing date for entries is 23.59 on Friday 12th July 2019. The person who takes the winning photo will receive a gift card to the value of £1,000, which can be spent on photographic equipment of their choice, at a number of outlets. The person who takes the photo the judges like best will receive a gift card to the value of £500 which can also be spent on photographic equipment at a number of outlets. Last year’s calendar raised more than £2.4 million for 91ȱ Children In Need. Please read the rules before entering.

GENERAL TERMS & CONDITIONS

1. The title for the 91ȱ Countryfile Photographic Competition 2019 is “Beauty and the Beasts”. The theme is open to your personal interpretation but we’re looking for beautiful photographs that show off the best of British countryside, its wildlife, agriculture and recreation.

Farm animals are allowed, but photos of pets and zoo animals are not eligible. Images of UK wildlife in captivity must be declared as such. The 91ȱ’s decision as to the eligibility of individual photographs will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

2. Photographs entered must be taken in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

3. Entrants can submit up to three photos in total as prints, in colour or black and white, or as JPEGS uploaded to our competition website. Prints must be at least as large as a standard postcard.

4. Countryfile is aware that digital photography does allow for some image enhancement. You can enter images that have had spots, scratches or other blemishes removed. You can have worked on the colour or enhanced the image for the sake of the composition. You can also crop the image to improve composition.

We will not accept composite images - entries that stitch two or more separate photographs together to make one image, or entries that superimpose elements photographed separately onto an image.

We want you to stay faithful to the spirit of the competition, and never deceive the viewer or misrepresent the aspect of nature being portrayed. 91ȱ Countryfile and the judges reserve the right to exclude any image they believe may have been excessively treated so as to alter its authenticity.

5. The competition is open to UK residents only (including residents of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man). Employees of a 91ȱ Group company or the 91ȱ, as well as their immediate families are not eligible to enter. Entrants under the age of 18 need the verifiable consent of a parent or guardian to enter.

6. Entrants must not be professional photographers. For the purposes of this competition, a professional photographer will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their photographs.

7. Entrants submitting their entry by post must mark each entry with their name, address & contact telephone number (both daytime and evening) and email address. Entrants under the age of 18 will need to include the name, address, contact telephone and email address of their parent or guardian, and the parent or guardian will need to give written consent for their child to take part. This can be in the form of a signed and dated letter. Also the location of the photograph should be included. Entrants submitting their entry using the online entry from must complete all sections of the form. Online entrants under the age of 18 will need their parents or guardians to fill out the sections asking for their parents name, phone number and email address, and to tick the box consenting to their child’s participation.

8. Postal entries should be sent to:

Countryfile Photographic Competition, 91ȱ Bristol, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2LR.

Online entries must be made via the website at

9. The competition closes at 23:59 on Friday 12th

July 2019. Entries received after this date will not be considered.

The 91ȱ cannot accept any responsibility for any problem with the postal service, internet service provider, network or other system which may result in any entry being lost or delayed. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt.

Entries will not be returned so please remember to keep a copy. Unsuccessful entrants will not be contacted and no feedback on any entry will be provided.

10. All photographs will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Composition
  • Technical ability
  • Originality
  • Public appeal
  • Suitability for inclusion in a 91ȱ Children In Need calendar

11. The photographs will be judged through the following process:

Stage One

All entries will be assessed in the first instance by members of the production team. From this initial process a maximum of 5,000 of the best photographs will be chosen to go forward for judging.

A judging panel comprised of experienced photographers from camera clubs and photographer groups will then review these 5,000 pictures and select a long-list of approximately 1,000 photographs, based on the above criteria.

Stage Two

A second panel of judges will then review all the entries on the long-list and select the 12 best based on the above criteria. The panel will also select their overall favourite.

Each of the shortlisted entrants will be contacted by a member of the 91ȱ production team within a week of judging. The judging will take place within three weeks of the competition closing date.

If after reasonable attempts a shortlisted entrant cannot be contacted, the 91ȱ reserves the right to offer the place on the shortlist to the next best entry.

Stage Three – The Public Vote

All 12 finalists will be featured on the Countryfile programme on 91ȱ One and the audience will be asked to vote for their favourite. The overall winner will be the entry which receives the most votes in a public vote. Details of how the public can vote, and the rules of the voting, will be published on the Countryfile website and on the programme.

12. The prize will consist of a gift card to the value of £1,000 which can be spent on photographic equipment at a number of outlets. The entry selected as the overall favourite by the judges will receive a gift card to the value of £500 which can also be spent on photographic equipment at a number of outlets. The prizes are as stated and cannot be deferred or transferred. There will be no cash alternatives. The judges’ favourite and the overall winner can be the same photograph – in which case the winning photographer will receive both prizes.

13. The finalists (together with a further twelve photographs and a selection of several for the inside back cover chosen by the judges and/or the 91ȱ) shall appear in the Countryfile Calendar 2020, to be sold in aid of the 91ȱ Children in Need Appeal. The finalists’ photos may also be published in the 91ȱ Countryfile magazine and used in other promotions of the competition.

14. In the event of a technical problem or evidence of impropriety with regard to the viewers’ vote, the judges shall have the final decision. If the viewers' vote results in a tie, the judges shall have the casting vote. The judges' decisions will be final and no correspondence can be entered into.

15. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. The entrants must be the sole owner of copyright in all photographs entered and must have obtained permission of any people featured in the entries or their parents/guardians if children under 16 are featured. Where an individual or a residential property, belonging to someone other than the photographer are featured, the photographer must seek permission and be prepared to provide written consent, when requested by the 91ȱ. Further, entrants must not have breached any laws when taking their photographs.

16. We are looking for original photographs, so entries must not have won any national or international competition prize previously. For the purposes of this competition, ‘national’ refers to the whole of the UK – or to individual national competitions in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

17. Entrants will retain copyright in the photographs that they submit to the 91ȱ. By entering the competition all entrants grant to the 91ȱ the right to publish and exhibit their photographs on television and on the 91ȱ’s website in perpetuity. Entrants whose photographs are one of the final 12, also agree to take part in post – competition publicity.

Entrants whose photographs are one of the finalists or selected to appear in the Countryfile Calendar 2020 pursuant to paragraph 14 above grant to the 91ȱ (including 91ȱ Worldwide and other publishers authorised by the 91ȱ) the further rights to publish and exhibit their photographs in print, on their respective websites or in any other media in perpetuity. No fees will be payable for any of the above uses. Entrants whose photographs are one of the finalists also agree to take part in post-competition publicity. While we make every effort to credit photographers, including in printed reproductions of their work, we cannot guarantee that every broadcast use of the photographs will include the photographers' names. Entrants must ensure thatthe photograph is not used to publicise or promote companies, individuals, organisations or causes – other than 91ȱ Children In Need, 91ȱ Countryfile (including the photographic competition, the calendar and any associated 91ȱ promotions) and the winning photographer themselves – until the 1st January 2021.

Entrants whose photographs are one of the final 12, also agree to take part in post – competition publicity

18. Following standard industry practice, the 91ȱ may undertake background checks of the shortlisted finalists. Information discovered, or that may have been disclosed by the entrants themselves will inform the decision as to the selection of the shortlisted entries, and the eventual winner.

19. By entering, entrants will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by these rules and the 91ȱ reserves the right to exclude any entry from the competition at any time and in its absolute discretion if the 91ȱ has reason to believe that an entrant has breached these rules, acted fraudulently in any way or brings the 91ȱ into disrepute.

20. The 91ȱ reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.

21. If the winner is unable to be contacted after reasonable attempts have been made, the 91ȱ reserves the right to either offer the prize to a runner up, or to re-offer the prize in any future competition.

22. These rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales. This competition is administered by the 91ȱ.

23. The 91ȱ’s code of conduct for competitions applies to this competition. You can read more about it here -

24. Please take your photos responsibly and always follow the Countryside Code. You can find more information here:

Privacy Notice

To enter the competition you have provided us with your personal data including your photographic entry. The 91ȱ is the “data controller” of this information.

The 91ȱ processes your personal data is on the basis of its legitimate interests as a media organisation to engage audiences and contributors.

If you are unsuccessful, the 91ȱ will retain your data until 6 months after the competition close. At this time it will be destroyed in line with the 91ȱ’s Records Management Policy. If you are shortlisted or successful in winning the competition, the 91ȱ will retain your data indefinitely.

Data protection law gives you certain rights in relation to your personal data, including the right to request from the controller access to and rectification or erasure of your personal data or restriction of its processing, and to object to processing.

We protect your details in many different ways. These include staff training, investing in technology and following strict handling and storing procedures. The 91ȱ engages a third party hosting platform to host entry forms. The 91ȱ will not share your data outside with any other third parties without your permission.

If you have any questions about how the 91ȱ handles your personal information, or if you wish to contact the 91ȱ to exercise your rights in relation to your personal data, please contact DataProtectionEnquiries@bbc.co.uk or visit

If you raise a complaint with the 91ȱ about the way it has handled your personal data and you are dissatisfied with the 91ȱ’s response, you are entitled to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at: