Contest rules

1. Organizer

The contest is organized by WLIFE LLC (WLIFE). Contact: contact@wlife.bio.

2. Two kinds of contest

WLIFE runs a themed contest every month for WLIFE Club members, judged in three skill levels. Every six months, in months 6 and 12 after the WLIFE Club opens and so on, the big contest replaces the monthly contest: it has its own theme, is open to everyone, members or not, and its entries are paid separately. Each contest page states its kind, its theme, its dates and its prizes.

3. Who can enter

The monthly contest is open to WLIFE Club members only, who use the entries included in their membership and, to enter more photographs, credits bought in their member area. The big contest is open to everyone with a WLIFE account, members or not. You need a verified email address, and taking part must be lawful where you live. WLIFE staff, jury members and their households cannot enter. Entrants who are minors where they live need the consent of a parent or guardian. Young photographer contests are open only to entrants aged 17 or under on the closing date; WLIFE may ask for proof of age.

Paid entries, credits and included Club entries are not available to residents of: France, Spain, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and United States (Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska, North Dakota).

4. Entries and credits

Monthly contest (Club members only): members get entries included each calendar month (Club: 5, Lifetime: 10); unused entries do not carry over. Members can enter more photographs with credits, sold in packs of 1, 5 or 10 in their member area. Credits never expire. Included entries are used first, then credits. Big contest: entries are bought for that contest only, at the price shown on its page; Club entries and credits do not apply. An entry withdrawn before the closing date gives back what it used. How an entry is paid for never changes how it is judged.

5. Skill levels

Each monthly contest is judged in three levels, separately, with winners in each. Beginner: you started wildlife photography within the past 12 months. Intermediate: you shoot in manual mode and control your exposure. Advanced: you have mastered your camera and make consistent, dramatic work. You choose your level on each entry and explain your choice in a sentence. The jury may move an entry to the level that fits it. The big contest has no levels.

6. How to enter

Enter from your member space: choose a photograph, give it a title, answer the declarations and accept these rules. Up to 10 photographs per member in each contest. You can edit or withdraw an entry until the closing date.

7. Your photograph

The photograph must be your own work, and you must own all rights in it. It must not show an identifiable person without their consent.

8. Wild animals and ethics

Only wild, free animals may be entered: no captive, farmed, rehabilitated, trained or staged animals, and no baiting or luring with food, live prey or decoys. The welfare of the animal comes before the photograph: no handling, chilling or restraining, no disturbance of nests, dens, roosts or young, and no drone near a nest, a roost or a breeding colony. Never reveal where a sensitive species lives: give a region, never a precise site or coordinates. Local laws and permits apply.

9. Editing

Moderate editing is allowed: exposure, tone, color, contrast, white balance, sharpening, noise reduction, dust removal, conversion to black and white, and a moderate crop or straightening. Not allowed: cloning or healing beyond sensor dust, adding, moving or removing anything, composites, blends of several frames, and borders, frames or watermarks. WLIFE may ask for the original file (RAW or out-of-camera JPEG) and disqualify an entry that departs too far from it.

10. Artificial intelligence

Images made, extended or changed with generative AI are not allowed, in whole or in part. Nor are tools that invent detail, such as AI upscaling, generative fill or sky replacement. Noise reduction and masking that work only on what is already in the photograph are allowed.

11. Judging

Judging is blind: the jury never sees the photographer's name. It is made up of published wildlife photographers chosen by WLIFE, who score each eligible entry from 1 to 10 on impact, technique, story and ethics. In the monthly contest, each level is judged separately. Shortlisted entries are checked against these rules, and their photographers receive detailed written feedback from the jury. The jury chooses the winners, any highly commended entries and the shortlist. Club members can watch a live critique of the monthly winners.

12. The big contest

The big contest runs every six months, in months 6 and 12 after the WLIFE Club opens and so on, in place of the monthly contest, and is usually open for about three months. It is open to everyone with a WLIFE account, members or not. Entries are paid separately, at the price shown on the contest page, and are not included in any membership. A contest may limit the number of entrants: entries then close when that number is reached or on the closing date, whichever comes first. Photographers who have already won an international or national photography contest cannot enter. The editing rules are applied strictly, and finalists must send their original files.

13. Disqualification

WLIFE may disqualify an entry at any time, including after the results, when a declaration is false, these rules are not met, or the original file is not provided within 7 days of a request. The entrant sees the reason in their member space.

14. Prizes

$•••• · $••• · $••Prizes announced with each contest

Prizes are announced with each contest, on its own page, before entries close. Winners are contacted at the email address of their account.

15. Copyright and license

You keep the copyright of your photograph. By entering, you grant WLIFE a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display your entry, always with your name: on wlife.bio and in the WLIFE magazine for the results, and on wlife.bio, in The WLIFE Dispatch and on WLIFE's social media accounts to promote the contest, for 24 months after the results. WLIFE will not sell your photograph or license it to anyone else. Before the results, your entry is shown publicly only if you choose so.

16. Your data

WLIFE uses your account details and your entry to run the contest: to check eligibility, to judge, to contact you and to publish the results. Your email address is never published. Location data is removed from every upload. Jury scores and notes stay internal. More in our privacy policy.

17. General

WLIFE may cancel or change the contest if it cannot run as planned and will say so on the contest page. These rules apply together with the terms of use. Questions: contact@wlife.bio.