Last updated: 6 October 2026
1. Overview
The Shoot The Frame Awards (“Awards”) are operated by Tiny Design & Co. Pty Ltd trading as Shoot The Frame (“Organiser”, “we”, “us”, “our”).
By submitting an entry, you agree to these Terms and Conditions, the competition Rules, and our Privacy Policy.
2. Eligibility
The Awards are open worldwide to amateur and professional photographers.
Entrants under 18 must have the permission of a parent or legal guardian to enter. Where an entrant is under 18, their parent or guardian is taken to have approved the entry and these Terms and Conditions on their behalf where required by law.
You warrant that each submitted work is your original creation and that you have all rights, permissions and releases reasonably required to enter the work and grant the licence set out in Section 5.
Employees, contractors and judges directly involved in administering or judging the Awards, together with their immediate families, are not eligible to enter. Employees of prize partners who are directly involved in judging or administering a prize may also be ineligible.
3. Entry Fees & Categories
One Frame
A single photographic portrait judged as a standalone work.
Fees:
- 1 Photo — USD $17
- 3 Photos — USD $27
- 7 Photos — USD $37
Photo Essay
A cohesive series of up to 15 portrait photographs judged as one entry.
Fee: Up to 15 Photos — USD $49
Multiple entries are permitted and there is no maximum number of entries per participant.
Entry fees are non-refundable except as provided in Section 9.
4. Key Dates
All dates and times are in Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) unless otherwise stated.
Submissions open: [2026 DATE]
Submission deadline: [2026 DATE]
Winners announced: [FEBRUARY 2027 DATE]
Submission deadlines and timekeeping are determined by the Organiser’s systems (“server time”).
5. Copyright & Licence
You retain full copyright in your submitted work.
By entering, you grant the Organiser a perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, reproduce, publish, display and, where reasonably necessary, resize, crop or otherwise make minor formatting adjustments to submitted images for the purposes of:
- administering and judging the Awards;
- announcing and showcasing Winners, Finalists and Honourable Mentions;
- maintaining Shoot The Frame’s historical archive and galleries; and
- promoting Shoot The Frame and the Awards.
Submitted images will not be sold as standalone works or commercially relicensed to third parties by Shoot The Frame.
Photographer credit will be provided wherever reasonably practicable.
Where an image is supplied to a prize, exhibition, publication or promotional partner as part of an announced Award outcome, its use must be connected with that prize, feature, exhibition or Award promotion unless the photographer separately agrees otherwise.
This licence is subject to any rights or obligations that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable privacy or data protection laws.
6. Judging
Judging is conducted anonymously by a panel appointed by the Organiser. Judges’ identities may be publicly announced, but photographers will not be identified to judges during the judging process.
Prize partners may be invited to participate in judging where relevant to a particular category or prize.
Entries are assessed on factors including beauty, power, creativity, technical skill and originality.
The Awards are skill-based and chance plays no role in determining results.
Judges are expected to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and must not assess an entry where the Organiser determines that a material conflict exists.
Judging decisions are final. The Organiser is not required to provide individual feedback, scoring explanations or correspondence regarding judging decisions.
7. Prizes
Current prizes are listed on the official Prizes page and form part of these Terms.
Prizes may include cash, photographic equipment, products, exhibitions, publications, services, memberships, vouchers or other opportunities.
Unless expressly stated otherwise:
- prizes are non-transferable;
- prizes cannot be exchanged for cash;
- prize elements are subject to any reasonable fulfilment requirements disclosed with the prize; and
- if a specific prize becomes unavailable for reasons outside the Organiser’s reasonable control, the Organiser may substitute a prize of reasonably equivalent value or utility.
Winners and Finalists may be asked to provide information reasonably necessary to fulfil or publicise their Award, such as postal details, a short biography, artist statement, photograph, captions or account details required by a prize provider.
Participation in additional promotional content, interviews, photography or other content creation is optional unless clearly disclosed as a condition of a specific prize before entry.
7A. Notifications & Timelines
Winners and Finalists will be contacted using the email address supplied with their entry.
Recipients must respond and complete reasonable prize-claim requirements within the timeframe specified in the notification.
Where no specific timeframe is given, 14 days from notification will ordinarily be considered a reasonable period.
If a recipient cannot be contacted, fails to respond, or does not complete reasonable prize-claim requirements within the applicable period, the Organiser may determine that the relevant prize has been forfeited and may select another eligible recipient where appropriate.
7B. Partner Publications & Usage
Some prize elements may be provided or promoted by third-party partners, including exhibitions, editorial features, photographic equipment or other opportunities.
Where reasonably necessary to fulfil or announce a prize, Winners and Finalists permit the Organiser and the relevant prize partner to publish their:
- name;
- country or region;
- winning or finalist image or Photo Essay;
- supplied photographer headshot;
- biography;
- captions; and
- artist statement.
Such use must relate to the Awards, the relevant prize or the announcement and promotion of the Award outcome.
Photographer credit will be provided wherever reasonably practicable.
Nothing in these Terms gives a prize partner a general right to sell or commercially license an entrant’s photographs.
7C. Shipping, Duties & Costs
Where a physical prize includes delivery by the Organiser or prize partner, shipping arrangements and any applicable geographical restrictions will be stated on the Prizes page or communicated to the recipient.
Where the Organiser expressly states that shipping, duties or taxes are covered as part of a prize, this is subject to the recipient providing information and reasonable cooperation required for delivery and customs clearance.
7D. Availability of Partner Prizes
Where a prize or opportunity is supplied by a third-party partner, its fulfilment may be subject to reasonable eligibility, availability or suitability requirements disclosed as part of that prize.
If a partner prize cannot reasonably be supplied, the Organiser may substitute an equivalent prize or, where substitution is not reasonably possible, withdraw that specific prize element without affecting the validity or results of the Awards.
8. Image Requirements, AI & Prohibited Content
Entries must be genuine photographic works created by the entrant.
Standard photographic editing and post-processing are permitted.
The following are not permitted:
- fully or substantially AI-generated images;
- composite images created by combining elements from separate photographs or generated sources;
- major digital manipulation that substantially changes the content or reality of the original photographic capture;
- plagiarised work or work that infringes another person’s copyright or other rights;
- unlawful, exploitative or hateful material;
- material submitted without the necessary rights or permissions; or
- any deliberate misrepresentation of authorship or the nature of the submitted work.
AI-assisted tools used for ordinary photographic processing, such as denoising, sharpening, upscaling or colour correction, may be permitted where the underlying image remains a genuine photographic capture and the tool has not materially generated or replaced the substantive content of the image.
The Organiser may request reasonable evidence of photographic authenticity, including an original or RAW file where appropriate.
The Organiser may disqualify an entry that breaches these Terms or the published Rules.
9. Refunds
Entry fees are non-refundable except where:
- a duplicate payment has been charged in error;
- a proven technical failure of the Organiser’s systems prevents completion of a paid submission;
- the Awards are cancelled by the Organiser and no substantially equivalent competition is provided; or
- a refund or other remedy is required by applicable law, including the Australian Consumer Law.
Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded.
10. Releases & Entrant Responsibility
Where a submitted image depicts an identifiable person, the entrant is responsible for ensuring they have any permission or model release reasonably required for submission, publication and the uses described in these Terms.
Additional care must be taken where the subject is a minor.
Where private property, artwork, trademarks or other protected material appears in an image, the entrant is responsible for obtaining any permission required by applicable law for the uses authorised under these Terms.
The Organiser may request reasonable evidence of a required permission or release.
11. Previous Entries, Winners & Finalists
Photographs previously submitted to Shoot The Frame’s historical monthly contests may be submitted to the Annual Portrait Award, including photographs previously selected as monthly Winners or Finalists.
An image or Photo Essay that has previously been selected as a Winner or Finalist in a Shoot The Frame Annual Portrait Award may not be considered again in a subsequent Annual Award.
Accordingly:
- Winners and Finalists from the 2025 Annual Portrait Award are not eligible to re-enter the same image or Photo Essay in the 2026 Annual Portrait Award.
- Honourable Mentions from the 2025 Annual Portrait Award may be entered again.
- An image that appeared within a winning or finalist Photo Essay is considered part of that recognised entry and may not be re-entered as part of the same work in a subsequent Annual Award.
The Organiser may remove or disqualify an ineligible previous entry at any stage of the competition.
12. Privacy & Data Protection
Personal information may be collected in connection with entering and administering the Awards, including names, email addresses, billing and transaction information, IP addresses, image metadata and information supplied in connection with an entry or prize.
Personal information may be used to:
- administer entries and judging;
- process payments;
- communicate with entrants;
- announce Award results;
- fulfil prizes;
- maintain Shoot The Frame’s historical Award archive; and
- operate the Awards in accordance with these Terms.
Personal information is handled in accordance with the Shoot The Frame Privacy Policy:
