Fort Worth Zoom Lens Contest?????

[AustinEXS]

Well not sure if to many people on the list enter the Fort Worth Zoom Lens Contest but for those who thought about entering or did enter here are the winners. Read at the bottom for my input.

Best of Show
Leena Robinson

MAMMALS
First Place – Leena Robinson
Second Place – Randolph Simpson
Third Place – Sheri Hemrick

BIRDS
First Place – Jeff Robinson
Second Place – Shaun Jones
Third Place – Oscar Pruitt

REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
First Place – Lance Mangham
Second Place – Wesley Kirpach
Third Place – Deborah Stokes

The contest rules said "photographs taken at the zoo may not be commercially used without the zoo's written consent". Well I called the zoo and asked if Leena had the rights to sale the pictures well she didn't. She also entered the same picture in a ton of different photo contest (I don't know if that was against the rules or not). Anyway here is a link showing the winning picture for sale.

http://photo4me.com/cart/details.asp?PictureID=9752

It's a great picture no doubt about it. But it doesn't make the contest fair for those who did enter abiding by the rules.

Here is a link to the fort worth zoo's web site showing all the winning photos.

http://www.fortworthzoo.com/visit/events.html

and the rules....

And for those wondering. No I didn't enter any of my pictures because of the contract you had to sign.

Her husband won first place in Birds as well. I haven't looked to see if he is selling his pictures as well.

Austin

[AustinEXS]

oh yeah here is part of the rules:

http://www.fortworthzoo.com/visit/pdf/Agreement.pdf

I can't find the "Contest Rules" pdf.

Austin

[Tom Hicks]

Maybe I should have entered, Just a few from last year or so. Naaaaaaaaaa, I think I'll keep my rights

[AustinEXS]

LOL...Tom do you have one of the flamingos....I think you could have won in the birds category as well.
Yours looks just like the ones that won. I must say I like your color better in the second picture and the fact that you didn't burn the imagine all the way around the lion.
I'm with you...I'll keep my rights and my photos.

Austin

[David_3]

Maybe I should have entered my flamingo......naaaaaaaa. I like my rights too.
Attachment 23600

[Tom Hicks]

Thanks , my lion is as it came out of the D2H and 400F2.8 well maybe a little desaturation and some sharping. Flamingo's?

[Wes]

Tom - the shot that won the overall contest, and the one that came in first in the "Amphibious" category are almost identical to yours. It almost looks like they plagiarized your work.

[Jim Victory]

I'm with Tom on this one. Why give your rights away only to have them use it for advertising.

[brad]

Uhh.. send the link to the photo for sale to the Zoo.

That isn't a contest rule, its a rule, period. The animals at the zoo are owned by the zoo and it clearly states that rule as a condition of allowing photographs to be made at the zoo. You cannot do that without a release from the zoo, ever.

[AustinEXS]

Hey Brad,

That's what I did. I talked to a guy at the zoo yesterday and he was like what???
So I got his email and sent him 5 different web sites you could buy the picture.
I haven't heard anything from him yet. I really doubt I will.

I'll keep you guys posted if I do.

Austin

[brad]

Heh, I did, too.. sent the link where it was for sale to someone at the zoo I've dealt with as a PJ and as a zoo donor. (I can't use the photos myself, so I donated a bunch of photos to the zoo, asking only for a photo credit.)

[AndrewCCM]

Did anyone notice that the "First Place" winner name is removed?

http://www.fortworthzoo.com/visit/events.html

Interesting.

[Roy]

Originally Posted by AndrewCCM

Did anyone notice that the "First Place" winner name is removed?

http://www.fortworthzoo.com/visit/events.html

Interesting.

I didn't notice it till just now........hummmm

[zeroendless]

Both husband and wife images get pulled.

[AustinEXS]

Oops...looks like someone got caught.
Well I must say that I'm for one glad the Zoo stepped up and did something about it. All I did was go to Google and enter her name and it took less than a couple of seconds to tell that she was selling the photo online. I really don't know why the zoo didn't look into just taking a little time to check out the winners before they announced who won.
Oh well I hope someone who is honest wins this time.

Austin