Walks of Italy Travel Photo Contest

Have a gorgeous shot of Italy that you've always wanted to show off? Now's your chance.

From August 1 to August 15, send us your best travel photograph of Italy for the chance to get your work published on the Walks of Italy blog! The perfect shot can be anything from a landscape to a portrait. Here's the catch: We want it to show us, and others, what you found to be the "essence" of Italy.

We'll pick the ten best snaps to be featured, along with the photographer's name, on an upcoming blog post. And the grand prize winner for the best photo will get a gift basket of goodies from Italy sent to his or her house, on us. (Craving some prosciutto di Parma or proper parmigiano-reggiano cheese? You don't have to wait till your next trip. Now's your chance!).

How does it work? Send us your best photo -- or a maximum of three photos -- to blog@walksofitaly.com. (Please, keep each one 500 kilobytes or less. You can do this by simply resizing the photograph and saving the smaller version separately from your original file!). Please include a caption of maximum 100 words telling us where you took it and why, for you, it shows the "essence" of Italy.

The contest begins on 12:01am EST on Monday, August 1. It will close at 11:59pm EST on Monday, August 15. Open to legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia or Canada only, 18 years and older. Remember that you must have the rights to this photograph (i.e., you took it yourself). You retain the copyright to the photograph, but we're allowed to show it off for you (i.e., use it) on our blog and elsewhere on the Walks of Italy site.

The fine print (our lawyers made us do it)

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.

The Walks of Italy Photo Contest ("Contest") begins at 12:01am Eastern Standard Time ("EST") on Aug. 1, 2011 and ends at 11:59pm EST on Aug. 15, 2011 ("Contest Entry Period"). Contest may be presented in different creative presentations by the Sponsor.

Eligibility: Contest is open to individuals who are legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, or of Canada, age 18 or older at time of entry. Employees of Walks of Italy (the “Sponsor”), and their subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, retailers, distributors (collectively, “Contest Entities”), and their immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of each are not eligible to enter or win.

How to enter: Email Photograph, with accompanying caption ("Essay") of maximum 100 words, to blog@walksofitaly.com. The Photograph, Essay and entry form are collectively referred to as the (“Entry[ies]”). Each person who is recognizable in the Photograph must be over the age of 18, or have reached the age of majority in his or her state unless the Photograph depicting a minor is submitted by the minor’s parent or legal guardian. Entries that contain photographs that do not comply with the requirements stated herein may be disqualified at Sponsor’s sole discretion. To be eligible, your Entry must be received during the Contest Entry Period. Use of automated processes and devices to submit electronic entries are not permitted. A maximum of three Entries per person is permitted. Contest Entities are not responsible for any changes or effects caused to entrant’s computer system as a result of submitting electronic entries. Only Entries submitted to blog@walksofitaly.com will be accepted. Entries submitted via facsimile or other express delivery services will NOT be accepted. Not responsible for lost, late, misdirected or otherwise undeliverable Entries, or Entries that cannot be processed due to phone, network, electronic or computer hardware or software failure, or technical failures of any kind. The Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual that tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or website or violates the Official Rules. All Entries become Sponsor’s property and will not be returned or acknowledged. In the case of duplicate or substantially similar Entries, the first Entry received will be judged. In the event of a dispute over the identity of an online entrant, or ownership of or rights to the Entry the disputed Entry will be disqualified in the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

Entries must comply with the following content guidelines to be eligible. Entries cannot:

• be sexually explicit or suggestive, or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group or the disabled, be profane or pornographic, or contain nudity;
• promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message;
• defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about other people or companies;
• contain any prominent use of trademarks, logos or trade dress (such as distinctive packaging or building exteriors/interiors) owned by others as determined by Sponsor, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses;
• contain prominent copyrighted materials owned by others (including photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media) as determined by Sponsor;
• contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs, or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead without permission;
• communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Sponsor wishes to associate; and
• depict and cannot itself be in violation of any law or otherwise.
• depict or otherwise identify a minor unless a parent or legal guardian is the entrant.

Entry: By entering you represent and warrant and agree that:
The Photograph is a picture of you (if applicable) or you have received permission from the person(s) depicted in the Photograph (“Third Party Participant”) (if applicable) and that all elements of your Entry submitted by you are original with you and are not copied from any other work and do not infringe upon the rights of any third party and to the extent any elements were created by a third party (“Third Party Participant”), you own all right, title and interest to said elements which is part of your Entry to enable you to grant the rights granted herein. If a Third Party Participant is a minor you are that minor’s parent or legal guardian. You retain ownership of the Entry(ies) you submit, however, by entering you, on behalf of yourself and any Third Party Participants, grant Contest Entities and any organizations affiliated with the sponsorship, fulfillment, administration, prize support, advertisement or promotion of the Contest, the perpetual, fully-paid, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, prepare derivative works of, distribute, display, exhibit, transmit, broadcast, televise, digitize, otherwise use, and permit others to use and perform throughout the world the photograph and Entry in any manner, form, or format now or hereinafter created, including on the Internet, and for any purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising or promotion of Contest Entities and Contest all without further consent from or payment to you, including those Entry(ies) which were not selected as being in the top 10. By submitting your Entry(ies), you agree that Sponsor has no obligation to post or publish your Entry, that all such postings or publication, if any, will be in Sponsor’s sole discretion and that the posting or publication of a Entry does not guarantee the Entry will be selected as a winner.

By submitting an Entry, each entrant understands and grants to Sponsor permission for his/her Entry to be posted on WalksofItaly.com in perpetuity throughout the world for viewing by visitors to the Website. Contest Entities are not responsible for any unauthorized third party use of any Entry. Entries will not be acknowledged and will not be received or held “in confidence” and a submission does not create a confidential relationship or obligation of secrecy between you and the Sponsor or any of its affiliates.

Each Entry must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If the Entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the Entry, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Entry by Sponsor in the manner set forth in these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right to request proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to Sponsor from any entrant at any time. By submitting an Entry, entrant warrants and represents that he/she consents to the submission and use of the Entry in the Contest, and to its posting on WalksofItaly.com.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion. Sponsor is under no obligation to disclose why an Entry has been disqualified other than the Entry was ineligible under these Official Rules. Furthermore, the Sponsor reserves the right to not award any prize if, in its sole and absolute discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries in any monthly entry period.

The Walks of Italy judging panel will determine the top ten (10) scoring Entries (“Semi-Finalists”) based on the following judging criteria: (a) most creative interpretation of the monthly theme (33.33%), (b) best technical composition of photo (33.33%), and (c) best artistic composition of photo (33.33%). The decisions of the judging panel are final and binding on all matters relating to selection of Semi-Finalist Entries. One of the 10 Semi-Finalist Entries will be chosen as the Grand Prize winner. The Sponsor reserves the right to pick fewer than ten (10) Semi-Finalist entries if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries.

Prizes: Grand Prize: One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a gift basket of Italian treats. The exact content is to be determined. Total approximate retail value (“ARV”) of Grand Prize is approximately $75. Should the actual value of Prize be lower than the stated ARV when Prize is procured and fulfilled, the difference in the two amounts will not be awarded.

The Grand Prize winner and the rest of the Semi-Finalists will also have their winning photographs published on the Walks of Italy blog, along with attribution to the photographers.