ANNUAL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
AT THE CORAL GABLES MUSEUM
James Palma. Colonnade Cupola. Grand Prize Winner 2022
Rules & Regulations
Capture Coral Gables 2023 was open for submissions between May 17th and July 2nd, 2023, 11:59 pm, ET.
By submitting an entry, the applicant agreed to the Contest Official Rules and understood that, once submitted, his or her information could not be modified.
Photographs had to fit into ONE of the 2023 contest categories. These were: Digital Photography: Coral Gables Historical Architecture and Public Art, Urban Life, What made Coral Gables Beautiful?, Coral Gables at Work. Special Categories: Florida on Film, The True Coral Gables (Social Media), Memories of Coral Gables – Created with Artificial Intelligence. Capture Coral Gables requested that all photos, except those under the category “Florida on Film,” be shot within the city boundaries of Coral Gables, FL. Click Here to View the Map They should not have been older than two years and should not have been exhibited or awarded within the City of Coral Gables.
Images of the photographs had to be submitted in digital format – no print or slide submissions were accepted. Submitted images had to be in JPEG or JPG format and no bigger than 1200 pixels on either side. The maximum resolution allowed was 100 MB. Submitted images had to be labeled as: last name_first name_CONTEST CATEGORY. (For instance: Smith_Annie_URBANLIFE) There was a filing fee of $10 for each submission.
Once accepted, the photographs would be printed and framed by the Museum.
THIS WAS A SKILL BASED CONTEST
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
By entering this Contest, all entrants agreed to release, discharge, and hold harmless Coral Gables Museum and its sponsors, partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Contest or any Contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.
Coral Gables Museum assumed no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Contest entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. CGM was not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Contest. By entering, entrants also agreed (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges were final and binding with respect to all matters relating to the Contest; (c) that there was a filing fee of $10.00 for each submission; (d) that Museum may use the winning photographs and/or each winner’s name, photograph, likeness, and/or voice in any publicity or advertisements relating to the Contest or future promotions without compensation or approval. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize was/were ineligible or could not be contacted, as required by the “Contest Prizes” Rules above, or refused the prize, the prize would be forfeited and Museum, in its sole discretion, could choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.
The Museum reserved the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant’s identity and address) and to disqualify any entrant who submitted an entry that was not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampered with the entry process. Failure by the Museum to enforce any of its rights at any stage did not constitute a waiver of those rights.
RIGHT TO CANCEL OR SUSPEND CONTEST
The Coral Gables Museum had the right to cancel or suspend the contest and/or the exhibition at any time.
Contest Categories
Each photograph should have been labeled under ONE of the following categories as: last name_first name_CONTEST CATEGORY. (e.g. Smith_Annie_URBANLIFE)
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
CORAL GABLES HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE AND PUBLIC ART – What did a day in Downtown Coral Gables look like? From a birds-eye view to boots on the ground, the focus was on capturing the pace and dynamics of our city. URBAN LIFE – Day and Night, Downtown Coral Gables was a cultural hub that attracted people of all ages and interests. This category was a call to capture the vibrant cultural scene from music, theater, cinema, visual arts, history, and books. WHAT MADE CORAL GABLES BEAUTIFUL? – Coral Gables was nationally recognized as a historical landmark because of its architecture and urbanism, most of which was completed in the early decades of the 20th Century. This category encouraged applicants to approach the city’s buildings, their facades, sculpture details, and the city’s urban layout with fresh lenses. CORAL GABLES – AT WORK – Coral Gables was home to more than 8000 local businesses that contributed significantly to the landscape of The City Beautiful. Many of these companies – from small non-profits and mom and pop retailers to large financial/service firms and countless restaurants – were incredibly proud to call some of the most beautiful buildings in Coral Gables their home base. With the nearly 150 multinational companies and 22 consular and trade offices, a global perspective led the way in Miami-Dade County. This category invited applicants to open their eyes to a vibrant downtown and endeavor to capture Coral Gables at work. SPECIAL CATEGORIES
FLORIDA ON FILM – Film Photography that was taken in Florida only. Every subject was accepted! THE TRUE CORAL GABLES (SOCIAL MEDIA) – Every city has its secrets and its set of unknown informal rules that its citizens know and follow. What were the untold things that you “had to know” if you were from Coral Gables? SPECIAL RULES! TO BE CONSIDERED, APART FROM SUBMITTING THE CONTEST FORM BELOW, YOUR PHOTOGRAPH HAD TO BE POSTED ON INSTAGRAM, CONTAINING TWO HASHTAGS: #CaptureCoralGables & #TheTrueCoralGables AND THE TAG @coralgablesmuseum. Please note that the post had to be a SINGLE photo post – no carousel, reel, story, or other format posts applied. 25 finalists in this category were exhibited on a screen alongside the rest of the contest finalists. MEMORIES OF CORAL GABLES – CREATED WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – Did you have memories of Coral Gables, be it from childhood or from that one day when visiting town? Ask an online Artificial Intelligence (AI) app to reconstruct it for you. The GRAND PRIZE was selected by the jurors, and PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD was voted online by the public and was announced at the Closing Reception of the show.
Capture Coral Gables welcomed any artist regardless of their education, race, age, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.
Coral Gables Map
Capture Coral Gables asked that all photos, with the exception of those under the category “Florida on Film,” be shot within the city boundaries of Coral Gables, FL.
Notifying Finalists
Applicants were notified both via email and telephone within 1-2 weeks after the submission deadline. For this purpose, Museum staff used the contact information entered by the applicants in the entry form. It was the responsibility of the applicant to provide a working email address and phone number to be contacted.
Finalists were asked to send a full-resolution copy of the selected photograph in order for it to be professionally printed and framed by the Museum. The photograph should have been in TIFF format, with the smaller side not less than 16″ and the larger side not more than 20″. The resolution should have been 300 DPI, Color Mode: Adobe RGB (1998), and the maximum file size allowed was 100 MB.
It was highly recommended that participants prepared their images beforehand so that, if selected as a finalist, they had enough time to email the TIFF to the Museum.
AFTER THE EXHIBITION
After the exhibition, participants were asked to coordinate the pick-up of their printed photographs with the Exhibitions Department. The frames were the property of the Museum.
The Jury Process
Capture Coral Gables’ Jury consisted of a group of selected professionals who represented a broad spectrum of the photographic world. They reviewed the entries and granted the following prizes:
Grand Prize (Jurors’ Pick) Winner in the Digital Photography Category of Coral Gables Historical Architecture and Public Art Winner in the Digital Photography Category of Urban Life Winner in the Digital Photography Category of What Made Coral Gables Beautiful? Winner in the Digital Photography Category of Coral Gables – At Work Winner in the Special Category of Florida on Film Winner in the Special Category of The True Coral Gables (Social Media) Winner in the Special Category of Memories of Coral Gables – Created with AI
There was a ninth prize (People’s Choice Award) voted by the public online, which was announced at the Closing Reception of the show.
All finalists were invited to participate in the exhibition and were eligible to win the different prizes.
AWARDS CEREMONY AND PRIZES
Prize winners were announced at the Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony. This event was fully advertised by the Museum and was free and open to the public. The People’s Choice Award was announced at the Closing Reception of the exhibition.
Prizes
This prize is going to the photograph that is excelling in creativity and technical sharpness. All finalists are being considered, regardless of the category they applied for.
PEOPLE’S CHOICE: This prize is being voted online by the public and will be announced at the Closing Reception of the show.
PRIZES INCLUDE:
- Feature in a group exhibition at the Coral Gables Museum
- The opportunity to share skills as a Teaching Artist with the Coral Gables Museum’s Education Department
… and many more surprises!
Submit your Application
The application period for this year's Capture Coral Gables contest has ended. Please stay tuned for updates on the finalists' exhibition.
Last Edition’s Winners
