2027 Calendar Photo Contest

What to Enter

We are looking for striking images of spotted patterns that commemorate the antibody arrays which RayBiotech was founded around. Images can include scientific images, portraits of animals (such as the spotted eagle ray pictured here), plants, minerals, landscapes or any other images striking enough to catch our attention.

If you choose to include people in your submission, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary releases from the individuals depicted, and must be able to provide copies of those releases to RayBiotech upon request. Entrants must not submit images that involve human nudity, the willful harassment of wildlife, damage to the environment by the photographer, put any individual or animal in danger, or infringe on the rights of any other photographer or person.

All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization (removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color and contrast, etc.) will be disqualified. Multiple exposures that have been combined to produce a single "High Dynamic Range" image are acceptable. Images that do not meet these requirements may or may not be judged at the judging panel's sole discretion.

Photo captions must accompany all submissions, and should include the subject of the image, the location the image was taken, and the name of the photographer(s). Please clearly label animals in digital caption information to assist judges.

How to Enter

All images must be submitted electronically as an attachment to an email sent to info@raybiotech.com with subject line of “ENTRY: RayBiotech 2027 Calendar Photo Contest”

Initial submissions may be submitted in any standard image format (i.e., JPG, GIF, PNG or TIF) and should be no larger than 8 MB in size but of sufficient resolution to judge the quality of the photo. Each email entry must include the photographer’s name, age, email address and a photo description. In the description, please clearly identify any animals, people, plants or inanimate objects depicted in the image.

Photo descriptions must accompany all submissions and should include information about the subject(s) of the image (e.g., my dog, “Spot”), the general location where the image was taken, including city, state/province, and country (e.g., in my Manhattan apartment, New York, NY, USA), and the type and resolution of camera used (e.g. iPhone 14, 12 megapixels).

In addition, all entrants may be asked to provide, upon request and within a reasonable timeframe, an image identical to the initial submission, but at high resolution (≥5 megapixels). Resolution can be calculated by multiplying the width of the image (in pixels) by its height (in pixels). For example, a photograph taken with a 5-megapixel camera set for the highest resolution and best quality produces images at 2560 pixels by 1920 pixels (2560 x 1920 ≈ 5 million pixels).

If the photographer is unable or unavailable to provide a high-resolution image that will meet this standard, the original submission can still be judged (at the judges’ sole discretion) but may not be considered as a finalist in the competition.

Eligibility and Judging

Entries may originate in any format — including, but not limited to digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints — so long as they are submitted electronically. Previously published material for which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as you still maintain the right to grant us a license (see "Your Rights" below). You must be able to disclose when and where the photo appeared previously to RayBiotech upon request.

Submissions may be watermarked if desired, but the watermark should be inconspicuous enough to not interfere with the judging of the photo. If the photographer is unable or unavailable to provide a pristine, watermark-free version of the image when asked, the watermarked photo might not be honored by the competition (at the judges sole discretion).

Images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. The judges will consist of a panel of RayBiotech staff members who are familiar with photography and who will be solely responsible for selecting images for various RayBiotech printed and online promotional materials.

RayBiotech shall determine winner eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion. All decisions made by the judges are final.

Deadlines

Deadline for submitting entries is 11:59 am Pacific Daylight Time on June 30, 2026.

Entrants may be asked to supplement their submission (such as a paragraph about their photo, the highest resolution version of their photo, or a watermark-free version of their photo) anytime on or after July 31, 2026. After an initial review the photos will be posted on RayBiotech’s facebook page. Entrants can submit multiple entries, but each photo entry will be judged separately and on its own merits.

Public voting will be taken into consideration in selecting winners, but the final selection of winners will be the sole right of RayBiotech. Public voting for winners will be possible by "liking" or commenting on the photos posted to RayBiotech's facebook page. Public voting may entail individuals voting for more than one photo, but voting will be limited to one vote per person per photo.

Up to 12 final winners will be announced in July 2026.

RayBiotech reserves the right to adjust any deadline(s) as the result of causes beyond its immediate control.

Winning Photos

The winners' photos will be printed as feature photos in the 2027 RayBiotech Photo Calendar. All entrants featured in the calendar will receive a copy of the calendar.

Your Rights

You will retain all rights to any photograph you submit -- including ownership if applicable. You will grant RayBiotech a license (in the spirit of the Creative Commons Attribution License) to use your photograph as described below. Per the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License, RayBiotech shall credit all depictions of the licensed photograph with the caption "© Person's Name" when the full name is available (or pseudonym, upon request of the entrant).

By submitting your photograph to this competition, you will, in effect, grant to RayBiotech a royalty-free, non-sublicensable, nonexclusive, irrevocable license in perpetuity, to:

1. Publish the photograph on the Internet.
2. Use the photograph in RayBiotech’s electronic and printed communications.
3. Provide your photograph to other organizations for RayBiotech-related use in news stories, newsletters, reports, slide shows, displays, web pages, and the like.
4. Use, in connection with the Photo Contest, your name, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications.
5. Keep the files provided, and to archive the images on CD or in other electronic forms.

Questions?

Questions and inquiries about contest rules can be emailed to info@raybiotech.com.