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Southern Delaware Tourism Photo Contest

Do you have amazing photos of Southern Delaware? Share them with us! 

Our 2024 Southern Delaware Tourism Photo Contest is open for entries!

Contest opens at 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2024 Entries will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Friday, March 8th and winners will be announced Friday, March 22, 2024. Entries submitted before midnight on January 1, 2024 will be disqualified. 

Photo Contest

There will be one Grand Prize Winner chosen from among all eligible entries as well as one winning photo in each of three categories. Emailed entries will not be eligible. Submit entries individually in their appropriate categories by using the upload boxes located beneath each category description. If you wish to submit more than one photo in a given category, you will need to refresh the page between uploads. Photos entered into incorrect categories will be deemed ineligible. There is no limit to the number of entries permitted, but each photo must be uploaded individually. Photos with watermarks of any kind are ineligible. 

Eligible photos must be at least 1200 x 1800 pixels and must have been taken in Sussex County, Delaware. 

Read all contest rules and eligibility information below. All eligible photo entries will be featured on Southern Delaware Tourism’s Instagram feed @VisitSouthDel with the hashtag #SoDelPhotoContest2024. This year’s categories are:

#1 – Holidays & Events

Southern Delaware is a great place to celebrate all the holidays, from New Year’s Day throughout the year. And events! There are so many fabulous events here all year round that there’s always something going on or about to, including festivals - so many festivals! Plus performances; crawls; concerts; runs and races; holiday events; fishing and golf tournaments; history events; arts events; skimboarding, surfing, and paddling events; events at our breweries and wineries - the list is endless. Show us your photos from holidays and events here in Southern Delaware! Photos must contain at least one person and be taken in Sussex County, DE. Please read requirements for model releases below if your photo contains recognizable likenesses of individuals. Entries must include event name and photo locations.

#2 – Amusements & Boardwalk Bites

From boardwalk rides and games to go karts, mini golf, water parks, trampolines, parasailing, land and water tours, pirate expeditions, brewery tours, and more, Southern Delaware is full of amusements for kids and adults! The area is also renowned for fabulous boardwalk bites – ice cream, fudge, boardwalk fries, pizza, popcorn, funnel cake. You name it, we all love to eat it. Share your photos of you, your family or friends having a great time at Southern Delaware’s amusements or treating themselves to some delicious boardwalk bites!  Photos must contain at least one person and be taken in Sussex County, DE. Please read requirements for model releases below if your photo contains recognizable likenesses of individuals. Entries must include photo locations.

#3 – Action Shots

One of the best things about Southern Delaware is the incredible number of opportunities to play and be active thanks to our beaches, bays, parks, trails, and many tourism partners that create and manage activities for people of all fitness and skill levels to enjoy! So, send us your action shots! Photos must contain at least one person in action and must be taken in Sussex County, DE. Please read requirements for model releases below if your photo contains recognizable likenesses of individuals. Entries must include photo locations.

Judging our Photo Contest will be…

Tony Pratt and Pam Aquilani

Pam and Tony are a couple who also happen to be a couple of amazing and well known Southern Delaware (and beyond) photographers. Pam started out as a portrait and landscape photographer, and her field has grown to include editorial and architectural photography. She specializes in real estate and restaurant photography and cannot get enough of lifestyle photoshoots. She is a people person who loves the one-on-one, intimate atmosphere photography allows. Her client base reaches all of Delmarva and beyond, including SoDel Concepts, Fisher Architecture, Carl M Freeman Companies, Coastal Style Magazine, Delaware Beach Life Magazine, Longboard Cafe, Blue Water Hospitality Service, KOA Campgrounds, and more. View her website here

Tony, was interested in photography from childhood. In college he began to concentrate on photographing nature, and as he followed with a career in preserving natural environments he kept a camera in his hands for both his work and his personal enjoyment and fulfillment. A brief stint as the darkroom technician for the Delaware Coast Press in the 1970s resulted in Tony building a home darkroom where he bulk-loaded his own film, developed that film, and printed black and white photographs. He also shot color on slide film and eventually embraced the evolution to digital photography. He worked closely with ex-National Geographic photographer Kevin Fleming when Fleming was shooting for his books Wild Delaware and Wild Delmarva. This experience furthered Tony's ability to see the world with a critical, artistic photographer’s eye. His photographs have been used in many publications and by a wide variety of content preparers. Tony has co-taught several photography workshops with Fleming, has lectured to photography clubs, and has been asked to judge photography competitions countless times for clubs, government agencies and magazines. View his website here

Prizes

PHOTO CONTEST GRAND PRIZE

This year's Grand Prize Winning Photographer will receive two nights at the beautiful Coast Rehoboth Beach, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, a gift certificate for the Big Fish Restaurant Group, a gift certificate for Kindle in Lewes, a gift certificate for a Dolphin Cruise on Cape Water Tours & Taxi, and an annual Delaware State Parks Pass. Hotel stay may be subject to restrictions. Winner must contact prize partners for restrictions and details.

Photo contest individual category prizes:

Holidays & Events:

Winner of our Southern Delaware Holidays & Events category will receive a two night stay at Hotel Blue in Lewes, a gift certificate for The Milton Theatre, and a gift certificate from Bramble & Brine at the Buttery. Hotel stay may be subject to restrictions. Winner must contact prize partners for restrictions and details.

Southern Delaware Amusements & Boardwalk Bites:

Winner of our Southern Delaware Amusements & Boardwalk Bites category will receive a two night stay at the Atlantic Sands Hotel & Conference Center, a Funland Ticket Book, and a gift certificate for Grotto Pizza. Hotel stay may be subject to restrictions. Winner must contact prize partners for restrictions and details.

Southern Delaware Action Shots:

Winner of our Southern Delaware Action Shots category will receive a two night stay with Block Party Hotels at either Beach House Dewey or Atlantic Oceanside Dewey, a gift certificate from East of Maui, and a gift card for Dewey Beer Company! Hotel stay may be subject to restrictions. Winner must contact prize partners for restrictions and details.

How to Enter

Upload your entries to the appropriate category(ies), above, between 12:00 a.m. on January 1, 2024 and 5 p.m. on March 8, 2024. Fill out all requested information for each entry including your name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, and photo location.

If a model release is required, click here to fill out the release and email it to SoDelPhotos@gmail.com. Make sure to include the filename of the photo covered by the release in your email. 

Winners will be notified via email on Friday, March 22, 2024.

Photos must be a minimum of 1200 x 1800 pixels. Photos with watermarks of any kind will be deemed ineligible.

Entries containing inappropriate imagery will be disqualified. (If you wouldn't show it to your mom, we don't want to see it either...)

Entries that do not comply with the stated rules will be deemed ineligible but will still become the property of Southern Delaware Tourism and subject to use as outlined below. Each entry constitutes the entrant’s certification that he/she meets all eligibility requirements. Judges decisions are final and binding.

NOTE: By sending Southern Delaware Tourism your photograph(s) you acknowledge and grant permission for it/them to be used in a wide variety of promotional materials including newsletters, flyers, posters, brochures, advertisements, correspondence, press kits, media submissions, websites, social networking sites, and other print and digital communications. If any person in your photograph is recognizable, you will need to provide Southern Delaware Tourism a model release form signed by that person or those persons or a parent or legal guardian if the person is under 18 years of age. Images of unrecognizable people do not need model releases. Winning images of recognizable people will be disqualified if the photographer cannot provide a valid model release upon request. "Recognizable" means that a third party could identify the individual in the image, due to the visibility of any distinctive physical features, uniform, identification numbers, and so on.