2025 Photo Contest

General Information

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s (District) “2025 Photo Contest” begins May 24, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. Central Standard Time and ends Sept. 1, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. CST. All entries must be received by Sept. 1, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.

Public voting for the “Voters’ Choice” winner begins May 24, 2025, at 12:01 p.m. CST and ends Sept. 8, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. CST.

All winners will be notified by Oct. 1, 2025.

The sponsor of the “2025 Photo Contest” is the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, 3S580 Naperville Road, Wheaton, IL, 60189.

The “2025 Photo Contest” is not associated with or sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Facebook.

No purchase is necessary to participate or to win. You are not required to “like” the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s Facebook page or to opt-in to receive the Forest Preserve District’s e-newsletter, and doing so will not increase your chances of winning.

This is a skill-based contest with a random-drawing element. The odds of winning depend on the number of people who participate and the skills of the participants.

The “2025 Photo Contest” is subject to all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations. You must agree to comply with and to warrant that your entries comply with all requirements set forth in these official rules, with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s General Use Ordinance, and with any decisions of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, which are final and binding.

You must agree to defend, hold harmless, and indemnify the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County; its employees, elected officials, and contractors, from any loss, damage, injury, or death related to your participation in the “2025 Photo Contest” or your acceptance, possession, or use of any of its prizes.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County; its employees, elected officials, and contractors:

Make no expressed or implied representation, warranty, or guarantee with respect to any prize, including to the prize’s quality or its appropriateness for a particular purpose.
Are not liable for any human, mechanical, clerical, electronic, technical, or other error in the execution of the “2025 Photo Contest” or for any unauthorized human intervention.
Assume no responsibility for any damage to a participant’s computer or mobile device caused by participation in the contest or for any computer, data connection, hardware, software, or program malfunctions or other errors, failures, or delays in computer transmissions.
Are not responsible for lost, interrupted, inaccessible, or unavailable networks, servers, satellites, internet service, websites, or other connections or malfunctions of technical or human nature.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County may terminate, suspend, or modify the “2025 Photo Contest” at any time and without prior notice. It may also disqualify any participant who does not comply with the official rules or who acts with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the contest.

The “2025 Photo Contest” is void where prohibited.

Who Can Participate

You must be a legal resident of Illinois and at least 18 years old to participate.

You cannot participate if you are a:

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County employee or elected official.
Household member or immediate family member (spouse, parent, child, sibling, or respective spouse) of anyone in 1.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County will determine all winners’ eligibilities at its sole discretion, and all decisions will be final.

How to Enter

You can submit an unlimited number of photos, but you must submit them all under a single email address. You cannot use additional email addresses to submit additional photos.

You must submit photos digitally using the online entry form available at dupageforest.org or at the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County’s Facebook page at facebook.com/dupageforest. If you submit a photo using any other delivery method, including email, it will not be accepted.

Photos can be color or black-and-white.

Digital scans of photos developed from film that meet contest specifications are acceptable.

An eligible photo must be:

Taken in a DuPage County forest preserve
JPEG or JPG file
Minimum 300 dpi
Maximum 250 MB
Minimum 4,000 pixels wide for horizontal images or 3,000 pixels tall for vertical images

A photo is ineligible if it:

Is digitally altered beyond standard optimization. You are allowed, however, to remove dust specs or red eye; crop the image; or make minor corrections to the exposure, color, or contrast.
Utilizes AI-generated or AI-enhanced images. All submissions must be original photographs captured and edited by the entrant with traditional methods.
Is a stitched-panoramic photo.
Is embedded with any text, signature, watermark, copyright symbol, or logo.
Does not meet any of the other eligibility requirements stated in these rules.

By submitting a photo, you confirm:

You agree to the terms of the contest.
It was taken in a DuPage County forest preserve.
It is your original, exclusive work.
No third party has any claim, right, or interest in it, and it does not infringe on the intellectual property, copyright, right to publish, or right of privacy of any third party (including as a result of an entry in another contest).
You received permission from all people in the photo, including the parents or legal guardians of people under 18 years of age.

Submitted photos will be added to the contest and the online contest gallery but only if they receive Forest Preserve District of DuPage County approval, which may take up to 72 hours.

If your photos or descriptions contain sexually explicit, provocative, obscene, violent, or other objectionable or inappropriate content as determined solely by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, they will be automatically rejected, and you will not be allowed to submit any further entries.

How to Win

The “2025 Photo Contest” will award seven prizes: one “Wildlife and Plants” winner, one “People and Recreation” winner, one “Landscapes and Places” winner, one “Voters’ Choice” winner, and three random drawing winners.

Juried and Voters’ Choice prizes are limited to one per household and are nontransferable. There are no substitutions for prizes or cash redemptions of any kind. Any difference between stated approximate retail values and actual values will not be awarded. Any and all permits, licenses, other costs, and expenses not expressly stated in the prize descriptions are the sole responsibility of the winners. Any local, state, or federal taxes on prizes are solely the responsibility of the winners.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County will notify all winners by Oct. 1, 2025, via the email addresses provided at the time of entry.

If you are selected as a contest winner, to receive your prize you must:

Provide identification.
Agree that the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County has the right to use your name and likeness without compensation or prior approval.
Agree that you or your designated representative will pick up your prize in person at a prearranged time at Forest Preserve District of DuPage County headquarters at 3S580 Naperville Road, Wheaton, IL 60189 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

If you do not comply with any of the above terms, you will forfeit your prize and an alternate winner will be selected.

Any prizes not claimed by 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2025, will not be awarded.

For a list of all winners, on or after Oct. 1, 2025, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, “2025 Photo Contest,” 3S580 Naperville Road, Wheaton IL 60189.

Juried Winners

Between Sept. 1, 2025, and Oct. 1, 2025, a qualified panel of Forest Preserve District of DuPage County employees with backgrounds in photography and backgrounds in journalism, marketing, and natural resources will rate and select three winners from all eligible entries: one “Wildlife and Plants” winner; one “People and Recreation” winner; and one “Landscapes and Places” winner.

The panel will score entries based on the following with all elements given equal consideration:

Technical merit (focus, clarity, exposure, use or absence of color, framing, etc.)
Visual appeal (impact, creativity, originality, storytelling)
Appropriateness to the category theme

In the event of a tie, the photo with the highest technical merit score will be selected as the winner.

The panel’s decisions are final.

Juried Prizes

Winners may choose one prize package from the following categories. In the event that an item is no longer available, the District will select a comparable item with the same approximate retail value.