This year the winner will have a choice of prizes – either a Tank Driving Experience Day or a voucher for photographic equipment to the value of £250.

The entries will also be displayed at the IOM3 London Office and the winning entry will take pride of place on the DSSC website homepage and will be published in IOM3 publications including Materials World.

All entries into the competition should:

• Showcase the use of Materials in Defence, Safety or Security applications
• Be received by midnight on Friday 25 November 2011

1. The subject for the IOM3 DSSC Photographic Competition is "Materials for Defence, Safety or Security" and the theme is open to individual interpretation.
2. Entrants can submit as many entries as they wish but, to be fair to other contestants, only the best five entries from any one individual will go through to be judged for the prize and the photos must be submitted electronically.
3. Images may be digitally enhanced to remove spots or scratches, but not manipulated. Entrants can enhance the picture to make it brighter, clearer etc, but not manipulate the content. IOM3 and the judges reserve the right to exclude any image they believe may have been excessively treated so as to alter its authenticity.
4. The competition is open to all IOM3 members and non-members. Employees of IOM3 are not eligible to enter. Entrants must be over the age of 18.
5. Entrants must not be professional photographers and, for the purposes of this competition, a professional photographer will be considered to be someone who makes more than half their annual income from the sale of their photographs.
6. Entries should be submitted electronically via this webpage. 
7. The competition closes at midnight on Friday 25 November 2011.
8. All entries will be judged by a panel of judges. They will consider a range of factors including composition, technical ability, originality, and interpretation of the brief.
9. The judges' decisions will be final and no correspondence can be entered into.
10. All entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe the rights of any other party. The entrants must be the sole owner of copyright in all photographs entered and must have obtained permission of any people featured in the entries or their parents/guardians if children under 16 are featured. Further, entrants must not have breached any laws when taking their photographs.
11. Prior to submission, entrants must not have offered any of their entries for sale, been paid for any publication of any of their entries or won or been a runner up in any other photographic competition with any of their entries.
12. Entrants will retain copyright in the photographs that they submit to IOM3. By entering the competition all entrants grant IOM3 the right to publish and exhibit their photographs in IOM3 publications, at IOM3 offices and on the IOM3 website. Entrants whose photographs are one of the winners or runners-up grant IOM3 the further rights to publish and exhibit their photographs in print, on their respective websites or in any other media. No fees will be payable for any of the above uses. Entrants whose photographs are one of the winners or runners-up also agree to take part in post-competition publicity. While we will make every effort to credit photographers, including in printed reproductions of their work, we cannot guarantee that every use of the photographs will include the photographers' names.
13. By entering, entrants will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by these rules and IOM3 reserves the right to exclude any entry from the competition at any time and in its absolute discretion if IOM3 has reason to believe that an entrant has breached these rules.
14. IOM3 reserves the right to cancel this competition or alter any of the rules at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.
15. If the winner is unable to be contacted after reasonable attempts have been made; IOM3 reserves the right to either offer the prize to a runner-up, or to re-offer the prize in any future competition.
16. These rules are governed by the laws of England and Wales. This competition is administered by IOM3.