HOW TO ENTER

Entries close at 7pm on Monday, September 7.

Entrants may submit a maximum of three photographs per person. Entries can be submitted in any of the following ways:

1. FACEBOOK: Upload your photograph in the comments section of any of the official Golden Lens competition posts on The Junee Bulletin Facebook page.
2. MESSENGER: Send your photograph privately to The Junee Bulletin Facebook page via Messenger.
3. EMAIL: Send your photograph to news@juneebulletin.com.au

Every submission must include the town, locality, postcode or shire where the photograph was captured. Please provide only a general location. Do not provide the exact address or location of private property.

Entries submitted privately via Messenger or email must also include the photographer’s full name.

Entrants must be following The Junee Bulletin on Facebook at the close of entries to be eligible.

How will images be judged? 

1. Judges’ Choice

The Junee Bulletin will assess all eligible entries and select five finalists.

From those five, a separate judging panel appointed by The Junee Bulletin will select the 2026 Judges’ Choice, taking into consideration the photograph’s overall impact, creativity and originality, composition and connection to the Riverina canola season.

To ensure impartiality, judging will be conducted blind, with photographers’ names and identifying details withheld from the panel.

The Judges’ Choice winner will receive $100 cash and be announced at 7pm on Tuesday, September 8, 2026.

2. People’s Choice

The remaining four finalists will then be handed over to YOU, with a 24-hour public vote held on The Junee Bulletin Facebook page.

The photograph receiving the most valid reactions during the voting period will be crowned the 2026 People’s Choice and receive $100 cash.

Photographers’ identities will again be withheld throughout the vote, allowing each photograph to be judged on its own merits.

Voting opens at 7am on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 and closes at 7am on Thursday, September 10, 2026, with the winner announced following the close of voting.

3. Voters Draw

Everyone who casts a valid vote during the 24-hour People’s Choice poll will automatically go into the draw to win $50 cash, with one voter selected at random following the close of voting.

So even if you don’t enter a photo, you could still be a winner!

Read the full Terms & Conditions below.

What are the judges looking for?

There’s no checklist. Sometimes, a great photo simply speaks for itself!

From vast fields of vibrant yellow to spectacular sunsets, storm clouds, machinery, wildlife, farming life, reflections, close-ups and unusual perspectives – show us what canola season in the Riverina looks like through your lens!

Our judges will be looking at the overall impact of each photograph, taking into account things such as creativity and originality, composition, visual appeal and how the image captures the Riverina’s canola season.

Think differently, get creative and don’t be afraid to experiment!

TERMS & CONDITIONS

By submitting an entry to The Golden Lens 2026: Riverina Canola Photography Competition, entrants agree to the following terms and conditions.

1. Eligibility: The competition is open to people of all ages. Entrants under 18 must have the permission of a parent or legal guardian to enter. The Junee Bulletin may request confirmation of that permission before awarding a prize.

2. Competition period: Entries open at 7pm on Monday, August 10, 2026 and close at 7pm on Monday, September 7, 2026. 

3. Entry limit: Each person may submit a maximum of three photographs. Any images submitted after the limit has been reached will be discounted.  

4. Location: Photographs must capture the 2026 canola season within the Riverina region of New South Wales. Each entry must include a general location such as a town, locality, postcode or shire.

5. Original work: Entrants must be the photographer and copyright holder of each photograph submitted, or otherwise possess all rights and permissions necessary to enter and license the photograph in accordance with these terms.

6. Artificial intelligence: Images generated wholly or partly using generative artificial intelligence are not permitted. AI-generated or AI-added elements, generative fill and other techniques that create or materially replace visual content are also prohibited.

7. Permitted editing: Standard photographic processing and adjustments are permitted, including cropping, exposure, white balance, brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpening, noise reduction and reasonable colour correction, provided those adjustments do not materially misrepresent the scene photographed.

8. Image manipulation: Photographic composites or images in which significant objects, people, animals, scenery or other major elements have been artificially added, removed or materially altered are not eligible.

9. Verification: The Junee Bulletin reserves the right to examine entries using reverse-image searching, metadata, image-analysis tools or other reasonable verification methods. Entrants may be asked to provide an original or unedited image file, metadata or other reasonable evidence of authorship and authenticity. Failure to provide requested evidence may result in disqualification.

10. Copyright: Copyright in each photograph remains with the photographer.

11. Licence to The Junee Bulletin: By entering, the photographer grants The Junee Bulletin a non-exclusive, royalty-free, irrevocable licence to reproduce, publish, display, crop or resize, distribute and promote the submitted photograph across The Junee Bulletin’s website, social media channels and other editorial and promotional material relating to The Golden Lens, the competition and its results. This licence does not transfer ownership of the photograph to The Junee Bulletin.

12. Photographer credit: The Junee Bulletin will endeavour to credit photographers whenever reasonably practicable, although a credit cannot be guaranteed in every format or placement.

13. Featured images: Throughout the competition, The Junee Bulletin may select entries to feature on our Facebook page, website and other social media channels, showcasing canola season from across the Riverina and encouraging others to get involved. Having your photograph featured does not mean it has been selected as a finalist and will have no bearing on the judging process.

14. People appearing in photographs: Where an identifiable person is a prominent subject of a photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining any consent or permission reasonably necessary for the photograph to be entered and published. Additional care should be taken where children appear prominently in an image.

15. Property and safety: Entrants must not trespass, enter private property without permission, damage crops or other property, obstruct traffic, park unlawfully or engage in unsafe behaviour while capturing an entry. The Junee Bulletin accepts no responsibility for an entrant’s conduct while obtaining a photograph.

16. Judging: Judging will take place on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. The Junee Bulletin will assess all eligible entries and select five finalists. From those five, a separate judging panel appointed by The Junee Bulletin will select the 2026 Judges’ Choice with the announcement to be made at 7pm that night. 

17. Judges‘ decision: The judging panel’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into regarding judging outcomes.

18. People’s Choice: The four remaining finalists will progress to a public People’s Choice vote conducted on The Junee Bulletin’s official Facebook page. Voting will run for 24 hours, commencing at 7am on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 and closing at 7am on Thursday, September 10, 2026.

19. People’s Choice voting: People’s Choice will be determined by the number of valid Facebook reactions received by each finalist’s photograph on the official People’s Choice voting post during the designated voting period. Reactions recorded elsewhere, including on shared posts, will not be counted. Each Facebook account may cast one valid vote. Where a person reacts to more than one finalist’s photograph, The Junee Bulletin reserves the right to exclude that person’s votes from the final count.

20. Vote integrity: The Junee Bulletin reserves the right to investigate and disregard votes reasonably believed to have resulted from fake or duplicate accounts, automated activity, paid engagement, vote-buying, organised engagement manipulation or any other activity intended to artificially influence the result.

21. Voter Prize Draw: Everyone who casts a valid vote in the People’s Choice poll during the designated voting period will automatically receive one entry into the People’s Choice Voter Prize Draw for the chance to win $50 cash. Only one entry into the voter prize draw will be permitted per person, regardless of the number of reactions or other interactions made during the voting period. The voter prize draw will take place following the close of People’s Choice voting at 7am, Thursday, September 10, 2026, with one eligible voter selected at random.

22. Voter Prize eligibility: The People’s Choice Voter Prize Draw is open to all followers of The Junee Bulletin Facebook page. The photographers whose images are participating in the People’s Choice vote are not eligible to enter the voter prize draw.

23. Photography prizes: Two photography prizes of $100 each will be awarded: one to the Judges’ Choice winner and one to the People’s Choice winner. A separate $50 People’s Choice Voter Prize will also be awarded to one eligible voter selected at random. All prizes may be provided in cash or by electronic bank transfer and are not transferable to another person.

24. Winner announcements and contact: The Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice winners will be announced publicly on The Junee Bulletin’s Facebook page and contacted privately via Facebook Messenger or email. The winner of the People’s Choice Voter Prize will also be announced publicly and contacted through their Facebook account. If the voter prize winner cannot be contacted or does not claim their prize within seven days of being notified, The Junee Bulletin reserves the right to conduct a redraw from the remaining eligible voters.

25. Winner verification: Prize winners may be required to provide reasonable proof of identity and eligibility before a prize is awarded. Photography competition winners may also be required to provide reasonable evidence of ownership and authenticity of their winning photograph.

26. Disqualification: The Junee Bulletin reserves the right to reject or disqualify an entry that breaches these terms, cannot reasonably be authenticated, infringes another person’s rights, contains inappropriate or unlawful material, or is otherwise deemed ineligible.

27. Changes or cancellation: If circumstances outside The Junee Bulletin’s reasonable control prevent the competition, judging or public voting from proceeding as planned, The Junee Bulletin reserves the right to reasonably modify, postpone, suspend or cancel the competition or amend the timetable.

28. Facebook/Meta: This promotion is administered by The Junee Bulletin and is not sponsored, endorsed, administered by or associated with Facebook or Meta. Entrants release Facebook and Meta from responsibility in connection with the administration of the promotion to the extent permitted by law.

28. Acceptance of terms: Submission of a photograph constitutes acceptance of these competition terms and conditions.