Words by SiQ Founder, Loli Azuelo
WHAT THIS CHALLENGE IS ALL ABOUT:
Historically, females have been consistently and highly disadvantaged within the automotive scene.
Through the power of photography, Street Ignition Queens creates awareness and acknowledgement that in fact, many women have an active involvement and sincere passion for the automotive genre.
The SiQueen Automotive Photography Challenge gives women a creative outlet to fuse their love for photography and automotive journeys together, to showcase proudly to the world.
SiQ members submit a professionally created landscape image of themselves with their own ride, showing their connection to the automotive scene, along with an accompanying story - what their car / motorbike, the community means to them.
Submissions are judged by a panel of professional photographers to determine the Winning Top 7 images who will be featured in our SiQ Women's Automotive Calendar / Planner and lanyard.
The general public then completes the judging by voting on their favourite from the Top 7 finalists on our Instagram, determining who will be crowned Ms January and therefore the front cover winner!
A percentage of the lanyard and calendar / planner purchased that year is donated to a reputable charity that ViQ Membership holders discuss as a group (they also get to pick the colour of the lanyard!).
HOW TO ENTER
1. You must be a..
Street Ignition Queens Community member and contribute $5AUD to submit your image which will be directly donated to our nominated charity
Or.. An official ViQ Membership holder (your submission is complimentary).
2. You must gain approval from the photographer before submitting your image as we will be crediting their work if your image is featured. You will also be required to upload their logo as part of your submission.
Street Ignition Queens and its affiliates will not be held liable if you do not request and / or receive permission from the photographer to be able to submit, print or for us to use their image on social media - so please respect their art.
3. Only one image submission per SiQ member accepted.
SUBMISSION CHECKLIST
YOUR IMAGE MUST:
Be landscape orientation and high resolution - remember, it will be printed!
Feature your ride (car or motorbike) that you own and incorporate you in it - Yes you SiQueen!! Street Ignition Queens wants to celebrate and be proud of your achievements. We want to focus on the woman behind the wheel. If you own more than one vehicle, you're more than welcome to include them in your single submission.
Tell us your automotive journey. In approximately 3 - 6 paragraphs, you must write a story that matches your submitted image.
Your image must be well composed, creative and thought provoking to compliment your story, showing you as an active automotive SiQueen and in turn, becoming an inspiration to other women across the globe. This could be you simply driving / racing / drifting your ride, or getting dirty and working on it regardless whether it's your first time or you're a seasonal pro - Or even just a gorgeous, composed image of you being by your car's side, along with a story of how your ride or being part of the automotive community has helped you overcome difficult points in your life. Your words must match the image you submit.
You are more than welcome to join forces with another SiQueen and include both yourselves and your rides in the one image, however only one SiQueen featured can enter and the other must forfeit their ability to enter. Don't forget that the compulsory story must incorporate and show the connection between all rides / SiQueens featured in the one image e.g. To showcase an automotive enthusiast family or friends that met through the automotive scene that have supported one another throughout their automotive journeys.
Not include any faces of children!!
IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS
As mentioned, image must be in landscape image (where the top and bottom of your image is are the longest sides) and be submitted in jpeg, .png or .pdf format.
You must have a high resolution version available for printing resolution at 3508 x 2480px at 300dpi.
If featured, the Photographer's high res logo (if applicable) must be provided separately and will be added on the final print proofing step to ensure it won't get cut off. Please let the photographer be aware to send you their logo along with their contact details as you will be asked to provide these if featured so we can correctly and efficiently credit their work.
Please be aware that your image will be converted to pdf (if not already) and there will be at least a 5mm bleed when printing so keep all important elements of your image in the main area.
SiQ Founder Loli Azuelo has the right to deny any images that are low quality, do not send the right positive message or if submissions are either incorrect or do not provide all the details as requested.
If you don't understand or are unsure of any of the above specifications, best to seek the help of a professional photographer to bring out the best of all aspects of your image.
No refunds will be provided if you don't pay attention to any of the above rules and specifications.
HOW TO SUBMIT & VOTE
The link to submit your image will be accessible in our SiQ Community as soon as the submission date opens.
Once $5AUD submission contribution is made, you are then able to upload your high res, landscape image and inspiring automotive story.
Once entries close, a judging panel of professional photographers (to be announced) across the globe will determine the Top 7 images to move on to the final stage of public voting.
We will share the Top 7 finalists on our socials for the general public vote to determine which image and story best resonates with them as a true SiQueen of the automotive scene.
The highest voted image will win the coveted title being crowned Ms January and be featured on the front cover of the upcoming calendar cover as most inspiring SiQueen.
All Top 7 images will also receive an exclusive space, printed on our Winner's Lanyard.
The featured winners will be announced where they're placed in the calendar / planner on our Street Ignition Queens Women's Automotive Community socials.
IMPORTANT DATES
ViQ Membership holders have at least two week priority submission, therefore nearly a month in total to submit their image. This means less stress to submit their images before the deadline.
General SiQ community have only one week to submit their images and must contribute $5AUD when submitting their image which will go directly to charity.
Official ViQ submission dates: 17th May - 13th June 2021
General SiQ submission dates: 7th - 13th June 2021
No more images will be accepted from midnight 14th June 2021
Panel of Professional Photographers Judging: 14th - 20th June 2021
Top 7 announced and public voting: 21st - 27th June 2021
Automotive Recognition Awards [A.R.A] will then begin from 1st July 2021 - All ViQ members are required to place their vote.
THE CHARITY
A nation-wide Australian charity will be announced shortly.
All proceeds from the general SiQ community submission contribution will go directly to the charity.
$2 from every calendar and lanyard sold in 2021 will also be donated directly to this charity.
SiQ RECOMMENDED PRO AUTOMOTIVE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Phonix Photography | Rox Guzman [NSW]
Carpe Diem Photography | Tova Ethell [WA]
Mick Focus Photography | Mick Focus [QLD]
