FAQs
We’ve given mind reading a go and tried to anticipate any questions you might have. If you can’t find an answer here, feel free to send us an email.
Q: Am I more likely to win if I take a photo of a red balloon as opposed to making a red balloon out of something else?
A: No. Real red balloons and creations of red balloons – drawings, made out of food etc. – will be judged equally.
Q: Why a photo of a red balloon?
A: Because we are RedBalloon! And we thought painting the world red would be an awesome way for you to celebrate 10 years of good times with us.
Q: Can I Photoshop an entry?
A: Yes, you can! You can do whatever it takes to produce an original image of a red balloon.
Q: When will I know if I have won?
A: We will contact our winners by email by Friday 28 October and will also publish their names on this website.
Q: How long does the competition run for?
A: The competition runs for six weeks, from Monday 12 September to Monday 24 October at midday.
Q: What are the terms and conditions?
A: They are too numerous to list on this page! You can read the full Terms and Conditions here.
Q: Can I enter if I am under 18 years of age?
A: Yes, you can enter, but you must get the consent of a parent or guardian and if your photo wins the prize will be awarded to your parent or guardian, who may then give it to you. See our Terms and Conditions for more details.
Q: Can I be disqualified for any reason?
A: Yes – but hopefully not! If you take a photo that is deemed inappropriate it will be disqualified and removed from the competition site. If your Grandma or boss wouldn’t approve, we probably won’t either! See our Terms and Conditions for full details.
Q: Help! People can’t vote for my photo!
A: Our voting function only allows one vote per entry per IP address, so if you are trying to vote from the same network of computers that someone else has already voted from it probably won’t work. The ‘Vote’ button will say ‘Voted’ if this is the case. Try again from a computer on another network – your home computer, work computer or mobile device.
Q: How does People’s Choice work?
A: If someone likes your photo, they can vote for it. When the competition closes, we will tally the votes and our judges will choose a winner from the three most voted for entries. They will then choose five runners up from the 15 most voted for entries.
Q: What if there is a tie?
A: The tied entries will make up the three most voted for or 15 most voted for entries, which the judges will then choose from. If, for example, there are four top entries with the same number of votes, the judges will choose the first prize from all four.
Q: What are the judges looking for?
A: The judges will be assessing your entry based on creativity and artistic merit. The Judges’ Choice Award also has five runners up categories, each with its own judging criteria. You can read more about the categories here and check out some tips for taking a better photo here.
Q: I don’t know much about photography. Do I have a chance?
A: Of course you do! Artistic merit is not the only judging criteria, we will also be looking for creativity, and you don’t need to know anything about photography in order to be creative. We also have different judging criteria for the five runners up in the Judges’ Choice Award .
Q: I have uploaded my photo but my entry page is blank!
A: It sounds like your image was too big. If this happens, email us and let us know and we will remove your entry so you can make another one. We don’t accept images that are bigger than 2MB, so if need be you should downsize your image using Photoshop or a free online image editor such as picnik.com.
Q: I’ve entered my photo, but I can’t see it on the front page.
A: New entries take up to 24 hours to appear on the front page of the website, however until this happens you can still view your entry by going to the link directly, and you can share it with people by sending them this link also. You would have been provided with the link to your photo on the confirmation page that was displayed after you submitted your entry. If you can’t remember what the link is, then you’ll just have to wait! But don’t worry, your picture will show up soon.
Q: What can I do with my RedBalloon Gift Certificate if i win?
A: You can use your Gift Certificate to buy anything, or any number of things, from RedBalloon up to the value of the Gift Certificate. The winners will have a whopping $2,000 to spend and the runners up will have $500. You can choose from experiences such as getaways, hot air balloon flights, V8 racing, day spas and much, much more! Check out RedBalloon for the full range.
