The 2026 North American Butterfly Photo Contest opens September 1st!
1st Place - Rio Grande Prix: $700 prize; 2nd Place - Runner-Up: $300 prize.
Winning photos may be displayed at the National Butterfly Center and/or in the Winter 2026 issue of American Butterflies Magazine.
On September 1, the contest entry form will be available on this page, where you can upload your photos and pay the entry fee.
By entering you agree to the contest terms of use. There is a $25 flat fee per entry, which covers the submission of up to five (5) photos; all photos you wish to enter must be uploaded at the time of entry, as you won't be able to upload additional photos at a later date. For this reason, please have all photos you wish to enter into consideration for the contest ready to upload at once. Note: contestants may enter as many times as they wish and submit up to five (5) images per entry.
Winners will be announced at the Texas Butterfly Festival Banquet on November 9th, 2026. We hope to see you at the festival!(opens in new tab)
2026 Photo Contest Rules
Sponsor
The North American Butterfly Photo Contest is sponsored by the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) at the National Butterfly Center, a project of NABA.
National Butterfly Center
Eligibility
The Contest is open to everyone, except contest judges, employees, officers and directors of NABA.
Submission Requirements
- Photographs must be entered in a one-time submission beginning September 1, 2026 and ending September 30, 2026.
- Photographs must be of at least one adult, free and unrestrained butterfly taken in the field in North America (Canada, Mexico, or the United States). Photos taken in butterfly zoos are ineligible.
- Submit images in JPEG/.jpg format in a file size no larger than 5MB.
- Photographs must be submitted by the owner of the copyright for the photos.
- Photos will not be considered with copyright, watermark or other feature that identifies the photographer or obscures the image.
- If the photograph contains a recognizable person(s), that person(s) must provide a written, signed and dated permission form, granting NABA the right to use the photo in accordance with the contest's Terms of Use.
- All images must have been taken between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026.
By entering, you agree to the terms of use. You will be asked for:
- your name,
- email address,
- phone number,
- name of butterfly, and
- location where photograph was taken.
Terms of Use
Your email will be used only to verify the validity of the content/images provided and to notify you if you are selected as a winner of the photo contest. Your email will also be added to the NBC and NABA databases, for future communications; however, your personal information and email address will never be shared with or sold with any other organization.
Additional Photo Requirements
Photos submitted for consideration may be edited and cropped. Photos are evaluated based upon both technical skill and artistic ability. Submitted photographs must accurately represent the butterfly and scene as they appeared when photographed. Standard photographic processing, as listed below, is permitted, but alterations that change the content of the original scene are not permitted.
Permitted adjustments include:
- Cropping
- Minor exposure or brightness adjustments
- White balance
- Minor color, contrast and saturation adjustments
- Highlights and shadows
- Rotating the photo
AI-generated images are not eligible. Neither generative artificial intelligence nor any other method may be used to create, add, remove, replace, reconstruct, or substantially alter the butterfly, plants, background, or other elements of the original photograph. This includes:
- Adding or removing butterflies, plants, people, objects, or other elements
- Moving or duplicating elements within a photograph
- Cloning elements
- Composite photographs created from different scenes
- Replacing or artificially generating backgrounds
- Generative Fill, Generative Expand, or similar AI-generated content
- Changing butterfly markings, wing condition, shape, or appearance
- Significant color alteration that misrepresents the butterfly or scene
- Removing natural elements that were present around or in front of the butterfly
- Watermarks, signatures, borders, or identifying marks
Ethical Considerations
Photographs must depict a living adult butterfly that was free and unrestrained when photographed. Butterflies may not be harmed, handled, restrained, chilled, trapped, staged, relocated, or otherwise manipulated for the purpose of obtaining a photograph. Photographers should avoid damaging vegetation, host plants, nectar plants, or habitat in obtaining an image.
License and Indemnification
I hereby grant to the National Butterfly Center and the North American Butterfly Association, and their certified chapters, (together, “Licensees”) a royalty-free, perpetual license to use the photographic images submitted herewith (the "Work") for any purpose whatsoever. Uses may include, but are not limited to, promotion of Licensees and their projects in any way, including on the web, in print publications, as distributed to the media, and in commercial products. Licensees reserve the right to use/not use any Work as deemed appropriate by Licensees in their sole discretion. I have received permission from any identifiable individual(s) in the photography. No Work will be returned once submitted.
I understand that by checking this online form, I hereby acknowledge that Licensees shall bear no responsibility whatsoever for protecting my work against third party infringement of my copyright interest or other intellectual property rights or other rights I may hold in such Work, and in no way shall be responsible for any losses I may suffer as a result of any such infringement; and I hereby represent and warrant that my Work does not infringe the rights of any other individual or entity.
In exchange for valuable consideration, I do hereby unconditionally release, hold harmless and indemnify Licensees, their directors, officers, members, employees and volunteers of and from all claims, liabilities and losses arising out of or in connection with my participation in the contest, Licensees’ use of my Work. This release and indemnification shall be binding upon me, and my heirs, executors, administrators and assigns.
Completion of the photo contest entry process (including providing personal information, uploading photos, and paying the entry fee) constitutes acceptance of the contest terms.
Judging
Judges will review all the entries. All winning photographs will be posted on the NBC website and all submitted photographs may, at the sole discretion of NABA, also be printed in American Butterflies and/or printed and/or shown on a video monitor for exhibition at the NBC.
Photos will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Technical Quality - focus, exposure, use of light, depth of field and other technical considerations.
Composition & Artistic Merit - composition, framing, camera angle, color, and visual impact.
Originality & Subject - originality, behavior, moment captured, and choice or presentation of the butterfly subject.
All decisions of the judges on all matters relating to the competition are final.
The Sponsor is not responsible for entries that cannot be processed due to network, hardware or other technical failures or lost e-mails. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to halt the Contest if it becomes technically corrupted or because of unauthorized human intervention. If the Contest is halted, the Sponsor reserves the right to judge the eligible entries received and award the prizes.
Awarding of Prizes
Winners will be notified by e-mail and phone. If a prize winner does not respond to claim the prize within 15 days of notification, the prize will be forfeited. If a prize is returned as undeliverable, the prize will be forfeited. This Contest is void where prohibited and is subject to all applicable laws. Any applicable taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners.
Prizes are as follows:
1st Place - Rio Grande Prix: $700
2nd Place - Runner-Up: $300
Thank You to Our Sponsors
