1.1. Cosplay Photograph of the Year is a part of the Finnish Cosplay Championships.

• 1.1.1. Application period for the competition is 27.01 - 28.02.2026 and will be on Google Forms.

• 1.1.2. The competition awards places 1-3. Winners are obligated to participate in the Cosplay Photograph of the Year stage programme in Arctic Lights Comic Con.

• 1.1.3. Cosplay Photograph of the Year winners will be awarded in Arctic Lights Comic Con on Saturday 16.5.2026.

• 1.1.4. 10 photographs will be selected for the finals. If more photographers apply to the competition, a pre-judging will be organised. Cosvision ry can disqualify entries without judging, if the contestant has not followed the rules.

• 1.1.5. Participants should be citizens of Finland or they should have permanent residence in Finland.

• 1.1.6. Under 18-year-old photographers or model/s must have their guardians permission to participate in the competition.

1.2. The competition is for photographer entries. The photographer will fill the entry form and send the competition application.

• 1.2.1. Even though the competition is for photographers, they should still have the permission of the model/s to send the photo to the competition. The photographer can participate with a self-portrait, where the photographer is the model.

• 1.2.2. The photographer can participate in the competition with one (1) photograph. The photographer can be a model in another photographer's photo that has been entered into the competition.

1.3. The amount of models has not been limited. The photo should have at least one (1) model who appears as a character in the photo.

• 1.3.1. The model or photographer can be a model in multiple competition photos, but they cannot wear the same cosplays.

• 1.3.2. The model’s cosplay should be from a licensed source material. The character needs to be recognisable from the photo. The photographer should inform the source material and character name as they sign up for the competition. Original characters or gijinka’s are not permitted.

• 1.3.3. In the competition the models’ cosplays, craftsmanship or the model's appearance are not evaluated. In the judging the judges may pay more attention to how the photographer has brought forth the character and their outfit and the characteristics.

2.1. The judding will be done before the Finnish Cosplay Championships and Arctic Lights Comic Con event.

• 2.1.1. The jury consists of experienced photographers who will be introduced before the event.

• 2.1.2. The competition is not scored. The judges discuss and select winners based on the competition’s evaluation criteria. In the evaluation the judges will use the contestants entry photo, the raw file of the photo along with what the photographer has written in the application form about the photo idea, about the photoshoot and photoediting.

• 2.1.3. Contestants may ask for feedback from the judges after the competition.

2.2. If more than 10 photographers apply to the competition, pre-judging will be arranged. Pre-judging and final judging will be done by two different juries.

• 2.2.1. If a pre-judging is organised, the finalists will be informed of their spot in the finals by the end of March 2026.

3.1. THE LIMITATIONS OF THE COMPETITION ENTRY

3.1.1. The competition photo should be taken between 1.1.2025 - 28.2.2026. Pictures taken or published before 1.1.2025 will not be accepted into the competition.

3.1.2. You may enter the competition with a photo that has been published prior to entering the competition.

3.1.3. Photos that have been in other competitions can be entered into the competition by the photographer. Previously awarded photographs are permitted in the competition.

3.2. PROVIDING COMPETITION ENTRY MATERIALS

3.2.1. The photographer must provide the competition organizer with the final photo along with the original unedited raw photo.

3.2.2. The raw photo can be a RAW (for example DNG, PEFF, CR2, ARW) or an unedited JPEG/PNG/TIFF. The raw photo should display the original metadata. The metadata should not be deleted or edited. The metadata should include, for example, date information of when the photo was taken.

3.2.3. The photo’s long side should be a minimum of 2048 pixels. The final photo’s recommended formats are JPEG/PNG 150 dpi or higher.

3.2.4. The photo should be named as follows: contestantname_raw.CR2 and contestantname_edit.png.

3.2.5. Competition material should be delivered through a cloud service, such as Dropbox or Google Drive. The shared folder attached to the application form should be publicly visible and all materials should be downloadable. All of the contestants files should be in the same folder named with the contestants name. Along with the original and final photo the contestant should share all other elements or photos that might have been used in editing the final photo.

3.3. EDITING

3.3.1. The photographer is responsible for editing the photo. The editor cannot be the model or another person. The photo cannot be edited with artificial intelligence.

3.3.2. It is permitted to combine picture elements when editing the photo. Elements can be from the photographer's own photos, digital effects or stock photos. If the contestant does not use material they have made themself they should ensure that they have the permission to use them. The elements can be for example backgrounds, effects, reflections, details of the cosplay costume, etc. The use of pictures, elements or materials cannot extend more than 50% of the original photo.

3.3.3. If elements or parts are added from other photos then these photos should be submitted as their own files or as a PDF-summary. Contestant must state whether the materials used are self-made or stock-materials.The material should be named using the contestants name.

• Example 1. If eight (8) hands are added to the photo, the contestant should provide the original file of each photo or collect them together in a PDF-summary. The additional material should be sent in the same folder with the final and raw photos.

• Example 2. If the photo or element has not been made by the contestant they should mention it as they submit the material. If the contestant hasn’t included the photo’s origins, the contestant may be asked to provide the origins of the photo.

3.4. GENERATIVE AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELIGENCE)

3.4.1. The use of generative AI in the creation of competition materials is strictly prohibited. Cosvision does not specify particular programs, applications, or plug-ins the contestant is not allowed to use for producing competition-related materials. The contestant is responsible for the programs and tools they choose to use.

3.4.2. Photo materials and elements must not be generated or modified using generative AI. The contestant may not include AI-generated elements such as backgrounds, buildings, characters or animals in their photos. If the contestant does not create the photo materials or its elements personally, they are responsible for ensuring proper usage rights. Third-party materials must not contain any AI-generated content.

• Note: Intelligent tools that analyze and process the material’s own data are permitted. For example, it is allowed to use Photoshop’s Content-Aware Fill, which analyzes image pixels and fills selected areas with similar ones.

4.1. The contestant agrees to comply with the competition rules, time tables and instructions given by the competition organiser.

4.2. The photo sent to the competition should be displayable in an all ages event, in a public event and on social media. If the competition organiser deems the photo unfit for purpose then the competition organiser can disqualify the photographer’s entry to the competition before judging.

4.3. The photo and its contents cannot break the Finnish law, contain derogatory or offensive contents or advertise existing products or services.

4.4. The photographer is responsible for ensuring that the content of the photo does not infringe or cause damage to the copyrights, trademarks, or intellectual property rights of third parties.

• For example:

  A. Street adverts

  B. Recognisable brands such as. Coca-cola drink

  C. Works of art, movie posters, etc.

4.5. Contestant is bound to secrecy regarding their place in the finals before the contestants are announced and, possibly, their ranking before the Cosplay Photograph of the Year programme is held in Arctic Lights Comic Con.

4.6. If the contestant places in the competition they agree to participate in the stage programme organised in Arctic Lights Comic Con on Saturday 16.5.2026. The contestants who have placed in the top 3 will be contacted personally at the end of March 2026. The contestants will discover their exact placement during the award ceremony at the stage program.

4.7. By participating in the competition, the photographer transfers the rights to use the finished photo to Cosvision ry and other third parties that Cosvision has a co-operative agreement with. The photos can be used, for example, on the website, social media or in marketing future competitions. Cosvision ry will mention the photographer and model/s along with the published photo with the credits provided by the photographer.

5.1. Cosplay Photograph of the Year finalists will receive a weekend ticket to the Arctic Lights Comic Con 2026 event. If the contestant has already purchased a ticket for the event, the ticket vendor's terms and conditions will apply.

5.2. The ticket is granted to the photographer. If the contestant cannot participate in the event for personal reasons the ticket cannot be given to the model or another person.

5.3. If the placed contestant is unable to participate in the event and the stage programme on Saturday due to unexpected personal reasons, they must notify the competition organizers as soon as possible.

6.1. If the contestant does not follow the instructions given or the photo sent to the competition breaks the rules of the competition, their competition entry can be disqualified before judging.

6.2. If, after acceptance into the competition, for example a rule violation is discovered during judging, the contestant can be prevented from placing in the competition or they can be disqualified. If the competition organiser or judges suspect rule violations then the contestant may be asked to provide additional information on the matter.

6.3. The competition is governed by Finnish law. Illegal activity or violation of the law will result in the competitor’s automatic removal from the competition, and the incident will be reported to the authorities.