Coaster101 Photography Contest 2021: Enter Your Coaster Photos

The Coaster101 Photo Contest is back! The time has come to break out those cameras and share your best photography skills.

The 2021 Coaster101 Photo Contest features three entry categories: steel coasters, wooden coasters and a “coaster-less” category.

Photo entries will be accepted through Wednesday, August 25, 2021. Submitting your photos is easy — just use the form at the bottom of this page.

Update: the entry period has ended. Voting will begins soon!

Below are details about this year’s entry categories:

Photo Entry Categories

1. Steel Coaster Photos

Photos in this category should contain at least one steel coaster. They must not be noticeably altered (via Photoshop or a similar image editor). Minor retouching is acceptable, as are black-and-white photos. If a photo contains a steel and wooden coaster, the steel coaster must be the focal point.

2020 Steel Coaster Category Winner (Bob K.)

2. Wooden Coaster Photos

Photos should contain at least one wooden coaster. They must not be noticeably altered. Minor retouching is acceptable, as are black-and-white photos. If a photo contains a steel and wooden coaster, the wooden coaster must be the focal point.

2020 Wooden Coaster Category Winner (Jack L.)

3. Coaster-less Photos

These “coaster-less” photos must be taken at an amusement or theme park, but the photos themselves cannot have a roller coaster in the frame. The focus should be on something else: a flat ride, food, a show, etc. — be as creative as you’d like.

2019 Coaster-less Category Winner (Josh B.)

Note: We reserve the right to omit photos from this category if we cannot determine whether or not they were actually taken at a park. Be sure to include the park name in the description with your entry.

Rules & Information

Entries will be accepted through Wednesday, August 25, at 11:59 p.m. CST.
You may enter one photo per category.
Photos may be no larger than 2mb in size.
Photos must be at least 1080 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall.
Photos must be submitted in the JPEG (or .JPG) format.
The photo submitted must have been taken by the person entering.
Entries in the steel coaster and wooden coaster categories should contain at least one roller coaster in the photo.
If a photo entered in the steel or wooden coaster categories contains two or more coasters, the focus should be on a steel or wooden coaster, dependent on the category.
Photos entered in the “Coaster-less” category can, of course, not contain roller coasters (even in the background).
Do not add text or watermarks to any photos.
Photos may not be significantly altered with software such as Photoshop.
No park rules may be broken while taking the photos. If a park doesn’t allow on-ride photography, then do not submit a photo taken on the ride.
By entering a photo, the photographer agrees to allow Coaster101 to (1) post the photo on Coaster101.com, Coaster101’s social media pages (including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) and (2) use the photo for future photo contest promotions.
NOTE: Depending on the number and quality of photos entered, the Coaster101 team reserves the right to omit any photo from the public voting stage without notice or explanation.

Need to resize your photos? Try the simple and free Optimizilla image compression tool to optimize your photos without reductions in quality.

iPhone users, you can download a free image resizing app such as “Image Size.”

Android users, a similar Photo & Picture Resizer app is available for free on Google Play.

Winners

Two winners will be named for each of the three categories: one determined by readers’ votes and the other selected by the Coaster101 team. Each category will also have two honorable mentions: one determined by readers and the other determined by the Coaster101 team.

Winners will receive a Coaster101 prize pack including prizes from parks across the country and a print of their winning photo!

Voting

Voting will begin soon after the entry period concludes and will last for one week. Readers’ choice winners will be determined by votes gathered via a Facebook image gallery for each category. Every “like” a photo receives will count as one vote.