Community Guidelines & Craft Standards.
ShutterQuest is built on mutual respect and photographic truth. Every member pledges adherence to these operational standards.
Strict Zero-Generative AI Policy
Submissions must be captured with physical optical cameras (digital sensors or analog film chemistry). Synthetic diffusion models (Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E, Flux, generative fill, or AI object insertion) are strictly prohibited from quest entries.
Hardware EXIF & Film Stock Verification
When submitting to active quests, our verification pipeline extracts optical camera metadata (make, model, lens, exposure settings) while stripping private GPS coordinates. For scanned analog film, photographers record the camera body, film stock, and development notes in their submission brief.
Constructive Anonymous Jury Conduct
During the 7-day Anonymous Jury, creator identities are sealed until the Day 8 Reveal Date so every frame is evaluated purely on visual merit. Do not apply visible watermarks or signatures to quest submissions, and do not coordinate off-platform voting. Written critiques (minimum 120 characters across Composition, Lighting, Storytelling, and Technical Execution) must Critique the Frame, Never the Person.
Complete Ownership of Your Work
You retain 100% copyright, intellectual property, and licensing rights over every frame you upload. ShutterQuest will never sell, sub-license, or feed your photographs into generative AI training datasets.