May 21 / 16

I told you I find you something great…..Do you have what it takes to create an award-winning photograph? If you do you might want to see what the Smithsonian is up to…….

(cred: Smithsonian)

An eastern screech owl….photography by Graham McGeorge (Jacksonville, Florida). McGeorge was one of the winners of the 11th Annual photo contest.

Photo Contest Rules

Term:
Smithsonian.com’s 14th Annual Photo Contest begins March 22, 2016, and ends November 30, 2016, at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST). By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest and states that he or she is 18 years old or older.

Who may enter:

The Grand Prize, Readers’ Choice prize, Natural World, Travel, People, The American Experience and Mobile category prizes are open to photographers who are 18 years old or older. The Sustainable Travel category prize, made possible through the support of United Eco-Skies, is restricted to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Colombia. Individuals affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, including employees, emeriti, Regents, trustees, interns, volunteers, fellows, research associates and their immediate families (children, siblings and spouses), and employees of United Airlines, Inc. (Sponsor), its parent or affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children), and others living in their households are not eligible for any prize. The Smithsonian will determine winners’ eligibility in its sole discretion.

Sponsors:  Smithsonian Institution and United Airlines

What to enter:
The following six contest categories are drawn from subjects of special interest to Smithsonian.com:

1.     Natural World: Animals, plants and landscapes; geological or climatological features; and scientific processes and endeavors.

2.     Travel: Locales, peoples or activities in the United States and abroad that convey a sense of place.

3.     People: Individuals from all walks of life.

4.     The American Experience: Events, objects or activities connecting the American people to their history or their cultural heritage; photographs that tell us what it means to be an American and provide a sense of what it is like to live in this country.

5.     Altered Images: Photographs manipulated for artistic purposes by applying digital and/or traditional special effects (i.e., colorizing, toning, collage, photo composites, HDR, etc.).

6.     Mobile: The Smithsonian will award a prize to the best photograph submitted in any of the other categories that was taken with a mobile device (phone or tablet).

7.     The Sustainable Travel category, made possible through the support of United Eco-Skies, returns for its second year. The award for this category, the Eco-Skies Sustainable Travel Leadership Award, recognizes a photographer who demonstrates leadership and an active commitment to travel for environmentally responsible purposes, generating positive social, economic, or environmental outcomes in the local communities traveled to and ensuring the destination remains an attractive place to live, work and visit for future generations. Examples of sustainable travel projects include:

·      Environmental conservation and reforestation

·      Eco-construction and restoration projects

·      Local community enrichment and empowerment volunteering

·      Environmental awareness and education

·      Exemplary eco-conscious visitor behavior

Entries in this seventh category should address the question: What does a sustainable travel project look like to you? Entries also must be accompanied by a 100-word or less photo caption describing the photo’s content and story behind the photo.

To be eligible for any category, a photograph must have been shot by the entrant since January 1, 2014.

Cropped photos are eligible in all categories. We do not accept digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered photos, except for those entered in the Altered Images category. Minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast and slight color adjustment or the digital equivalents, are acceptable for all categories. If the judges determine that a photographer has altered his or her photo, they reserve the right to move the photo to Altered Images or to disqualify it.

For a photo in which a person is recognizable, you must secure a model release from the subject or, in the case of a minor, the subject’s parent or guardian and provide it to the Smithsonian upon request. A sample model release is available here. A sample model release for the Sustainable Travel category, sponsored by United Eco-Skies, is available here.

*If you have a signed model release, please retain it in your personal files. If you are selected as a finalist, you will be asked to submit the release at that time.

Similarly, entrants whose photos depict other people’s work (such as sculptures, statues, paintings, and other copyrightable works) may be need to obtain a release from the rights holder and provide it to the Smithsonian upon request. When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person’s creation. A sample art release is available here.

Photographs that have won other major photo contests, either online or in print, as determined by the Smithsonian, are not eligible for submission. If a photograph wins another major photo contest post submission, it is not eligible for a prize, but may still be recognized as an Editor’s Pick or Photo of the Day. We define winning as having won a grand prize or 1st, 2nd or 3rd place overall. Photos that violate or infringe upon another person’s rights, including but not limited to copyright, are not eligible.

Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent or other objectionable or inappropriate content, as determined by the Smithsonian in its sole discretion, are ineligible for all categories of this contest.

How to enter:

Please submit photographs and requested information online through our website at smithsonian.com/photocontest. You may submit no more than fifteen (15) photographs per category for a contest total of ninety (90) submissions. In order to be displayed in our online gallery without being stretched or distorted, photographs must be submitted in .jpeg, .jpg or .gif format, edited for web, at least 2,000 pixels wide and no larger than 10 MB. You must complete a separate form for each photo submitted.

We do not accept photographs submitted through the mail and do not accept more than one contestant per e-mail address. High-quality scans of non-digital photographs are acceptable. Digital photographs should be taken at the highest resolution possible.

Finalists will be asked to submit an original, unedited digital file or an original negative, print or slide. Original negatives, prints or slides will be returned to finalists.

The Smithsonian Institution reserves the right to disqualify incomplete entries and/or contestants who are unable to submit, upon request, a high-resolution photograph of at least 300 dpi at 3,000 pixels on the longest side or an original photo negative, print or slide. Mobile photographs are exempt from this requirement, but must be submitted at their highest resolution.

The Smithsonian may collect a photograph’s metadata upon entry.

You retain your rights to your photograph; however, by entering the contest, you grant the Smithsonian Institution (and those authorized by the Smithsonian) a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed, for any Smithsonian Institution purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and promotion of the magazine and its website, exhibition, and commercial products, including but not limited to Smithsonian Institution publications. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit as feasible. The Smithsonian Institution will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

Photos entered into the Sustainable Travel photo contest category also grant these rights to the category sponsor, United Airlines, Inc.

Entry deadline:

The contest begins on March 22, 2016. All entries must be received through Smithsonian.com by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on November 30, 2016.

You have plenty of time……but don’t procrastinate too long!

Judging:

Photo entries will be judged based on creativity, quality, originality, responsiveness to the prompt and overall impact, except that (i) the Eco-Skies Sustainable Travel Leadership Award judging will evaluate the photo and accompanying caption using the above criteria and (ii) the Readers’ Choice award will be determined based on which of the finalists receives the most votes.

Judging will be conducted by the editors of Smithsonian and Smithsonian.com. The Smithsonian will select 10 finalists per category, a winner for each category, and a Grand Prize winner from the 70 finalists; except that the category sponsor United Airlines will participate in the final selection of the Sustainable Travel category winner, and a Readers’ Choice winner will be selected from among the 70 finalists based on public voting. Winning photographs will be announced on Smithsonian.com in spring 2017.

The 70 finalists will be notified of their status by February 20, 2017 and will appear on our website in spring 2017. At that time, the public can vote on our website for one Readers’ Choice winner from among the 70 finalists. The Readers’ Choice winner will be revealed online in spring 2017.

The Smithsonian will notify the winner via the contact information provided at the time of entry; the Smithsonian may disqualify anyone who fails to respond to the notification within five business days.

Please do not contact us about the status of entries or judging.

Prizes: Nine prizes will be awarded, as follows:

Grand Prize: $2,500

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/rules/#kq2SAAxHrv3X1t5x.99
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To finish reading the contest rules go to www.smithsonian.org/photocontest/rules.

featured image:  Christopher Doherty (North Palm Beach, Florida). Finalist: Natural World. Breath at sunset, captures a sea turtle at a dive site called Black Rock. www.thisiscolossial.com