Deadline Approaches For Smithsonian.com Photo Contest

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The Smithsonian.com’s 14th Annual Photo Contest which began on  March 22, 2016 will be concluded on  November 30, 2016, at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).

There are six original categories; to be eligible for any category, a photograph must have been shot by the entrant since January 1, 2014. The categories include Natural World, Travel, People, the American Experience, Altered Images, and Mobile. Details of these categories can be found on the Smithsonian.com website.

Additionally, 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, recognises 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 travelled to and ensuring the destination remains an attractive place to live, work and visit for future generations.

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 Columbia.  The Smithsonian will determine winners’ eligibility in its sole discretion.

Interested entrants would be required to submit photographs and request  information online through smithsonian.com/photocontest.

One entrant may submit no more than fifteen (15) photographs per category for a contest total of ninety (90) submissions. In order to stretch or curb  distortion, 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.

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

Nine prizes will be awarded, as follows: Grand Prize: $2,500; Category Winners: The winners of each of the other six categories, including Mobile, will receive $500; Readers’ Choice: The winner of the online Readers’ Choice award will receive $500. There is only one cash prize per person; however, winners may receive additional noncash prizes.

Cropped photos are eligible in all categories. However, digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered photos are unacceptable, except for those entered in the Altered Images category, although minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast and slight colour adjustment or the digital equivalents, are acceptable for all categories.

For a photo in which a person is recognizable, entrants are expected to 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.

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. 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.

Interested entrants are advised to carefully consult http://www.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/rules/?no-ist for more information.