Smithsonian.com

Photo Contest FAQs

When will the winners be announced?
The grand prize winner, category winners and readers’ choice winner will be announced in the magazine and on our Web site in summer 2009.

How about the finalists?
The 50 finalists will be announced on our Web site on March 2, 2009.

What is the readers’ choice winner?
Readers will select one winner from the 50 finalists by an online vote at www.smithsonian.com. The voting will begin March 2, 2009. The readers’ choice winner will be revealed in summer 2009 along with the grand prize and category winners.

What is Picture This?
Picture This is an online picture gallery on our Web site, updated on a regular basis by our judges. The gallery will include the editors’ picks of the incoming entries as they are submitted to the contest. All entries submitted to the Photo Contest are eligible to be considered for Picture This.

What are the prizes?

Grand prize winner:
A four-day, three-night Smithsonian Journeys Grand Canyon Weekend Adventure for two from July 17-20, 2009, or the wholesale cash equivalent.

Category winners:
Winners of each of the five categories will receive $500.

Readers’ choice winner:
One readers’ choice winner, selected by online vote, will receive $500.

Will I be notified if I was NOT chosen as a finalist or winner?
Due to the large number of submissions, only the 50 finalists will be notified of their status by February 28, 2009. If you do not hear from Smithsonian by February 28, then you are neither a finalist nor a winner.

How many photos can I enter into the contest?
You may enter no more than three (3) photographs in each of the five categories with a total contest submission of fifteen (15) photographs.

I share an e-mail address with another person. Can we both enter under the same e-mail address?
We accept one contestant per e-mail address. You can easily obtain a free e-mail address from a number of sites, including Yahoo.com and Hotmail.com.

How do I submit my photograph?
You can submit your photograph, or a high-quality scan of your photograph, online at http://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com. We do not accept entries submitted through the postal mail.

Do you accept non-digital photographs?
Yes, we accept high-quality scanned images of non-digital photographs.

Can I enter if I live outside the United States?
Yes, but photographs must be uploaded by 2pm, Eastern Time, Monday December 1, 2008.

Can an old photo be entered?
Only photographs that have been taken in the past three years are eligible. Photographs that were taken before January 1, 2006 are not eligible.

Will negatives and slides, which will be requested of finalists, be returned?
All original material, including slides and negatives, will be returned to finalists.

Do I need release forms for people in my photo?
If they are recognizable, and especially if they are children, you need a release form, which you should be able to provide upon Smithsonian’s request. A sample release is available at:  http://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/v6/6th-ModelRelease.doc.

I want to submit a photograph of a stranger(s), that was shot spontaneously or in another country. There is no way I will be able to get their signature for a model release. What do I do?
Please contact the Photo Contest at photocontest@si.edu and provide a detailed description of the circumstances of your photograph and we will review your query.

Can I enter a photograph if I no longer have the negative?
If a photograph taken on film does not have a slide or negative, it cannot be entered into the contest.

What if my digital photograph does not have a resolution of 300 dpi, or more, at at least 5 x 7 inches?
Without this essential requirement, Smithsonian editors cannot consider your photograph as a possible finalist or winner in our contest.

Can photographs be cropped?
Yes.

Can photographs be manipulated or enhanced?
Only photographs entered into our Altered Images category can be digitally or traditionally manipulated or enhanced.

What does it mean when you say photographs in four of your five categories may not be “enhanced or altered”?
Contestants cannot construct photographs from pieces of other photographs. Minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, contrast and slight color adjustments, or the digital equivalents, are acceptable for all five categories. You may, for example, submit a black and white photo as color and vice versa. If our judges see that a photo has obviously been altered by the photographer, they have the right to disqualify it or move it to our Altered Images category.

What size should my digital image be for uploading with the on-line entry form?
Files submitted may not be larger than 2,048k (2Mb). Please be aware that you will need to have a higher-resolution image on hand, at least 300 dpi at 5 x 7 inches, to be considered in the final rounds of the contest.

Will you change the category if you think I put my photograph into the wrong one?
Yes. If appropriate, Smithsonian judges will change the category of your submission. This will not affect your eligibility to win.

I entered by photo into another contest and it won. Can I enter it into this contest?
Photographs that have won other contests, both online and in print, are not eligible for submission. We define winning as having won a grand prize and having won 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd place overall.

Is it OK to enter a photograph that has been on my home page?
Yes, your photograph is eligible for submission. However, photographs that have been published (except online) are not eligible.

I am a Smithsonian Institution intern. Can I enter?
No. Smithsonian Institution employees, Regents, trustees, interns, volunteers, fellows and research associates are ineligible to enter the contest.

I’m 17 years old. Can I enter the contest?
We are sorry, but you will need to be 18 as of December 1, 2008—the final day of submission—to qualify.

What rights to my photograph do I retain?
You retain your rights to your photograph; however, by entering the contest, you grant the Smithsonian Institution a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce, and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or subsequently 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. Photographs may appear on the Smithsonian Journeys Web site as well as in Journeys publications. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit.  The Smithsonian Institution will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

Where can I send questions and feedback?
Please submit further questions through our feedback form.