What makes Montgomery County such a great place to live? Send us original photographs depicting the best of our community as part of the Planning Department’s 2008 photo contest. View the photo contest brochure (pdf, 387KB).
Winning photographers will receive a cash award ranging from $75 to $300 and have their images displayed at a number of Montgomery County public events, published in Planning Department publications and posted on our site. The Planning Department will publicize winners through a variety of methods, including press releases. Please read all contest rules and complete a photo contest entry form to submit your work. The Planning Department is part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).
Deadline
We must receive all entries by August 20, 2008. We will announce winners at the Magical Montgomery Festival on September 27 in downtown Silver Spring.
Details
We seek creative, striking photos that demonstrate what’s great about our community. Your entries might illustrate some of the following:
- Downtown urban scenes
- Rural life
- Parks/Trails
- People
- Buildings
- Public spaces
Rules
All photographs must be taken in Montgomery County by county residents. Our contest offers two categories: adult and youth. All under-18 contest participants must join the youth contest and have their forms submitted – or agreement to our online terms and conditions confirmed – by their parent or legal guardian. M-NCPPC employees and their immediate family members are not eligible. All photographs must be in color and must have been taken since January 1, 2007. Each participant must not submit more than five photos and is eligible to win only one prize.
Awards
We will award first, second and third-place prizes in both adult and youth categories with prizes as follows:
- 1st prize: $300
- 2nd prize: $150
- 3rd prize: $75
Format
Entries may be color prints or high-resolution digital images. Black and white images are not eligible. Read our guidelines for submitting your entry.
Use Rights
Entries must be submitted by the original photographer. Photos will be credited to the photographer named in the entry form in initial publicity, although the agency may not always run photo credits in all subsequent uses.
Submission of the photo and signature on the entry form grants the Montgomery County Planning Department and its sister agencies (the Department of Parks and the Planning Board) unlimited rights to use the images in perpetuity. Some of the uses of any submitted photo, regardless of whether it wins the contest, may include: 1) displaying the photo at public events, such as the county fair; 2) displaying the photo at one of our agency buildings; 3) posting a low-res copy of the image at our website; 4) publishing the image in Planning Department brochures, master plans and other publications; 5) other uses to be determined.
Entries will never be used by the Montgomery County Planning Department for profit. In the event that ownership of any photograph submitted to the Planning Department is contested in any manner, the department retains the right to disqualify that photograph. No entries will be returned, and no additional fees or other forms of compensation beyond an initial contest award will be forthcoming. In future uses, we may crop, rotate or otherwise alter images to fit various formats.
Restrictions
- Images must be appropriate for display by a public agency, and we will disqualify obscene, provocative or otherwise questionable content. The Planning Department retains sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content.
- Photographers must obtain consent from all readily identifiable people pictured.
- Professional photographers (who make more than 50 percent of their annual salary through photography or have been widely published) are not eligible.
- Images should not be digitally enhanced or contain artistic features such as watermarks, borders and digital filters.
- Each entrant cannot submit more than five photos and is eligible to win only one prize.
Judging
The Planning Department will rate images on the basis of creativity, photographic quality and their ability to tell a positive story about Montgomery County. A panel consisting of Planning Department staff, a Washington Post photographer and members of the community (such as professionals in photography, graphic design, marketing, public relations, and community planning) will judge all entries. Entries that fail to comply with contest rules will be disqualified.
Winners will be notified approximately 2-3 weeks after the contest deadline using the contact information on the entry form.
Guidelines for Submitting Images
Participants may send digital images for the contest online, although you must agree to our terms and conditions before submitting. You also may save digital photographs on a CD and submit accompanied by a signed entry form for each image. Prints must be mailed with a completed and signed entry form(s) (see further instructions below). If you are submitting multiple entries, be sure to indicate clearly which form belongs with each photo. Entries must be received by the Planning Department no later than August 15, 2008.
Digital images must be submitted via email in a JPEG format in a high resolution of at least 1024 x 768 pixels. (2000 or 3000 pixels wide preferred.) Typically, quality settings between 8 and 12 yield very good results. Panoramic photos are not eligible. Black and white, sepia tone, and duotone images are not eligible. Digital images will not be returned. You must agree to the photo contest terms and conditions before you can submit your entry online.
Prints must be 4 x 6 inches or 5 x 7 inches and must be in color. Participants must attach a label to the back of each print with their name and address. If submitting multiple entries, number each print (on the back) to match a corresponding entry form. Prints will not be returned. Mail prints and accompanying entry form(s) to the address provided.
Enter the contest
Click here to enter the contest
or print a version of the submittal form.
Download the photo contest brochure (pdf, 387KB).
