Greening the Apple’s First Reader Submitted
Photo Contest

A Greener Apple Photo Contest—Call for Submissions

You are invited to participate in Greening the Apple’s first photography contest. The topic is, “What does sustainability look like in New York City?” Pick your best work, submit your photos easily online, and have a chance at some exposure and recognition on our blog. Photography is story-telling. Share your stories with the rest of us.  Your deadline is midnight, August 12, 2011 (EST).

You might ask, “What is sustainability?” For our purposes here, sustainability incorporates strategies, events, and procedures that meet society’s present needs without compromising the needs for future generations. Sustainable development can be facilitated by policies that integrate environmental, economic, and social values in decision making. This topic is meant to be broad—a way to link your life and what you see to your own definition of sustainability. In other words, how do you see New York City’s connection to the environment?

Who is eligible to enter?

Any citizen from any country, as long as you are 18. If you’re under 18, have a parent or guardian submit your work for you. EPA employees who are not on the contest selection committee are encouraged to submit photo entries.  Please read photo submission guidelines for theme requirements listed below.

When can I enter?

You can submit photos any time between now and August 12^th, 2011 at midnight EST.

How do I enter?

Entering is easy. The contest runs through Flickr.com, a photo-sharing Web site. If you don’t have an account, signing up is free, simple and fast. Only Flickr.com members will be permitted to submit photos.

Follow these steps:

1.       Choose your best work

2.       Create a Flickr account if you don’t have one (see http://www.flickr.com/ and click on “Sign up now”)

3.       Upload your photos to your account

a.       In your photo’s description:

i.      Share where the photo was taken

ii.      Give a short (15 words or less) description of the photo to help us understand the context

4.       Join “A Greener Apple’s” group(http://www.flickr.com/groups/agreenerapple/) Once on the page, click “add photos”

5.       Select your photos from your photo stream and click “add to group” on the right hand side of your screen

6.       Your photos will become a part of the Group Pool

7.       Photos can be any size, as Flickr will resize them automatically (see http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/)

8.       Tag your photos “A Greener Apple” so people can easily find them.

What Can I Enter?

This contest’s theme is, “What does sustainability look like in New York City?” Do your best to show the judges your connection to this theme, as it is described at the top of these instructions.  Your photos can be of people, buildings, wildlife, issues, bodies of water, events, issues, etc. Be sure that your submission is consistent with our guidelines listed below.  EPA reserves the right to remove photo submissions that are not consistent with these guidelines.

Contest entrants may ….

• Enter photos that have been taken within the New York City Metro area
• Enter color, black and white, desaturated, and even infrared photos
• Edit photos however you would like
• Enter photos taken at any date or time
• Enter up to three photos
• Enter photos that have been published or used elsewhere, so long as you have permission to do so and can demonstrate such permission upon request
• And please note: we have recently made a minor change to our previously posted copyright policy at the bottom of this page.

Contest entrants may NOT ….

• Enter photos you have not personally taken or created
• Enter photos that are copyrighted or contain other proprietary material unless you clearly indicate you have permission to do so
• Enter photos that depict another person’s or other entity’s work or that promote or endorse services or products (e.g., a photo of a painting or piece of artwork that represents the majority of your photo)
• Enter a photo that significantly features a recognizable commercial brand or product
• Enter a photo that contains obscene, indecent or profane language or images
• Enter a photo that contains threats or defamatory statements
• Enter a photo that contains hate speech directed at race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, religion or disability; or
• Enter a photo that for any other reason would be illegal or prohibited by law.

Awards

• The winner will have his or her photo featured as part of EPA’s “Photo Friday” blog post on “Greening the Apple.”  EPA will not pay a monetary prize or provide any other item of value to the winners.  By submitting photos for this contest, entrants acknowledge that they will not receive monetary prizes or other compensation.

Featuring

The selection committee will review the submitted photos and pick a winning photo based upon the photo’s ability to creatively showcase the theme described at the top of these instructions. The winner will be announced in late August.

Other Information

Do I need a Flickr account to participate?

You will need a Flickr account to submit photos for “A Greener Apple” photo contest.  Creating an account is easy and free (see http://www.flickr.com/ click “Sign Up Now”). You do not need an account to browse the entries.

Who Gets the Copyright?

By submitting photos, you give the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permission to use them for non-profit governmental purposes, including but not limited to environmental education and awareness.  By posting your work, you grant EPA permission to copy, distribute, make derivatives, display or perform the commenter’s work publicly and free-of-charge. However, where reasonable, we will give you credit for the photos.

-By submitting photos you agree to the terms listed above-

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.