National Natural Landmarks Photo Contest: Annual Call for Entries

The National Natural Landmarks Program (NNL) hosts a photo contest each year in search of exceptional images that celebrate the beauty and wonder of The United States' natural landscapes. 2012 will mark the NNL Program's 50 year anniversary as supporters of conserving America's natural heritage; winners of this year's photo contest will be displayed in a special 50th Anniversary Commemorative NNL Calendar.

The NNL Photo Contest calls specifically for photo submissions that were taken at one of the 586 locations that have been designated as NNL sites. NNL sites have been labeled as such due to biological and/or geological features which are considered to be exceptional. These landscapes consist of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, geological processes and resultant landforms and records of geological history and exist within every American state except Louisiana and Delaware. NNL sites can also be found in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For a full list of NNL sites, refer to the National Registry of Natural Landmarks. You can also use this map to search by state.

The 2011 NNL Photo Contest allows participants to submit up to 3 photographs as long as each of them reflects images of different NNL locations; a separate entry form is required for every photo.

Eligible entries to the contest include photographic images that are in digital, print or slide format. Digital images in uncompressed TIFF file format are preferred, but JPEG images will be accepted as well. Photographs must have a strict minimum pixel size of 1600 x 1200 and a minimum of 300 Dots per Inch (DPI). If submitting a print entry, be sure the photo size is a minimum size of 8 x 10 inches.

The judges are also looking for photographs that most accurately portray the reality of the natural landmark settings. Editing is allowed in the form of cropping and exposure adjustments for digital images, but advanced photo rendering and manipulation techniques will not be accepted.

This year's photo contest deadline is June 30, 2011, with the winners to be announced on September 30, 2011. Contest entries can be submitted by postal mail or email. Send all physical entry materials to: Heather Germaine, National Natural Landmarks Photo Contest, National Park Service, 12795 W. Alameda Pkwy.,Lakewood, CO, 80228. Electronic submissions can be sent to NNLPhotoContest@nps.gov.

View the National Natural Landmarks Photo Contest official rules and winning contest entries from 2010 to get a general idea of what the judges are looking for. Top three winners of previous years' contests are also listed here.