Saturday is deadline for Photo/Video Contest entries

Daily and non-daily newspapers are encouraged to honor the outstanding work that their photographers do by entering their work in the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association's 2017 Photo/Video Contest.  The contest is sponsored by Second Street.

Your best photographers can win cash prizes and earn recognition!

The contest includes four categories:

• Spot news photos
• Sports photos
• Feature photos
• Videos – Maximum file size is 200 MB. (Video format should be one of the following: .avi, .dv, .mov, .qt, .mp4, .mpeg, .3gp, .asf, .wmv or .mpg)

Entries will be accepted through 11:55 p.m. (Eastern time) on Saturday, June 24.

The following week will open a three-week period during which EVERYONE (newspaper staff and newspaper readers) will be invited to VOTE on the winners of the Readers' Choice category.  We hope you will promote this to your readers and show off the good work newspapers are doing in their communities!

A second set of awards will be determined by judges selected by The Associated Press.

ELIGIBLITY: This is an open competition. To be eligible for this contest, the photographers' work must have been published in a daily or non-daily general circulation newspaper (or on the newspaper's website) between June 25, 2016 and June 24, 2017. Entries may be color or black-and-white photos or videos.

ENTRY FEES AND SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRIES: Photo and/or video entries are $20 each. There is no limit on the number of entries a photographer may submit in either the video or photo categories.

STEP # 1 — Click here to pay your contest fees ($20 per photo and/or video).  If you are submitting entries for several photographers, type VARIOUS as the photographer's name and use the email address of the person to whom the receipt for payment should be sent.  See below if you have difficulty with the payment page.

STEP # 2 — After your fees have been paid, you will immediately receive an email with a link to the UPICKEM contest page where your entries should be uploaded.  During this step, you will be able to list photographers' names with their individual photos and/or videos.  SNPA thanks Second Street for providing its UPICKEM contest platform for our Photo / Video Contest.  Learn more about Second Street

If you have difficulty with the payment page, just send your photos to the link below and then call the SNPA office on Monday to pay the entry fee: (404) 256-0444.
http://snpa.upickem.net/engine/YourSubmission.aspx?contestid=317666

Winners will be announced at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association and Inland Press Association, Sept. 10-12 in Colorado Springs, Colo.  Photographers do not have to attend the Annual Meeting to enter the contest.

PRIZES: 

VOTING:

• BY JUDGES SELECTED BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Still photographs will be judged on technical quality, originality and overall aesthetics. Videos will be judged on innovative use of original content, storytelling, technical and journalistic quality, and value to the reader. Photographers' names and newspaper affiliations will not be revealed to the judges until winners are chosen. Winning photographers will be notified by Aug. 11 that they have won "something," although they will not be told what place until prizes are announced Sept. 10-12 at the Joint Annual Meeting of SNPA and Inland Press Association in Colorado Springs, Colo. Photographers do not have to attend the Annual Meeting to enter.
• READERS' CHOICE AWARDS: EVERYONE (newspaper staff and newspaper readers) will be eligible to vote for their favorite photographs and videos. We encourage you to invite your readers to vote!  Photographers' names and newspaper affiliations will not be revealed on the contest website until awards are announced. 

Vote for your TOP 5 favorites in each of the contest categories:

• Spot news photo
• Sports photo
• Feature photo
• Video

DEADLINES:

• 11:55 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday, June 24, 2017, is the deadline for receipt of all entries. No entries will be accepted after that date. Judges reserve the right to disqualify entries that do not follow rules listed here.
• Voting opens at 9 a.m. (EDT) on Monday, June 26, and runs through 11:55 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, July 14, 2017.

For more information, contact Cindy Durham in the SNPA office: (404) 256-0444 or cindy@snpa.org