Home > USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov "Celebrate America" Photo Contest

USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov "Celebrate America" Photo Contest

Show us how you celebrate America and we may feature your photo on USA.gov, GobiernoUSA.gov, and our social media channels.

You may submit your photo to USA.gov for judging beginning June 16, 2010. The deadline for submission is 12:00 PM Eastern Time on June 30, 2010.

The Fourth of July is Independence Day and honors the birthday of the United States of America. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies' separation from Great Britain. Every Fourth of July, we celebrate our independence and celebrate America.

How to Enter the Contest
•Post your best, original photo on the site of your choice (such as Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, personal site, etc.) and make sure it is visible to the public.
•Fill out and submit the online entry form. Be sure to include the URL of your photo or else we can't judge your entry.
•You can only submit one photo for the contest. We will delete additional entries.

Photo Guidelines
•Entries must be photographs, and not visual/graphic art manipulations.
•You must not excessively alter or change your photograph using photo editing software. Minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast and slight color adjustment, or the digital equivalents are acceptable.
•Photos must be in digital format. No print or film submissions will be accepted. You don't need to take the photograph with a digital camera; we'll accept scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints.
•Photos must be free of profane language, violence, sex, or personal attacks on people or organizations.
•Photos must not violate copyright laws or use brand names or logos. You agree to indemnify the U.S. government and the General Services Administration (GSA) for any claim, demand, judgment, or other allegation arising from your possible violation of someone's trademark, copyright, or other legally protected interest in any way in your photo.
•Photos may not contain any endorsement, solicitation, commercial, or similar content advocating for or against candidates for office, political issues, or commercial products.
•Obtain release forms for all of the people featured in your photo. You must provide GSA with the forms if requested.
•You must be able to provide GSA with an original photo file if you win.

By entering the contest, you grant GSA a perpetual, royalty-free license to use your photo, in any media, for standard government-related and other non-commercial purposes. If we select your photo as a winner, you grant GSA permission to edit, modify, format, or adapt your photo for GSA's purposes at GSA's sole discretion. GSA endeavors to give you credit for your photo whenever practicable. We will not pay compensation in any manner to any entrant of the photo contest for the submission to GSA or GSA's future use of the photo. If you want to remove your photo from the competition, you may do so by requesting GSA delete your photo from its competition prior to the announcement of the winner, on or about July 6, 2010. You may only submit one entry in the contest. We will delete additional entries.

To be eligible, children 13 years or younger must have their parents approval. Employees of GSA, their relatives, and GSA contractors are not eligible to enter the contest. Any photos created by federal employees or contractors while on federal time are considered works of the U.S. government and are not eligible to win.

Winner Selection
After the contest closes, we will judge the photo entries to see if they comply with the requirements of the contest. We will disqualify photos that do not comply. We'll evaluate all other photos based on the theme “Celebrate America.â€