IT'S A SNAP! 2024

SEEKING ASPIRING PHOTOJOURNALIST AND SHUTTERBUG! No matter your level of expertise. Bring it on.
*** Minors (16 and up) are encouraged to participate with parental consent. ***
This year we are looking for what makes Charm City - the PEOPLE. Here’s your chance to share your special photographs that reveal the best of Baltimore. No professional models, please.
Winning photographers receive prizes, and the best images will be showcased on BNHA’s social media channels and a special Baltimore National Heritage Area promotional product in 2024. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $500 gift card.
Photographs must be taken within the Baltimore National Heritage Area (map). All hi-res entries must be submitted electronically by December 31, 2023. Photos can be in color or black and white.
Why is the contest period so long? We want to give you a chance to capture city life in every season, from Spring to early Winter.  
Please read the complete Rules and Requirements below before submitting your photo. All entries must be submitted electronically by December 31, 2024.
For a photo in which a person is recognizable, you must secure a model release form the subject or, in the case of a minor, the subject’s parent or guardian and provide it to BNHA upon request. A model release is available on the heritage area’s website. (Click here for the form.)

What are we looking for? It’s Charm City because the people are charming, no matter where you go in Baltimore. Submit your best pic of people - festivals, recreational events, in park. Just having fun!

PHOTO CONTEST PRIZES

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $500 gift card. First place - $400 gift card. Second Place - $300 gift card. Honorable Mention - $50 gift card. Photographers can only win one prize per contest. So submit your best.

Photo Contest Rules and Requirements

Term: The Baltimore Heritage Area Association, Inc.’s photo contest It's a Snap! Baltimore begins April 1, 2023 and ends December 31, 2024 at 11:59 pm. By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest and states that they are 16 years of age or older.
Who may enter: The contest is open to any amateur or professional photographer 16 years of age or older except employees, board members, and advisory committee members of the Baltimore Heritage Area Association, Inc. and members of their immediate families and employees and family members of any photo contest sponsors.
Entrants under 18 years of age must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian to participate in the contest. If BNHA does not receive a valid signed parental or legal guardian consent form for any winner under the age of 18 within 14 days of the entrant being declared a winner (excluding the day on which such declaration is made by BNHA) BNHA will be entitled to select an alternative winner from among the entrants.
What to enter: All photographs must be taken within the boundary of the Baltimore National Heritage Area.
To be eligible for the photo contest, the entrant must own the photo or rights to the photo. Submission to the photo contest certifies that they are the sole creator and copyright owner of the submitted image.
Photographs must have been shot by the entrant since January 1, 2018.
Photo format: BNHA recommends that images be landscape (horizontal) in layout to facilitate possible inclusion in the design of a printed promotional product planned to highlight contest-winning photographs.
Cropped photos are eligible in all categories. We do not accept digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered photos. Minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, sharpening, contrast and slight color adjustment or the digital equivalents, are acceptable for all categories. If the judges determine that a photographer has altered his or her photo, they reserve the right to disqualify it.
Photographs should be taken at the highest resolution possible and no less than 300 dpi. Photographs must be in JPEG, JPG, or GIF format. High-resolution scans of non-digital photographs are acceptable.
Rights, releases, and permissions: For a photo in which a person is recognizable, you must secure a model release form for the subject or, in the case of a minor, the subject’s parent or guardian and provide it to BNHA upon request. A model release is available on the photo submission website.
Entrants whose photos depict other people’s work (such as sculptures, statues, paintings, and other copyright-able works) may be needed to obtain a release from the rights holder and provide it to BNHA upon request.  When photographing the work of others, it must be as an object in its environment and not a full-frame close-up of another person's creation. If BNHA determines a rights release is needed, the entrant will be notified.
Photographs that have won any other contests are not eligible. We define winning as having won a grand prize or first, second or third place overall. Photos that violate or infringe upon another person's rights, including but not limited to copyright, are not eligible. Photos that contain sexually explicit, nude, obscene, violent or other objectionable or inappropriate content, as determined by BNHA in its sole discretion, are ineligible for all categories of this contest.
The photographer retains his/hers rights to submitted photograph; however, by entering the contest, you grant the Baltimore Heritage Area Association, Inc. (and those authorized by BNHA) a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to publicly display, distribute, reproduce and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or later developed, for any BNHA purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and promotion of the BNHA through its website, exhibitions, and commercial products. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit as feasible. BNHA will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

Judging: Photo entries will be judged based on creativity, quality, originality, responsiveness to the categories, and overall impact.
Judging will be conducted by BNHA staff and the public. Winning photographs will be announced in February 2025 and will be published on a printed promotional product produced by BNHA in 2025. BNHA may also select honorable mentions for recognition and inclusion on the promotional product.
BNHA will notify the winner via the contact information provided at the time of entry; BNHA may disqualify anyone who fails to respond to the notification within five business days.
Please do not contact us about the status of entries or judging.
Prizes: The Grand Prize Winner will receive a $500 gift card. First place - $400 gift card. Second Place - $300 gift card. (10) Honorable Mention - $50 gift card. Photographers can only win one prize per contest.