CELEBRATE MICHIGAN

Enter the Celebrate Michigan photo contest

The Detroit News

Attention, amateur photographers: For the 14th consecutive year, we invite you to participate in The Detroit News’ Celebrate Michigan Photo Contest. The competition rewards outstanding photos of Michigan, its people and animals, with nine prizes of as much as $300 doled out at the end of the summer.  

We're doing something differently this year. The contest will roll out with three different themes running concurrently from May 22 - August 14. The themes are: People and Places, Woods and Wildlife and Four-Season Fun.  You can enter as often you like, as long as you were the photographer and the photo wasn’t selected as a Celebrate Michigan finalist in previous years.

"Better Than Coffee," by Thomas Bos of White Lake, taken at sunrise at an ice cave at Grand Island National Recreation Area.

Don't forget that your best shots might be taken right in your own back yard under Michigan's Stay-at-Home directive!

You don’t necessarily need top-notch camera gear to produce great photos either. Every year, some of the finalist photos come from mobile phones. The judges will evaluate each photo’s overall appeal, artistic merit, technical quality, originality and theme appropriateness.

Each week, judges from the Detroit News photo staff will select 4 photo finalists, 16 total in each category over the entire contest period. At the end of the contest, The Detroit News photo staff judges will select one winner in each category. One People's Choice winner in each category will be chosen by an online public vote, Aug. 20-24.

Each of the six winners will receive $300.

At the end of the contest, three Awards of Excellence will be chosen by the Detroit News photo staff from the remaining finalists of all three themes, and will receive $100 each.

The Celebrate Michigan Photo Contest is open to non-professional photographers age 18 and older. All photos must have been shot in Michigan, with no significant alteration by a software program. More specifics can be found in the official contest rules.

OFFICIAL RULES:  Learn more about the rules of the contest.

Want some inspiration? Check out last year’s photo gallery of the winners and finalists below.  When you’re ready to enter your Celebrate Michigan photos, upload them at https://apps.detroitnews.com/submitphotos.

We hope you’ll join the thousands of photographers who have shared their Michigan moments over the years in our contest. Celebrate the state!