AP
A giant billboard ad for the use of iPhones seen on the side of a central London building in 2016.
- Apple is running a contest to identify 10 of the best photos taken on an iPhone.
- The photos will be judged by a panel of 10 people including Barack Obama's former personal photographer.
- Winners of the contest will see their photo used in Apple marketing.
- To enter, tag your iPhone photos with #shotoniPhone and post them to Instagram or Twitter.
Think some of your smartphone photos are award quality?
Apple is giving people around the world a chance to submit photos shot on an iPhone to a global photography contest.
The prize? If you took one of the 10 photos chosen, your shot could be used on billboards, in Apple stores, and on Apple's Instagram. "No substitutions or cash redemptions. Prize has no cash value," Apple said in its rules for the contest.
From the contest announcement:
"Ten winning photos will be featured on Apple Newsroom, Apple's Instagram channels, apple.com, in Apple retail stores, Apple WeChat, Apple Twitter accounts, Apple Weibo accounts and billboards around the world. Winners will be notified on or about February 26, 2019."
The contest started today, and it's running through February 7. Entering is easy:
- Follow Apple on either Instagram or Twitter.
- Your tweets and Instagram feed must be set to public.
- Post your photo, which was taken with an iPhone, to social media with the hashtag #shotoniPhone.
- Include the specific iPhone model you used in the caption.
There are also ways to submit your photos through email or Weibo, for Chinese consumers. Of course, Apple won't evaluate photos with copyright violations, nudity, or obscenity.
Apple has run several advertising campaigns centered around "shot with iPhone." As Apple's phones have increasingly become advanced cameras, some of the photos taken can stand toe-to-toe with professional camera rigs. It's also a way for Apple to crowdsource its marketing from its millions of users.
Anyone who submits a photo is giving Apple a royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use the picture in conjunction with the contest, and for winners, it gives Apple an exclusive licenses to use, modify, publish and display the photo. The official rules are available here.
Apple is going to chose 10 winners, and has assembled a panel of 10 judges, including Pete Souza, the former chief White House photographer for President Barack Obama, and three Apple employees who work on camera software and marketing.
Here's a photo Apple published to give you an idea of what it's looking for:
Apple