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  • Winter Photo Challenge: 12 Nights of Solstice Entry Form

Submit your winter photos for our third 12 Nights of Solstice celebration on social media! This year's theme is All the Colors of Cold. For 12 nights starting on the winter solstice Dec. 21, we'll share your inspirational nature photos. Six photos will come from the public, and six will come from Smithsonian staff and volunteers. Creative interpretations of the theme encouraged, but photos must be nature-focused (humans and human structures should not be prominent). Using the entry form below the slideshow, submit up to three photos with a short description and credit information before midnight December 4.

A panel of SERC judges will select the final 12 photos based on 1) the "All the Colors of Cold" theme; 2) artistic beauty; and 3) creativity and originality. Note: When featuring the winners on social media, some cropping may occur due to each platform's formatting requirements, but we'll do our best to preserve the key features of your work!

Read the full rules of entry and permissions statement

Trouble submitting via the online form? Feel free to email your entries to Kristen Goodhue at GoodhueK@si.edu. Make sure to include your photo descriptions, how you'd like to be credited, and whether your a member of the public or a Smithsonian employee/volunteer/household member.

View some of the winner's from previous 12 Nights of Solstice Challenges:

  • Green northern lights streak across a night sky, over a lake surrounded by snow

    Aurora borealis display in Finland, by Monica M. Smith

  • Blue jay perches on a branch with brown leaves, against a gray sky

    Blue jay in winter, by Kathryn Smeets

  • Animal tracks across an expanse of snow, with a black mountain and sunset in the background

    Coyote tracks over the frozen Eyak Lake in Alaska, by Danielle Verna

  • A hawk perched on a snowy branch inspects its feet

    "Cold Feet," by Jack Turner

  • A bright starry sky above a pine-covered mountain. The lake creates a near-perfect mirror image of the mountains and sky

    Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, by Max Ruehrmund

  • A red fox trots across a snowy landscape

    Lone red fox, by Mike Stevens

  • Black, snow-covered peaks with a pale sun. Two pine trees, or a single pine tree with two stems, grow in the foreground.

    Pine tree on Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps, by Igor Chilingarian

  • Giant snowflakes pour down on snow-covered pine trees, against a black night sky

    Pine trees in a festive winter blizzard, by Lynwood Morrison

 
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Which group do you belong to? *
Files must be less than 500 MB.
Allowed file types: jpg jpeg png.
Was this photo taken by you, or your minor child/ward? *
If your photo is selected, enter how you would like your name to appear in the photo credit.
Would you like to submit another photo? *
Files must be less than 500 MB.
Allowed file types: jpg jpeg png.
Was photo #2 taken by you, or your minor child/ward? *
Would you like to submit a third photo? *
Files must be less than 500 MB.
Allowed file types: jpg jpeg png.
Was photo #3 taken by you, or your minor child/ward? *
I have read and agree to the rules and permissions statement, and grant the Smithsonian permission to publish any of the photos and information I have submitted in this form in connection with its #12NightsOfSolstice activities. *