Cover Photo Contest Guidelines

Contest Winners

The winning photos will be published on the front and back covers of the 2027-2028 Oregon Blue Book.

Eligibility

The contest is open to photographers of any age who are Oregon residents and earn less than half of their income from photography.

Entries

Photos must be original images made by the entrant and may not have been previously commercially published.

Content

Photos must be in color and represent an aspect of Oregon such as buildings, events or landscapes. See previous Oregon Blue Book covers for inspiration.

Orientation and Editing

To be considered for the Oregon Blue Book cover, submitted photos must have a vertical (portrait) orientation. Submissions with a horizontal orientation will not be considered. Images may have minor alterations for color, contrast, etc. but may not be significantly altered, appear unnatural or have important elements added or removed.

Image illustrates the difference between portrait and landscape orientation.

Submit Images Using Our File Naming Structure

Photographers submitting images to the contest should ensure their files are named using: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_ENTRYNUMBER (Example: Smith_John_1, Smith_John_2, etc.). If you have 10 entries, image files will be numbered 1-10, and so on.

Submit Lower Resolution Images for Judging

Digital JPEG or PNG format images with a width and height of about 1400 x 2100 pixels are preferred. Images that are slightly larger or smaller are acceptable for contest judging.

Images Suitable for Print if Selected for Cover

Photographers whose images are selected by the Secretary of State for the cover must provide TIFF format or high-quality PNG format images with a native width of at least 1800 x 2700 pixels. Images that do not meet these criteria will not be used for the cover.

Deadline

Entries must be received by October 31, 2026.

Judging

A committee led by the Oregon Blue Book Managing Editor will make recommendations to the Secretary of State for potential winning images. The Secretary of State will make the final selections.

Winners

Contest winners will have their image on the front or the back of the 2027-2028 Oregon Blue Book. A brief description of the winning photos and photographer credits will be published inside the book. Contest winners will also be invited to the Secretary of State’s recognition event after the book is released.

Other Uses

All entries will become part of the permanent collection of the Oregon State Archives. Entries cannot be returned. Photos submitted to the Oregon Blue Book Cover Photo Contest but not selected for the cover may be chosen for use elsewhere in the Oregon Blue Book program with full credit given to the photographer.

Questions

Contact the Oregon Blue Book Managing Editor.