The contest theme, "This is Earth", is meant to be both an affirmation and a celebration of the beauty and natural splendor of the planet that is our home. Of course, we live in uncertain times, with the spectre of climate change and environmental degradation threatening the balance of life on Earth as we know it. Our hope is to continue to create awareness and inspire change, which is part of our mission here at PLANET. We'd like to ask photographers to turn their lenses to the things in our natural world that humble and inspire them, whether a flower or a stream or a unique formation of clouds in the sky.

One Grand Prize winner will receive $2,000 in cash, with a minimum 10-image portfolio to be published on our website. The second place winner will receive a Leica D-Lux 5 digital camera and a portfolio of their work published in PLANET in 2012. Third and fourth place winners will each receive a liveBooks pre-Designed website or $500 credit toward a custom designed website, and a portfolio of their work published in PLANET. If you are an existing liveBooks customer you can apply the $500 towards upgrades. All photographers of top-10 images, and a selection of others, will be invited to have a limited-edition print of their image available in our online gallery, giving you the opportunity to establish your work with an audience of photo collectors and the possibility to earn money for your work. To enter, please read the following guidelines and then click the button below to register and submit your image. Each entry contains one image. Photographers may submit multiple entries. There is a fee of $20 per entry to cover administering the contest.

Planet Earth Video Example