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posted Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 10:00 AM EST

 
 

Until January 10, 2017, you can enter the Olympus Global Open Photo Contest in four categories. As this is an open contest, you don't have to be an Olympus user to enter. You can enter up to five photos in each of the four categories: Power of life, connections to cherish, places that inspire and perspectives often missed. When you have decided which photos to enter, save each image as a JPEG file less than 15 megabytes in size and click on the 'Enter' buttons found here. You will have to register a username, and provided that you are not employed by Olympus or one of its affiliates, you are allowed to enter, no matter what gear you used to capture your images. Entry is free, so there's no excuse not to give it a shot!

Entries will close on January 10, 2017 at 11:00 AM JST (GMT +9). Winners will be announced in April. The prizes are as follows: The Grand Prize winner will receive an undisclosed Olympus flagship camera and 1 million Yen (which is currently nearly US$9,600 based on current exchange rates). There will be First, Second and Third Prize winners crowned in each of the four categories as well. First Prize winners will receive an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with a M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO lens. Second Prize winners are rewarded with an OM-D E-M10 Mark II camera and 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 EZ lens. Third Prize recipients take home a PEN E-PL8 camera body and the same 14-42mm lens as above. If you aren't one of the big winners, you may still be one of ten runners-up per category who will receive a moleskin custom edition hard cover notebook with an Olympus camera cover design.

 
2015 Winner in the Places that Inpsire category, 张之铭

Entrants will be judged by a panel of esteemed photographers from around the globe: Anne Day (USA), Kim Lau (Singapore), Yann Manach (France), Silvijo Selman (Croatia), Tetsuro Shimizu (Japan) and Supasit Srisawathsak (Thailand). Winners will be notified by the email address they provided during registration.

 
2015 Winner in Perspectives Often Missed category, liapis171

If you'd like to see photos that have already been entered for this year's contest, click these links: Power of Life, Connections to Cherish, Places that Inspire and Perspectives Often Missed. To enter your own photos, head here to register.

Olympus Global Open Photo Contest 2016-17