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United States Coast Guard Auxiliary
Photo of the Month Submission Guideline

The Coast Guard Auxiliary “Photo of the Month” (POTM) program is administered by the Photography Branch of the National Public Affairs “A” Directorate. The purpose is to highlight photos of exceptional quality that accurately convey various missions and program areas, as well as significant special events. Any member may submit a photo taken during the previous 90 days for consideration to the POTM program. Photos must be submitted via the same general guidelines as for the National Photography Contest.

These include:
1. Must be a digital .JPG format e-mailed to: [email protected]
2. Must be a minimum of 5 megapixels.
3. No post-production (Photoshop) editing other than cropping permitted.
4. Color or Black and White images will be accepted.
5. Photo captions can be put into the metadata of images submitted for the photo contest.
6. All submissions must include complete subject information including dateline, descriptive caption, and photo credit (e.g. Coast Guard Auxiliary photo taken by Jane Photographer.)

Submitted photos that do not fully meet the above requirements will be rejected without notice. Photos that do meet these requirements will be considered for POTM recognition and may also be automatically considered as an entry for the annual National Photography Contest.

In submitting an Auxiliary photograph, the member also assumes the “de-facto” role of Policy and Uniform Compliance Officer; photographers should have a good working knowledge of correct uniforms, PPE, and activities/missions policies. They are the ones behind the lens and sometimes a minor adjustment to a uniform or proper positioning of a subject in a photo will be the difference between an “acceptable” and an “unacceptable” photograph.

Questions regarding the administration of the POTM program shall be directed to the Branch Chief, Photography (BC-ASP) at: [email protected]