To receive a My Shot page, you must first submit a photo to Your Shot. Once your photo is uploaded, your My Shot page will automatically be created for you.
Before you submit your photograph, please make sure it meets the following requirements:

* JPG or JPEG file format (ex. YourImage.jpg or YourImage.jpeg)
* At least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image)
* Total file size must be less than 5 megabytes (MB)
* sRGB color profile

After logging in, you can edit information such as email and address from the Account Options page.

My Shot is your chance to have your own National Geographic Web page where you can display your best photographs. Here you can create and share albums, play the popular puzzle game using your own photographs, and plot your images on a map. You can play other NGM games straight from your My Shot home page, which also carries customized widgets from the Daily Dozen.

Read a blog about My Shot written by Rob Covey, Senior Vice President of Content Development and Design for National Geographic Digital Media.

You're allowed to upload 100 photos to your My Shot page.

No. You must upload directly to Your Shot for a chance at publication in the magazine.

Yes. As long as you have read and accepted the My Shot rules, we welcome your participation.

You must be 18 years of age or older to participate in My Shot. If you're under 18 years of age and would like to create a My Shot page, you'll have to ask a parent or guardian to do so on your behalf. Have your parent or guardian submit your photograph to Your Shot, noting in the description of the photo their relationship to you as well as your name and age.

NGM.com has set up a new single sign-on feature for our Web site. That means you'll need only one user name and password to access any user-name-protected part of the NGM.com Web site. Unfortunately, we weren't able to carry over user names and passwords from our old registration feature. Please register again for a user name and password and you'll be able to access any area of NGM.COM. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

Submitted photos do NOT have to be digital photos from a digital camera. Any digital scan will do, as long as the end result is a JPG or JPEG file. You may submit scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographs taken with non-digital cameras.

National Geographic magazine does not encourage anyone to manipulate photographs. Please read the Director of Photography's comments on image manipulation. We trust our users to submit unaltered files. We can not research every photo submission. However, if a photo is chosen for publication in the magazine, it will be scrutinized for possible alterations.

The keyword search function searches the caption and tags provided by the user.

No, the photographer's name cannot be searched.

Captions are always a good way to engage others in your photography. So take the time to write about the place, time, setting, and situation though captions may be no longer than 500 characters.

We trust our users to give accurate caption information, so we do not research or fact-check their captions. However, if a photo is chosen for publication in the magazine, it will be fact-checked.

Tags are keywords that help other My Shot users find your photographs.

Here's an example:

Tags: man, person, green shirt, sitting, birds, flying, fly, sky, mountain, seagull, vacation, travel, hiking, clouds, cloudy, feeding

Ratings (5 stars is the highest) and comments are left by fellow My Shot members. Members must be logged in to rate.

National Geographic will accept no photographs that it identifies as obscene, provocative, or containing otherwise objectionable content. Every photograph submitted to My Shot will be reviewed and removed from the site within 48 hours if it is considered objectionable. National Geographic will also remove photographs that advertise personal Web sites or businesses.

By submitting a photograph to My Shot, you warrant and represent that the photograph you submit is your own original work (or, if submitting on behalf of a child, the original work of your child/ward); that you alone (or your child/ward alone) own the copyright to the photograph; that it is an authentic and accurate depiction of the subject matter presented; that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph; and that you have obtained all third-party releases and permissions necessary for our use. If National Geographic receives a complaint that substantially questions the reliability of any of the above warranties, we reserve the right to remove or delete the photograph. Upon request, you must be prepared to provide a signed release proving that you have obtained the proper copyright release for your photograph.

Users will be contacted if an image is removed from their My Shot page.

If you'd like to report an image as inappropriate or infringing on your rights, please click the "Report Abuse" button found on our search-results page. Images will be reviewed within 48 hours and taken down from the Web site if we find the content objectionable. Any image that raises rights-infringement questions will be removed from the site pending further investigation.

Your photo will be added to hundreds of others to create a photo mosaic. Because of the dynamic nature of the mosaic, there is no way to search for your photo.

Your photo will be reviewed by a National Geographic editor and then submitted for a future Infinite Photograph.

We don't require that you send in a personal release form when submitting your photograph. However, we reserve the right to ask you to submit a release form.

If any person in your photograph is recognizable, you will need to be able to provide National Geographic with a personal release form signed by that person or those persons. Images of unrecognizable people do not need personal releases.

A personal release form is a binding contract between the photographer and the subject(s) of the photograph. By signing the release, the subject of the photograph forgoes the right to sue for specific types of claims.

Download our printable Personal Release form. (You'll need Acrobat Reader to view the download. Get the free plug-in here.)

Yes, if the children are recognizable (see answer above). But personal release forms for anyone under 18 years old must be signed by the subject's legal guardian not by the child.

Download our printable Personal Release form. (You'll need Acrobat Reader to view the download. Get the free plug-in here.)

A location release form is a binding contract between the photographer and the owner(s) of private property within or upon which a photograph was taken. By signing the release, the owner of the property forgoes the right to sue for specific types of claims.

Download our printable Location Release form. (You'll need Acrobat Reader to view the download. Get the free plug-in here.)

An artist release form is a binding contract between the photographer and the copyright holder(s) of any art in the photograph. By signing the release, the copyright holder of the art in the photograph forgoes the right to sue for specific types of claims.

Download our printable Artist Release form. (You'll need Acrobat Reader to view the download. Get the free plug-in here.)

Make sure your images meet the following requirements:
* JPG or JPEG file format (ex. YourImage.jpg or YourImage.jpeg)
* At least 1,600 pixels wide (if a horizontal image) or 1,600 pixels tall (if a vertical image)
* Total file size must be under 5 MB
* sRGB color profile

Some ISPs (Internet service providers) commonly install email filters that block or filter emails sent from unknown addresses. If you have a "junk mail" box, check to see if that's where the email landed.