Congrats to last month's winner, Allie Carroll! Look for her photo in The Washingtonian's October issue.

We couldn’t believe it this morning when we had to turn our calendar to September and root around in the back of our closet for a sweatshirt. When exactly did summer escape us?

Not that we’re complaining—fall in Washington is almost perfect, from crunchy leaves and low humidity to toasty sweaters and pumpkin everything. This month, our photo contest follows suit with a fall-colors theme. We want to see your best photos showcasing seasonal hues (think orange, red, yellow, brown). Yes, you can send in pictures of changing leaves, but mix it up a bit, too, and get creative.

If you’ve entered our contest before, you’re probably familiar with how it works. For all the newbies, here are the details: Send your submissions by noon on Tuesday, September 15, and our judges will pick the best shots to advance to the reader-voting round. Then we’ll open it up to you, the reader, to select a favorite. The winner will be published in the November issue of the magazine.

Photos—one per e-mail—should be sent to photocontest@washingtonian.com. Be sure to include the photographer’s name, phone number, e-mail address, and place of residence, along with a sentence or two describing the photo. Photos should be 300 dpi and at least four by six inches. And remember, both the photographer and the photo’s subject need to be from the Washington area, which includes the Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Our policy on photo rights: The photographer retains the copyright. However, because the photographer has submitted his or her photo to the contest, the magazine has the right to print the winning photograph in the current issue of the magazine and online as well as in any future issues as long as usage is related to the photo contest. The magazine also has the right to use the finalists online in relation to the photo contest.

Need inspiration? Check out all our past photo contest winners here.  

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