Mom always said it wasn’t polite to stare, but breaking the rules is about to pay off—especially if you’ve done it with a camera in hand. In honor of the people-watcher in all of us, we’re calling for your best shots of Washington residents and visitors this month. Portraits, crowd scenes, candids, close-ups—we aren’t aiming for any particular format or feel, just what you consider to be your most striking images.

Here’s how it works: Submissions are accepted until noon Friday, June 18. From there, our judges pick the best shots to move on to the reader-voting round. Then we’ll open up the polls and let the readers pick their favorite. The winner will be published in the August issue of The Washingtonian.

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 and explaining why it fits the theme. 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.

Have fun, shutterbugs! But please don't cite us an an excuse to inappropriately photo-stalk others.   

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.

Psst . . . curious to see past winners? Click here.