Two weeks ago I received the comment below on this Flickr photograph of a milkweed bug.

I am always pleased when someone notices my photos and asks me to add them to a group, or in this case, submit them to a contest. Of course, I take everything with a grain of salt at first, and then I go out and vet the sources. I have often found them to be genuine and legitimate, as is the case this time!

The Aerial America Photo Contest is in conjunction with Smithsonian Channel’s beautiful Aerial America series. They wanted to also add photos showing what makes America beautiful “from the ground.” I love the photos that are being submitted to the Aerial America Photo Contest Group.

Have you taken pictures in any of the fifty states of the United States? If so, you might want to submit some to this contest.

Here’s how. You still have time to join in! The contest runs until September 30, 2011, and one person can submit ten photos, two each in five categories. Here are the categories directly from Aerial America’s Group page.

1. Landscapes – Images capturing the beauty of the local landscapes, from sprawling hillsides to city skylines.
2. The Locals – Images capturing the culture and the flair of the local people within a state.
3. Architecture – From iconic landmarks to century- old barns, some of America’s crowning achievements are found in the architecture we’ve constructed.
4. Food – There are few things more telling of a region than its signature dish!
5. Nature & Animals – Images of everything from native wildlife to beloved pets, from backyard gardens to our country’s great forests.

So far I have uploaded one in the Nature & Animals category and one in The Locals category. Can you tell which is which?

Geo-Tagging
There is one tricky step in uploading the photos to this contest. They must be geo-tagged.

According to the directions:
“*Note: Entries that are not geotagged will not be considered. It is important that your image be geotagged in order to qualify as an entry in this contest.”

If geotagging is new to you, as it was to me, read on for the very simple directions.

Use these three tags on the photo you wish to geotag:

1. geo:lat=[insert latitude here]
2. geo:lon=[insert longitude here]
3. geotagged

To get the coordinates for the formula, use the map on your photo and place the picture in the exact location.

Once the location is saved, look in the lower right hand corner for the coordinates. You may not have noticed them before…

Highlight and copy only the coordinates and insert them into the correct geotags. For instance, the sample photo’s tags will look like this:

• geo:lat=[39.801760977038]
• geo:lon=[-89.654810428619]
• geotagged

That’s about it. Note: The longitude and latitude tags will not show up on the list of tags, but will be in what is called Machine tags.

Finally, you can join the group and add your geotagged contest entries into the group.

Now, in the process of writing this blog post, I just added a third entry, this one submitted to the Architecture category.

I learned to geotag from a Flickr pro with a good sense of humor, Civilized Explorer.
Complete rules for the contest.