Two hundred (200) Finalists will be selected in the online SOLO competition. There are two ways you can become a Finalist:

PUBLIC VOTE

100 Finalists are chosen by the public. Creative industry pros, media, other photographers and photo lovers from around the world click the heart to Like your images. The more Likes you receive, the more your images move to the front of the site, and the more people see your work. Anyone can vote for you as long as they register their email address. All images can receive one vote per registered email address. And yes, of course you can vote for yourself.

So get out there and encourage friends and families to vote for your photos. Get their friends and families to rock the vote too. Be creative. Be proactive. This is no time to be shy.

Actual numbers of votes are kept from view, but real-time results in each category are always viewable by clicking the “most-loved” filter on the home page.

When the SOLO competition wraps on August 1, 2012, the twenty (20) images that receive highest accumulated votes in each of the 5 categories will comprise the list of 100 publicly-chosen Finalists.

JUDGES VOTE (Panel A)

Is your social network a little undeveloped? Have you been spending more time behind the lens than on Facebook and Twitter?

Don’t worry, a panel of the sharpest eyes in the business will be pouring through all of the SOLO submissions. Five esteemed judges will individually select their top 20 images in each of the five categories. The 20 images that receive the highest number of combined votes in each category will comprise the list of 100 judged Finalists. Any ties will go to a second ballot. The judges will not be aware of the photographers who became Finalists through public voting.

FINAL JUDGES VOTE (Panel B)

The 200 SOLO competition Finalists will advance to a new 5-person panel of photographic experts for final judging. To maintain impartiality, Panel B will not be informed of the name of the finalists, or whether the finalist was advanced by public vote or by Panel A. Panel B will vote by closed ballot to determine the Category winners, and subsequently the single overall winning image and Photographer of the Year.

The results of the selection process for the LIVE competition and the SOLO competition are 100% independent from each other.

The complete Rules and Terms of Service are here.