I love your organization! How can I help Blue Earth? Can I volunteer?
If you support our mission, one of the most effective ways you can assist us is by becoming a member. Donations from members are critical to supporting our work to raise awareness about endangered cultures, threatened environments, and social concerns through photography.
Blue Earth’s offices are located in Seattle, WA in the
United States. If you are in the Seattle area, we often need
volunteers at sponsored events, including lectures, exhibits, the
annual lottery, etc. If you are interested in volunteering, please
contact us.
I’m not a US citizen/live outside the US can I still apply?
Yes, we are happy to receive applications from photographers
living and working in all regions of the world. Please note that
our fiscal agency services as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization may
not be applicable to the tax laws in your country. Consult a legal
advisor in your local area to find more details.
What size of grants does Blue Earth provide? Will you fund my project?
While we do provide assistance to our sponsored photographers,
including help with grant writing and foundation research, we
cannot provide direct grants to support projects. Please note that
Blue Earth itself is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, not a
foundation.
I’m a photographer. Do you have any assignments for me?
Blue Earth provides assistance to photographers conducting
projects; we do not have any assignments to give out, nor do we
employ a staff of photographers. Our organization does not produce
photographic projects itself. Nevertheless, we are always happy to
receive submissions from photographers for projects that meet our
mission’s priorities.
I have a great idea for a project. Can I get help from Blue Earth staff in putting my project together?
As much as we would like, we simply do not have the resources to provide mentoring or direct assistance beyond our sponsored projects. However, we do provide a free resource manual Shooting from the Heart (PDF) - 7.5MB specifically designed to help photographers develop their personal projects. Many photographers have found this a useful tool in planning their projects.
Of course, if you have concerns about whether your project falls
within our mission or about the application process, we would
always be willing to answer any questions you may have.
I’m working on an important project that needs support now. Can you accept applications outside of the scheduled rounds?
Due to limited resources, we are simply unable to review
photographic projects outside of our application process or
advertised portfolio reviews.
I’ve done some interesting work recently. Can I send you photos to look at?
We are always glad to hear about exciting new work on important issues. Regrettably, we are unable to review photographic projects outside of our application process or advertised portfolio reviews. If you are interested in applying, please see our submission guidelines.
As always, if you have concerns about whether your project falls
within our mission or about the application process, we would
certainly be willing to answer any questions you may
have.
Can I use your images for my school project/community group newsletter/building display?
Blue Earth project photographers retain all copyrights to their work. For permissions, please contact the photographer directly.
However, Blue Earth may use certain images from our sponsored
projects to promote our projects, the organization, and our mission
as appropriate. If you are a publisher and would be interested in
using images from our projects in an article profiling Blue Earth
or any of our projects, please contact us.
How can I convert documents to PDFs for my application? How can I send you large image files for my application?
Free applications such as Open Office 3 and IBM Lotus Symphony feature native PDF import and export features. Likewise, the current versions of Microsoft Word (Windows and OSX) and Apple Pages can export documents as PDFs natively or by using free plug-ins.
Image files can be hosted on your own web or ftp server or on a
free service such as MediaFire, Windows Live SkyDrive or Box.net. In these cases, you need only provide
us with the download link so that we may save them locally in our
office. Alternatively, files may be emailed to us using a free
service such as DropSend or YouSendIt. Ideally, images would be sent
together in a single compressed archive, such as a .zip
file.