It’s time to start making memories in 2009! If your plan is to take more travel photos this year, it just got a little more doable. TravelMuse has teamed up with Eye-Fi to give away one Eye-Fi Explore card (valued at $130) for each of the next six months for the best photo on a given theme. So whether you took an amazing trip recently or are just hanging out closer to home, we’d love for you to share your shots with the TravelMuse community. What’s  more, we’re always on the lookout for great shots to feature on TravelMuse.com.

How to Enter

1.    Between February 5, 2009 and February 28, 2009, select your best digital photo that describes the theme “Essence of Place.” It could be an amazing shot of Alaska’s Hubbard Glacier at sunrise, or the kids playing in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

2.    Show us! Next, join the “[TravelMuse Contests|http://www.flickr.com/groups/travelmuse-contests/]” Flickr group, share your favorite image by uploading it, and tag it with “travelmuse_Eyefi_0209.”

3. In the description section, write a brief paragraph telling us where your photo was taken and why you feel it captures the “Essence of Place” of your subject.

You can submit a maximum of three (3) entries per person. Winners will be announced in our issue on the second Friday of the month, with full details shared on the TravelMuse Photo Blog.

Tell Your Friends

Don’t keep all the good fortune for yourself—let your friends and family know! Click “ShareThis” on the bottom of this post to e-mail your friends and wish them luck!

About Eye-Fi

Eye-Fi wireless memory cards make it super-simple to upload and share your photos. Photos shouldn’t be trapped in your camera. Set them free effortlessly and wirelessly. The Eye-Fi Card is a wireless SD memory card for your digital camera. It stores pictures like a standard SD memory card, but also uses your Wi-Fi networks to automatically upload images from inside your camera to your PC or Mac, and to your favorite photo or social networking Web site for sharing or printing. No cables, no cradles, no fuss.

Key features include: unlimited geotagging, Wi-Fi hotspot access for one (1) year, unlimited WebShare service, wireless uploads to computer and 2GB of storage.

Eye-Fi Explore is for those who tag or organize; for those who blog or share in real-time; for those who need to upload here, there or somewhere else; and all the rest who are simply passionate about managing, sharing and saving their memories. For more details visit Eye-Fi.

Rules

• The TravelMuse February Photo Contest opens on February 5, 2009 and ends on February 28, 2009, at midnight Pacific  Standard Time (PST). By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest and states that they are 18 years old and older.

•    Professional photographers who earn more than half of their annual income from photography are not eligible. Entrants must be U.S. residents. Employees, vendors and partners of TravelMuse and their immediate families are not eligible to win.

•    Submit a maximum of three (3) entries around the theme “Essence of Place” — locations, people or activities in the United States and abroad that convey the theme.

•    Photographs must have been taken within the last three (3) years (since January 1, 2006).

•    All entries must be at least 300 dpi at 5x7 inches, so 1500x2100 (3 megapixel).

•    Photos cannot be manipulated or altered. Pieces of other photographs may not be added to your image, and major elements may not be removed. Acceptable alterations are adjustments to the contrast, brightness, dust spotting, cropping and slight adjustments to color. If our judges see that a photographer has obviously altered his or her photo, they reserve the right to move to Altered Images or to disqualify it.

•    Photos that have won any other contests or have been published in magazines and newspapers are not eligible. Photos that violate or infringe upon another person’s copyright are not eligible.

•    If people, especially children, in your photo are recognizable, you will need to provide a model release upon request by e-mail (marketing@travelmuse.com). If the photo was taken in another country, or there are strangers in the photo that you cannot get a model release from, please e-mail the photo to us along with a description of the circumstances of the photo, and we will review your entry.

•    By entering the contest, entrants grant TravelMuse the permission to publish your image in print or online, to use it for promoting and advertising on the site, and for commercial purposes. TravelMuse will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses.

•    The winner will be selected by a judging panel comprised of TravelMuse photo editors and other employees. The winner will be published in the TravelMuse issue of March 13, 2009. Decisions of the judges will be final.

•    The contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. TravelMuse reserves the right to cancel the contest or modify these rules at its discretion. Decisions of TravelMuse will be final.

•    The winner will receive one Eye-Fi Explore card (value $130).

•    No substitutions, including for cash, are permitted, except that TravelMuse reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize.

•    The winner must sign an affidavit and license and will be responsible for paying any taxes that they owe on the prize.

•    Winners must claim their prize within seven (7) business days after the notification of the win, or the prize will be considered forfeited and an alternate winner will be awarded.

If you have any questions please contact: marketing@travelmuse.com.