Nat Geo Cover Shot scores big on Facebook

The channel wanted to create a buzz about the show on social media and launched an app that allowed people to create their very own Nat Geo Cover Shot on Facebook.

This season, photography will take a competitive turn as India's top 10 amateur photographers fight it out for one of the most coveted opportunities for a photographer - for their work to be featured on the cover of National Geographic Traveller India magazine.

Bringing back its successful mission series, National Geographic Channel is set to challenge young amateur photographers from across the country to embark on a journey of a lifetime on Nat Geo Cover Shot: Mission North East. This year, 10 photographers will compete with each other in the nerve-wracking run to get their photograph on the cover of a National Geographic Traveller magazine.

Set in the serene Northeast, the show will bring out the competitive best of these young guns and make them do whatever it takes to click that perfect shot. The show premiered on April 26 and will be aired every Saturday at 10 pm on National Geographic Channel.

Mentoring and judging the second season of Nat Geo Cover Shot will be two esteemed personalities - award winning photographer Lana Slezic and actor-producer Rajiv Laxman. Possessing both, professional skill and knowledge of psychology, the two judges will present a series of tasks for the contestants, urging them to bring out their best shot this season. Hostess Shibani Dandekar will accompany the aspiring photographers in this life changing journey in the magnificent locales of Northeast India.

Before the show went live, National Geographic Channel wanted to create a buzz and find a way to extend the battle of photographers to social media. To achieve it, digital agency Flying Cursor created an app that allowed people to create their very own Nat Geo Cover Shot on Facebook.

The app allowed people to upload pictures in the typical yellow frame cover of the magazine. They could customise, resize and also add their own headlines. Every picture had a call out on the top which mentioned the name of the person who had taken the picture. The cover was shareable across Facebook and Twitter. Of course, the winner got two tickets to the Northeast, where the show is being filmed.

"We wanted fans on social media to experience the pride and thrill of being on the cover of a National Geographic Traveller magazine, that being the reward of the show and also enjoy the process of creating it on their own," says Shormistha Mukherjee, director, Flying Cursor.

Along with this, the agency also got Laxman to take up questions from fans on Twitter just before the show began.

Talking about Nat Geo Cover Shot: Mission North East, Debarpita Banerjee, vice-president, marketing and communication, NGC Networks and FOX International Channels, says, "Nat Geo Cover Shot: Mission North East brings back the grandiose of Nat Geo photography and couples it with passion of young photographers to create an edgy viewing experience. It takes a lot more than a good camera and a discerning eye to make a good photograph. And this show captures all the things - from patience, perseverance, intelligence, attitude to mind games that go into making a good shot. Truly worthy of the cover of the National Geographic Traveller magazine."