Nature photo contest open for amateurs

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Tribune staff reports

You don’t have to travel far to find beauty.

That’s the message of this year’s photo contest sponsored by the Oak Heritage Conservancy and George Rogers Clark Land Trust.

The two groups are co-hosting their second photo contest for amateurs in southern Indiana.

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“This year, we have a special challenge,” said Liz Brownlee, executive director of the Oak Heritage Conservancy. “We want people to go to parks, nature preserves and other places where nature is protected for the public good to take their photos. We want to show everyone that nature is all around us, right here in southern Indiana, and that there are lots of parks and places to enjoy nature nearby.”

Photographers of all ages can enter the contest in one of four categories: Forests, creeks and wetlands; people in nature; wildlife and wildflowers; or farms.

“We’re keeping the farm category for two reasons,” Brownlee said. “First, it was a hit last year. Second, our farms include a lot of natural areas.”

Pat Larr, a farmer and board member for the George Rogers Clark Land Trust, said southern Indiana is unique because the family farms include row crops but also beautiful scenery, old barns, woods, creeks, livestock, and pasture, and of course, farm families.

“Our farms are photogenic and worth protecting,” she said.

Protecting farms and natural areas is what these two groups do best. Together, they have conserved more than 1,100 acres of natural areas and farms in southern Indiana for the public good.

“We create nature preserves to the public to enjoy because people need time in nature,” Brownlee said. “A lot of people think that you have to go to a national park to spend time in nature, but that’s not true. Southern Indiana has lots of places where the public can explore the natural world.”

If area residents want to enter the photo contest but they don’t know of natural areas to visit, Oak Heritage Conservancy has created an online interactive map showing the natural areas in the region.

The guide lists all types of natural areas, from state parks to national forest to nature preserves, and tells people what they can do (hike, canoe, bird watch, fish, etc.) at each park.

The guide was a joint effort with Hanover College, the McManaman Internship Program at Hanover and Steve Higgs, who recently released the first comprehensive print guide to parks and preserves for the area.

Higgs’ guide, “A Guide to Natural Areas of Southern Indiana,” is available for purchase online or Oak Heritage Conservancy’s online more basic guide is available for free.

“We hope people use the guide to find new places to explore nature and take photos for the contest,” Brownlee said.

The contest is open through Oct. 24. Judges will select about 30 photos for their online exhibit and 12 best of show winners, which will be printed, mounted and exhibited around the community this winter. The public will be invited to vote for a winner online and at the in-person exhibits.

“We can’t wait to see this year’s entries,” Larr said. “Last year, over 120 photos were entered, and they showed just how much our communities value our natural areas and farmland.”

The photo contest and exhibit are supported by the Indiana Arts Commission.

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For information about the nature photo contest, visit oakheritageconservancy.org.

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