4th Annual Naturescapes Photography
Contest and Exhibition


SMGA and Hill Country Photographers co-sponsor this contest designed to get you outside with your camera. Many winners of the cash prizes we offer are amateur photographers, so don't be shy. It's easy to participate. Below you will find a description of the contest, rules, and links for online, in person and mail in submission.

View last year's winners.


You can register online, in person, or by mail:

• Click here to pay online and upload digital images.
• To pay and submit images in person or by mail, use this entry form.
  

Contest Information, Rules, and Submission Requirements

Download a pdf of this information.

The unique beauty of the natural areas within San Marcos inspired the Naturescapes Photography Contest. This year we have expanded the contest to include photographs taken in natural areas throughout Hays County, and have eliminated categories. Suggested subjects include scenery, wildlife, plants, people and pets. We hope that the contest and exhibit will increase public awareness of how much our natural areas enrich our lives, and how important it is to preserve them. The contest also is a chance to give photographers at all levels of experience a chance to capture, share and receive recognition for beautiful and inspiring images. The contest is open to resident and visiting photographers of all ages. A $200 prize will be awarded for Best in Show, and up to four $100 Awards of Excellence will be presented for the next most outstanding photographs. Additional Awards of Merit will be presented at the discretion of the contest juror.

Naturescapes Exhibition
San Marcos Activity Center Walkers Gallery
September 5 through October 31, 2008

Naturescapes Awards Reception
Friday, September 5, 2008
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm San Marcos Activity Center

Visit the SM Natural Areas page at www.smgreenbelt.org/SMNaturalAreas.htm for maps, directions, and descriptions of local greenspaces. Additional information is available on the Facilities & Parks and Facilities page of the City website at www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/departments/parks/ParksFacilities.html.

Sponsoring Organizations

The San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance is a non-profit group of volunteers working to create an interconnecting system of parks and natural areas and to help people understand the value of our open spaces and the importance of being good stewards to the land. Today, in the midst of unprecedented development throughout Central Texas, the SMGA is dedicated to ensuring that natural areas are part of our development infrastructure. We protect natural areas for our generation and many more generations to come and for the inherent worth of the diversity of plants and animals in our area. For membership information, email your name and address to alliance@smgreenbelt.org or visit www.smgreenbelt.org

The Hill Country Photography Club is an informal group of photographers of all ages and experience who are interested in exploring photography as an art medium. HCPC strives to help members improve their individual photographic styles, as well as to learn more about the art and science of both film and digital photography. The Club holds monthly meetings and hosts periodic lectures, workshops, and field trips. To be added to our email list, send an email with your name, phone number, and email address to the president@hcphotoclub.org, or visit www.hcphotoclub.org.

Juror: Laurence Parent

Laurence Parent earned a petroleum engineering degree at the University of Texas at Austin and practiced engineering for six years before becoming a full-time freelance photographer and writer. He has done 36 books; his latest is a large-format photography book, New Mexico Wild and Beautiful. His photos appear in Sierra Club, Audubon, Kodak, BrownTrout, Avalanche, Graphic Arts Center, Westcliffe, and many other calendars. His work also appears in magazines such as National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Outside, Backpacker, Sierra, Natural History, National Parks, Newsweek, Arizona Highways, Travel & Leisure, the New York Times, Texas Highways, Texas Monthly, New Mexico Magazine, and Texas Parks & Wildlife. Corporate clients include Temple-Inland, Southwest Airlines, and Cox Communications.

Rules and Conditions

1. Entries are limited to photographs taken within San Marcos Greenbelt land, parks or other natural greenspaces, or any natural area in Hays County.
   
2. Photographs must have been taken within the past two years, and must not have been accepted for a previous Naturescapes exhibition.
   
3. The Naturescapes committee will receive and prepare the images for the juror, who will determine the images to be exhibited and to receive awards. The juror will see only the images and their titles, and will not know the names of the photographers.
   
4. Entries will be judged on the basis of creativity, photographic quality, and effectiveness in conveying the beauty and unique character of San Marcos and Hays County natural areas. Entries that fail to comply with the rules or are unsuitable for a family audience, will be disqualified. Decisions of the juror will be final.
   
5. The juror also will make the final selection of the photographs that will be displayed in the Naturescapes exhibition. At the discretion of the judge, a $200 prize will be awarded for Best in Show, and $100 Awards of Excellence will be awarded for up to four of the next most outstanding photographs. Awards of Merit will be presented for additional images deserving recognition. Winners and photographers whose entries are selected for the exhibition will be allowed to sell their photographs.
   
6. Entries must be submitted by the photographer who created them. While the photographer retains the copyright for his or her images, the San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance, the City of San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department and the San Marcos Area Arts Council reserve the right to unlimited use of the photos for the organizations' websites, displays, brochures, news releases, and other print and electronic media.
   
7. The competition is open to resident and visiting photographers, amateur or professional. The contest juror is ineligible to enter photographs.
   
8. To help defray contest expenses, a $10.00 contest entry fee is required for the first four photographs from each photographer. Up to 4 additional photographs may be entered for an additional $5.00, up to a maximum of eight entries for $15.00.

To Enter:

• You may submit a maximum of eight photographs.

• Entries must be submitted at http://hcphotoclub.org/naturescapes/ or received by the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Dept, 401 E. Hopkins, San Marcos, TX 78666 no later than 5:00 pm Monday, July 21, 2008. Entries will be accepted starting May 1, 2008.
  
• One completed entry form and a check or money order, or online payment of the appropriate entry fee payable to SMGA must accompany each photographer’s image(s).
  
• Images submitted for judging may be prints, or digital images on a CD or submitted online.
  
• Prints may be any convenient size, but must be unmounted and labeled on the back with the entry form number, the title of the photograph, and the name of the photographer. Do not submit mounted, matted or framed prints at this time.
  
• Digital images must be high quality jpeg measuring 800 pixels on the longest dimension at resolution of 72 ppi. Files should be named with the entry number, underscore, first name, underscore, last name (e.g., 1_john_jones.jpeg), and submitted online or on a single CD labeled with the photographer’s name.
  
• Make sure that the entry numbers correspond with the entry numbers on the entry form. Prints or digital files that are improperly numbered and labeled will not be considered for judging.
  
• We strongly encourage participants to offer their prints for sale; additional prints are easy to obtain if you have the original negative, slide or digital file.
  
• The prints and CDs submitted for judging will be returned after judging only if you include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your entry. Otherwise they may be picked up from Parks and Recreation the week of August 11, 2008.
  
• If your work is chosen for the exhibition, you will be notified the week of August 4, 2008.
  

If your work is selected for exhibition:

• Exhibition quality prints of your accepted work must be received at City of San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department, 401 E. Hopkins, San Marcos, TX 78666 no later than 5:00 pm, Friday, August 29, 2008.
  
• Your prints should be mounted, matted and framed; ready to hang; and labeled on the back with your name and the title of the image. We recommend at least a two-inch mat border on each side of the print and a simple frame.
  
• The outside dimensions of the frame must be at least 8"x10" and no more than 30" in any dimension.
  
• You must provide us with high-resolution files of digital images following the instructions in your acceptance notification.
  
• Photographers will pay a 30% sales commission for prints sold during the exhibition, which will be used to help defray exhibition costs.
  
• Prints may be picked up at the San Marcos Activity Center on Saturday, November 1, 2008 If you prefer to have your entry mailed or shipped to you, you must provide a prepaid, pre-addressed shipping case. Warning: any work without a prepaid, pre-addressed shipping case that is not picked up on time will be sold, with the proceeds going to benefit the San Marcos Area Arts Council.

Download a pdf of Contest Information, Rules, and Submission Requirements.\

Register online and upload digital images.

Download entry form to pay and submit images in person or by mail.

View last years photos.

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