VMN Photo Contest Underway

“Eagles on Ice” by Mark Dolfi (VMN-Pocahontas Chapter) was awarded First Place in the category of Virginia Fauna in 2018.

Digital photography is a skill used in many citizen science projects, such as Wildlife Mapping with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Bumble Bee Watch, and the City Nature Challenge.  To encourage development of photography skills in our VMN volunteers, each year we hold a statewide photo contest.  Each VMN chapter may submit just one photo in each category, so chapters often hold local contests to choose their submissions from those submitted locally by their volunteers.  

The contest is organized by a different volunteer each year, in cojunction with our VMN Statewide Conference and Volunteer Training.  Debbie Pugh, a volunteer in the VMN-Headwaters Chapter, is this year's coordinator.  She has defined the categories and rules for this year's contest.  If you or your VMN chapter have not participated in the past, please consider being part of the fun this year!

This year's contest categories include: 

• Virginia Native Wildlife: This category includes photographs of birds, insects, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. A native Virginia animal, bird, reptile, etc. must be the main subject in the photographs in this category. Non- native species may be in the background only.
• Virginia Native Plant and Fungi World:  This category includes photographs of plants and fungi in their environments. Native Virginia plants or fungi must be the main subject in the photographs in this category. Non-native species may be in the background only.
• Virginia Native Landscapes:  Photographs in this category feature Virginia landscapes as the main subject: natural landscapes, seascapes, the sky (sunsets, sunrises, clouds, etc.), or underwater images.
• Virginia Native Macro and Night Photography:  Submissions to this category include the genres of macro and night photography. Macro photography is defined as creating extreme close-ups of subjects that are very small in real life and the resulting image allows the viewer to see details that are normally hidden from the human eye.  Night photography is defined as capturing photographs outdoors after sunset and before sunrise.
• Virginia Master Naturalists in Action: Photographs that show activities of Virginia Master Naturalists like wildflower walks, training activities, volunteer work, citizen science, stewardship, etc. Photographs for this category must include the VMN volunteer as the main subject doing the activity.

For more description of the contest categories and the complete contest rules, see the 2019 Photo Contest Rules document and the 2019 entry form.