A past winning photograph

One month remains for nature photographers and paddlers to enter the annual contest, Shooting the Blueway, which celebrates the Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail. Lee County Parks & Recreation is still welcoming entries, and prizes will be awarded at the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival in November.

There are three categories in which photographers can compete:

Paddlers on the trail: people enjoying the trail, waterways and outdoors along the 190-mile Calusa Blueway, which meanders throughout Lee County along the Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel.

Nature photography: Flora, fauna, landscapes and more. Signs along the blueway: Calusa Blueway markers, access points, fun spots and more.

Prizes for top category winners will come from ABC Framing, a mobile-framing business that is the contest’s sponsor. Winners will receive an enlarged, matted and framed version of their photo. Winning entries might be published in magazines, newspapers and online publications. Selected entries may be featured on several websites, including the blueway site, www.calusablueway.com, the festival site, www.calusabluewaypaddlingfestival.com or Lee County Parks & Recreation’s site, www.leeparks.org.

Winners and runners-up will be recognized at a reception and photography session Nov. 6 at Matlacha Park. The Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival runs Oct. 29 Nov. 7 throughout Lee County.

There is no entry fee. Submissions must be taken along a Lee County, Fla., waterway and include a photographer’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and title and location of photo. Three entries are permitted per photographer; amateur photographers only, please. E-mail entries as one high-resolution photo jpg attachment at a time to bclayton@leegov.com by Oct. 1.

Winners will be selected by a panel of judges, including Cape Coral artist and kayaker Jeannette Chupack and also Fort Myers native Mark Renz, a photo artist and author. Rounding out the judges’ panel will be newspaper photographer Andrew West of The News-Press.

Call (239) 533-7474 with questions or e-mail bclayton@leegov.com.