Oregon Parks and Rec. 2009 photo contest begins

Mar 24,2009 00:00 by Bend_Weekly_News_Sources

Amateur photographers invited to share their Go Play! park experiences

OREGON -- Sharing an Oregon state park experience in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's third annual Go Click! photo contest could lead to two weeks of free camping.

A 14-day state park camping package will go to the grand prizewinner of this year's contest in which amateurs of all ages are invited to enter from now until Aug. 1. The top two runners-up will receive free 24-month passes to state park day-use fee areas.

The contest, in its first two years, drew more than 3,000 entries, and coordinator Jennifer McCormick of OPRD is looking forward to seeing its popularity continue. "We're building an impressive photo album," she said. "It already shows the huge number of ways people enjoy their parks. The contest has proven to be a great outlet for people to share their experiences."

Photos judged the best of the lot will receive more exposure this year. Besides displaying the top selections at the Oregon State Fair in August, OPRD will post a number of entries still to be determined on the web and ask the public to pick the grand prizewinner and runners-up. "Our panel of judges have had a hard time picking winners," said McCormick. "This time we're going to let the public decide."

Entry rules and ways to compete will remain the same. "It's pretty simple," said McCormick. "Just make sure you're in a state park and have your camera ready to take pictures of the scenery and people having fun." All photo entries must be digital and uploaded to the OPRD website. The contest rules are online at www.oregonstateparks.org/goclick.

Both first-place photos in the contest, thus far, have featured scenes on the south Oregon coast. Patricia Davidson of Coos Bay claimed the top prize in the first contest with a photo at Sunset Beach. Alan Hirschmugl of Gresham shot last year's grand prizewinner along the shoreline at Cape Blanco State Park.