Florida’s 175 state parks, trails and historic sites offer beautiful backdrops for recreational and nature-based photos, and Florida State Parks wants to see them from your point of view.
In collaboration with its retail and reservation management provider, Florida State Parks is launching this year’s annual photo contest, Capture the Real Florida.
“Florida’s state parks have a diversity of geography, natural resources and wildlife. Our photo contest encourages people to get outdoors and into nature, and it also allows them to share their best pictures of their personal experiences in nature,” said Chuck Hatcher, director of Florida State Parks. “There are several categories and participant levels, so this is a contest open to everyone. The photo contest showcases all the best parts of our spectacular parks.”
The contest is open to all Florida state park visitors, and the submission period runs now through Sunday, July 30. Submissions are being accepted on the photo contest website, and the winners will be announced in November.
All photos must be taken inside a Florida state park. Each participant may submit one photograph for each category for a total of 12 photographs, or four photographs may be submitted into each of three separate categories. These 12 categories include:
• Landscape.
• Wildlife.
• Birds.
• Waterscapes.
• Night Skies.
• Details & Small Things.
• Park Experiences.
• Park Adventures.
• Plants & Flowers.
• Camping.
• Trails.
• Sightseeing.
The photo contest includes three divisions: professional/hobbyist, student and mobile phone.
First, second and third-place winners will be selected within their division by a panel of employees from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The grand-prize winner will be chosen by a Blue Ribbon panel and will receive a $2,500 B&H gift card, a Florida State Parks Annual Entrance Pass and a promotional package that includes a Florida State Parks-branded stand-up paddleboard and a hammock. Additionally, the winning photograph may be featured in a calendar, websites, displays or Florida visitor centers and publications.
For a full list of photograph rules, submission details and prizes, visit the Florida State Parks photo contest website at https://photocontest.floridastateparks.org/contest2.
