Sarasota Bay Water Festival seeks submissions for photo contest

The Sarasota Bay Water Festival has announced the “I Love Sarasota Bay” photo contest returns this fall with the theme, “Celebrating the Beauty and Importance of Sarasota Bay.” The image must have some connection to Sarasota Bay or its tributaries and watersheds spanning Sarasota and Manatee counties. Examples include photos of water, habitat, seascapes, people enjoying bay recreational activitities such as boating and fishing, bay-related commerce or any form of wildlife common to the bay’s ecosystem such as shorebirds, aquatic life and any other wildlife.

There are four age divisions: 12 and under; 13 to 18; 19 to 59; and 60 and older. It is free to enter, with a limit of two submissions per person.

Prizes include first-, second-, and third-place ribbons for all four age divisions and a special People’s Choice Award that visitors of the water festival, which will be held Nov. 2, at Ken Thompson Park, will pick. For the People’s Choice Award, festivalgoers can vote for an image that has not yet already won a ribbon. Voting is limited to one vote per person.

Each submission must be printed and mounted on a 16-inch-by-20-inch foam core board that is 3/16 inches thick. The foam board can be any color, but images can be no larger than 16 inches by 20 inches. Judges will judge the photo quality, composition and adherence to the theme. The image does not have to be in color.

All submissions must be photographs taken by the contestant after Nov. 1, 2011. For the younger contestants, parents and/or guardians may help them print and mount their submission. Photos must not be prior winning submissions in any other photo contests.

To submit your photo, please drop off your work to the Wells Fargo Advisors office located at 7100 Beneva Road. Submissions may be made from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays through Monday, Oct. 21.

Submissions must have a photo contest form (available online at sarasotabaywaterfestival.com/photo-contest) affixed on its back. Contestants must also present a second photo contest form when submitting their work. The final deadline for dropping off submissions is 4:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21.

Last year’s winners were: Makeala Frankford, Caroline Griffith, Dick Plaff, Victoria Holcomb and Terry Frankford, of Sarasota; Mary Lou Johnson, of Longboat Key; Kristina Carreras, of Bradenton; Larry George, of Lakewood Ranch; and Ronald Hecox, of Parrish.

For more information, email [email protected]

Contact Harriet Sokmensuer at [email protected]