Jamestown, NY – Novelty, Ohio, youth Andrew Gerace is a winner in a photography contest that had entries from around the world. His “Water on Rocks” won the 2016 Jamestown (New York) Audubon Nature Photography Contest’s Youth Landscape category.
The categories for submissions of photographs were Landscapes, Plants (including trees, fungi, lichens, mosses, etc.), Wildlife (animals in their natural habitats), and Jamestown Audubon Nature Center, with Adult and Youth (18 and under or still in high school) Divisions in each category.
Other winners are:
Adult Landscape: Wendy Blanchard (Schenectady, New York), “Spirit and Light”
Adult Plants: Natalie Weber (Glenview, Illinois), “Reaching Beyond”
Adult Wildlife: Jose Luis Rodriguez (Avila, Spain), “Kingfisher Fishing Reflection”
Adult Nature Center: Wendy Bale (Jamestown, New York), “Fern Star”
Youth Plants: Julia Gong (Cary, North Carolina), “Shadows Amidst the Blaze”
Youth Wildlife: Nicholas Silberman (New York, New York), “Bubbles”
All winners receive a $100 prize. Their photographs will go on exhibit at the Nature Center in time for the Saturday, August 27, Monarch Butterfly Festival.
Nearly 350 entries were submitted from 35 states in the United States and 17 foreign countries. Runners Up came from across the United States, including Hawaii.
“We are delighted that our contest encourages people to take their cameras outside to see what they can capture,” said Program Director and contest coordinator Jennifer Schlick, noting that part of the purpose of the contest is to fulfill the Nature Center’s mission to connect people with nature.
Juror Kimberly Turner observed in her Judge’s Notes, “The natural world offers itself for such incredible inspiration….Throughout the world, from your kitchen windowsill to the marshes of foreign countries, something new can always be discovered. The same is with art, in this case photography.”
The winners and runners up images can be seen at www.jasphotocontest.com. The Judge’s Notes, also there, describe the criteria used in the decision making.
Proceeds from the contest support the Nature Center’s environmental education programs.
The Audubon Nature Center is at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, New York, and Warren, Pennsylvania. The building, with its collection of live animals, interactive exhibits and Blue Heron Gift Shop, is open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-4:30 p.m. Sundays. The grounds, including trails, gardens, picnic area, arboretum, and Liberty, the Bald Eagle, are open from dawn until dusk daily.
For more information about the Jamestown Audubon Nature Center, call (716) 569-2345 or visit www.jamestownaudubon.org.
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