[imagefield:left:0]Take a photo along the Calusa Blueway canoe and kayak trail and enter the third annual contest, Shooting the Blueway. Lee County Parks & Recreation is now welcoming entries for the 2010 contest.

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 & Sanibel.

Nature photography: Flora, fauna, landscapes and more.

Signs on 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. [imagefield:right:1]

Winning entries might be published in magazines, newspapers and online publications.

Selected entries may be featured on several Web sites, including:
This site, www.calusablueway.com
The festival site, www.calusabluewaypaddlingfestival.com
Lee County Parks & Recreation’s site, www.leeparks.org

Winners and runners-up will be recognized on the final Saturday of the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival, which 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. A model release form is available at www.CalusaBluewayPaddlingFestival.com if a person in the submitted photo is identifiable.

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 award-winning newspaper photographer Andrew West of The News-Press in Fort Myers.

The Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival is North America’s fastest-growing kayak festival and one of Florida’s premiere eco-events.

E-mail bclayton@leegov.com if you have any questions. And get the camera out on the water with you to shoot the blueway soon!