Entries can be submitted until Oct. 1, with prizes awarded at the annual Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival presented by Canoe & Kayak magazine in November.

There are four 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’s backbays and rivers.
• Nature photography: Flora, fauna and landscapes.
• Signs along the blueway: Calusa Blueway markers, access points, fun spots and more.
• Reflections: A new category open to the photographer’s interpretation.

Prizes for top category winners will come from ABC Framing, a Lehigh Acres-based mobile-framing business. Winners will receive an enlarged, matted and framed version of their photo. Winning entries will be shown on the Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival’s Facebook page and will be published in magazines, newspapers and online publications, including Florida Weekly.

An event is planned to recognize winners and kick off the 2011 Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival with guest speakers including Cape Coral artist and kayaker Jeanette Chupack and Fort Myers native Mark Renz, a photo artist and author. The reception will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, at Rutenberg Park’s Eco Living Center, 6490 South Pointe Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33919. It’s free and open to the public.

There is no fee to enter the Calusa Blueway Photo Contest. Submissions must be taken by amateurs along a Lee County, Fla., waterway. Upload your entries – three per photographer – at www.calusabluewaypaddlingfestival.com. Click on “activities” and “photo contest.”

Winners will be selected by a panel of judges, including Chupack, Renz and award-winning newspaper photographer Andrew West of The News-Press in Fort Myers.

The Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail is 190 miles long and is marked by easily identifiable trail signs. The trail also is mapped out with Global Positioning System coordinates. Order free maps online at www.calusablueway.com. The Calusa Blueway Paddling Festival has been selected as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events for 2011.

Call (239) 533-7474 with questions or e-mail bclayton@leegov.com.