Budding Photographers Urged to 'Explore Chatham'

Former Chatham Borough Mayor Dick Plambeck has presented a new photo contest for Explore Chatham, the borough's network of walking trails.

"We talked about doing a photography contest last year" when Explore Chatham was first unveiled, Plambeck said, but now the group has had a chance to "think about it in detail" and come up with a set of rules.

"When we created the Explore Chatham website last year," Plambeck said, "part of the purpose was to educate people as well as to encourage them to get out and enjoy some healthy outdoor exercise. This photo contest really expands on that website purpose, and it also provides opportunity to photographers to share their work and inspire others."

Still, he said, "it's really to have some fun."

Anyone who uses the trails is open the submit up to five photos for the contest, whether they live in the borough or not. There will be two divisions, one for children ages 8 to 17 and one for people 18 and over.

Photos should be submitted in JPG format as email attachments or on a CD or flash drive by Oct. 26. Each photograph should be identified with the subject and where and when it was taken.

There is one other big limitation for what kind of photos can be submitted: All photos must be taken outdoors in the borough in 2012 or 2013, and with no identifiable persons or signatures or watermarks allowed.

The four categories of the contest are:

• Wild animals: "wild, not Spot in the garden," Plambeck said.
• Plants: again, no gardens. These should be wild plants in their natural environment.
• Landscapes/weatherscapes
• Historic: Something unique and historic within the borough.

Plambeck's PowerPoint presentation before the borough council on March 25 is included in the Photos section of this article and includes more details about the contest.

The judging panel will be made up of members of the Environmental Commission, the Open Space and Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, the Public Arts Council and professional photographers. The contest is not open to judges or their relatives.

"We're going to look for originality, uniqueness of the subject, technical excellence and artistic merit" in the judging process, Plambeck said.

Plambeck said he hopes to have enough entries for a first, second and third place in each of the four categories and two age divisions. He also said winning entries will be exhibited online and possibly at the Chatham Borough Municipal Building or the Library of the Chathams.

The borough Environmental Commission and Open Space and Historic Preservation Committee are sponsoring the contest.