Grab your camera, lace up your hiking boots and head out to the Millers River Watershed to snap a scenic photo for the first-ever Millers River and Watershed photo contest held by the Millers River Watershed Council. Ivan Ussach, part-time coordinator for the Millers River Watershed Council, said the goal of the contest is to get local residents out into nature and thinking about the impact the watershed has on the community.
“We always say that the local residents are the eyes and the ears of the watershed,” said Ussach.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Millers River Watershed is part of 17 municipalities spanning a total drainage area of 392 square miles. The watershed offers a variety of outdoor activities, from camping to hiking and scenic viewing.
All photos submitted must incorporate an image of water and include a description of the location where the photo was taken.
“It could be of lakes, it could be of stream,s or there could be wildlife or people. We haven’t decided a specific set of categories,” said Ussach.
Other submission guidelines state the image print size must be 14 inches on the long side of the photograph. Amateur photographers can send in a maximum of three images and only printed images will be accepted — no digital files or negatives. The contest is not open to professional photographers, according to the Millers River Watershed Council website.
After all photographs have been submitted, Ussach said the panel of judges may decide to create specific categories in order to generate various awards. Judges for the contest include nature photographers Paul Rezendes of Athol, Bill Fournier of Gardner, and Dale Monette of New Salem.
“We thought that we came out really well having such a great trio of photographers that agreed to judge, so we are very happy with that,” said Ussach.
All photographs must be received at the Athol Library no later than Monday, Sept. 24, at 5 p.m.