EMMAUS, Pa. — Veronica Rosenberger noticed how often the Lehigh Valley’s residents and visitors snapped beautiful photos of birds or foliage during their visits to the Wildlands Conservancy’s preserves.
But, she wondered, what if they were shared with a broader audience?
“Photography is a great way to connect with and inspire the protection of nature — what Wildlands does,” said Rosenberger, the organization’s senior communications specialist. “We’re excited to highlight our nature preserve users’ talent.”
Wildlands Conservancy’s first fall photography contest is underway, with entries due just before midnight Thursday. Winners will receive a reusable bag, a water bottle and a sticker. Their photo will be featured on the conservancy’s social media accounts, and also may be included in the nonprofit’s print and digital campaigns. Officials said the contest aims to encourage residents to explore the outdoors, as well as share their interest in nature with others in the community.
“The photo contest is a fun way to show the community that it has 14 nature preserves to discover, explore and enjoy,” said Megan Sciarrino, Wildlands’ director of communication. “Too, for folks who are perhaps familiar with some of our nature preserves, the photo contest might introduce them to something new – like a bird species they’ve never seen, or a new, seasonal perspective of a favorite place.
“Plus, it’s rewarding to feature the photographers’ work.”
‘Community makes conservation possible’
Wildlife photography can be a very powerful conservation tool, as it illustrates the beauty of nature and encourages environmental stewardship, according to researchers.
“Conservation photography is one part what the photograph says, and two parts what the photograph does: It is the active and deliberate use of photos to support conservation awareness and action,” according to a 2019 article in “Audubon,” the National Audubon Society’s magazine.
This type of photography needs to be shared, officials argue, and can be used to achieve specific goals – whether that be to illustrate the changes to a landscape overtime, or to capture data about population numbers of a certain species.
“Go beyond awareness, by presenting an invitation to your audiences to participate in the solutions,” officials said. “ … At the end of the day, community makes conservation possible and that is what you’re building through your work. Never forget that.”
‘Photos of any and all nature are encouraged’
While participants do not have to be residents of the Valley, photos must be taken in one of the conservancy’s preserves. Entries can include landscapes, fauna, flora, family and friends – the subject can be anything as long as it is appropriate and falls under the nature category.
“Photos entered have to be from fall, but not necessarily this year’s season,” Rosenberger said. “This is our first fall photo contest, and folks can enter photos from any fall at a Wildlands nature preserve.”
Winners from the spring contest include Jeff Kaboly, who captured a photo of an indigo bunting, and Himanshu Gupta, who photographed a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
Officials were unsure if the winners were local to the Valley.
“We do get a lot of birding photos, but photos of any and all nature are encouraged,” Rosenberger said.
For the fall contest, officials said landscapes are strongly encouraged.
“We’d love to showcase the foliage changing color at our nature preserves, giving the community yet another reason to get out and enjoy this great, big backyard we share,” Sciarrino said.
For a complete list of rules, go to the conservancy’s website.
