Image: Steven Henderson
The RSPB’s Orkney Local Group and Orkney Camera Club are teaming up to launch a year-long photographic competition - “Wild Orkney: The Way I See It”. The competition aims to inspire residents and visitors to engage with Orkney’s wildlife and birds and record their impressions with their cameras. Photographs can be entered in four categories: Wild Open Spaces; Wonderful Colours of Orkney; Waves and Water; and Wondrous Nature in Detail. RSPB Scotland will display the best photographs at a local exhibition and online.Alongside the competition for individuals, schools are being encouraged to embrace “Wild Orkney: The Way I See It” as part of a non-competitive classroom project by, for example, producing a montage of photographs for the exhibition.Dick Matson, Chairman of the RSPB Orkney Local Group, says: “The competition focus will be on interpretation of the categories and not just technical skill. So whether you’re a camera expert or a beginner with a new digital camera, why not get out there and have a go?”There will be prizes for the best photographs in three age groups: under-12, 12 to 16 years, and adults (over-16). There will be two winners in each age group: an Orkney resident and a visitor.The residents’ prizes are - adult: half-day with a wildlife expert chosen by the RSPB plus a pair of Visionary Classic 10x50 binoculars from Focus On Orkney (Sutherland's Photolab); 12 to 16 years: a day's photography masterclass with film-maker Raymond Besant (his film The Flying Dustbin, about fulmars and plastic pollution, won several international awards); under-12: £25 to spend in the RSPB online shop.The visitors’ prizes are - adult: £25 voucher from The Orcadian for a canvas print of one of your photographs plus a £25 voucher for handcrafted jewellery from Orkney's Alison Moore Designs; 12 to 16 years: £25 to spend via Stromness Books and Prints; under-12: £25 to spend in the RSPB online shop.Judging will be by a panel of three: Anne Bignall, Scapa Flow Marine Ranger, who is painting the illustrations for The Orkney Book of Wildflowers (publication Christmas 2013); Eric Meek, recently retired Orkney Area Manager for RSPB Scotland, also a committee member of Orkney Field Club; and Alex Rodwell of the Orkney Camera Club.Entry forms, containing the rules, are available at venues including the RSPB Scotland office at 12-14 North End Road, Stromness and the Tourist Information Centre in West Castle Street, Kirkwall, or online at www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/orkneycameraclub/.Entries, which must be prints, can be dropped off at the RSPB Scotland office in Stromness, or the Tourist Information Centre in Kirkwall, or sent by post – clearly labelled Photographic Competition – to RSPB Scotland, 12-14 North End Road, Stromness, KW16 3AG.Individuals may enter up to four photographs. The closing date for entries is Sunday 31 March 2013. The winners will be announced in May 2013 as part of the RSPB’s Love Nature Week. Good luck!