For nearly a decade, Bay Nature magazine has been showcasing the work of local photographers, artists, and writers dedicated to exploring and celebrating the natural world of the Bay Area. In 2009, we held our first-ever photo contest, and we were thrilled with your response: 350 submissions of East Bay park images, including the winner, our October 2009 issue cover photo.

Our tenth anniversary in 2011 is not just about a magazine. It’s also a celebration of a vibrant community of people who love the natural world of this region and are passionate about exploring it. To mark this milestone, Bay Nature is again teaming up with Sarber's Cameras, this time looking for your images of people outside engaging with the natural world of the Bay Area.

Winning photos will appear in the January 2011 tenth anniversary issue of Bay Nature. Winners will also receive cash and prizes from Bay Nature and Sarber's Cameras (see the official rules for details).

Check out our submissions gallery to see what's come in so far!

What to Enter

Bay Nature magazine showcases the work of independent local photographers in every issue. For this photo contest, we're looking for your very best images (up to 5 per photographer) of people interacting with nature in the nine-county Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma).

This can mean hikers silhouetted against the setting sun, but it doesn’t have to. Perhaps it’s a scene of a family at a marshland park along the Bay shore, people fishing at a local reservoir, or a mountain biker or equestrian on the Bay Trail, a windsurfer, sailor, or rock climber. Or it could be a child looking at a mass gathering of ladybugs in a school native plant garden. The goal is artful, surprising photos that somehow go beyond the  predictable fare of people in the shimmering distance or snapshots of people in a line-up at a view point.

We'll select a total of 8 winning photos for publication. From these, we'll choose an overall winner and an overall runner-up. All eight winners will receive cash and prizes.

Photo captions must accompany all submissions, and should include the subject of the image, the date taken, the location where the image was taken, and the name of the photographer. For photos of people who are recognizable, please have names and contact information available. (If your photo is one of the finalists, we’ll ask the folks in the picture for permission to use the image in Bay Nature materials to help spread the word.)

Submitting Photos through Flickr.com

Submissions must be posted to Flickr and tagged for the contest by Wednesday, October 20, 2010.

Flickr is a widely used online photo sharing website that is made up of many groups, including a Bay Nature group. You can add your photos to the Bay Nature group and quickly enter images into our Photo Contest. Here's how:

1. Read the Official Contest Rules. Submitting photos to our contest constitutes acceptance of these rules.

2. Log On - To submit your photos via Flickr, use your Yahoo! ID to login to www.flickr.com. If you do not have a Yahoo account, you can sign up for free through Flickr.

3. Join Bay Nature's Flickr Group - If you are not already a member of our Flickr group, join by clicking "Join this Group" on the group homepage. (Flickr doesn't allow mass emails or anything resembling spam, so don't worry about that.)

4. Upload an Image - After logging in, upload your images using the form provided. Each participant may submit up to 5 images.

5. Send the Image to Our Group - Browse to the image you wish to submit, and use the "Send to Group" function above the image(s) to add your photograph to the Bay Nature photo pool.

6. Tag It! - Once added to the group, tag each photo with BNSarbers-Contest10 through the "tag" feature in the right-hand column of the page for that photo. (We'll sort the entries into proper categories.)

That's it! You're entered. If you already have images on Flickr that meet submission requirements, steps 3, 5, and 6 are all you need to enter them in our contest. As a Bay Nature group member, you'll also get to hear about future contests and other Bay Nature photo needs (including our quarterly bulletin of photo needs for the magazine).

Please note: If you are creating a new Flickr account, please be sure to upload at least 5 images (even if only two or three are tagged for the contest). Flickr doesn’t seem to process tags for members with fewer than five images in their accounts.

Win a Subscription to Bay Nature

After you've uploaded your photos, you can enter to win a Bay Nature subscription by contacting us on Facebook or Twitter. Just follow the steps below.

To Enter the Drawing on Facebook

• Become a fan of Bay Nature Institute on Facebook.

• Post a message to our wall letting us know that you entered your photos in the contest and provide a link to your photos.

To Enter the Drawing on Twitter

• Write a message @BayNature on Twitter letting us know that you entered the photo contest and post a link to your photos.

Informing us of your entry on Facebook or Twitter does not impact your status in the photo contest, but enters you in a drawing for a free one-year subscription to Bay Nature. Current subscribers will receive a free one-year renewal. The drawing will take place on Monday, October 25, 2010.