Annual eagle photo contest under way in Wabasha

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Get out your best work — or your camera. The National Eagle Center’s annual photo contest is under way.

From now through Feb. 6, people are invited to submit up to five photographs each. A panel of judges will select winners in four different theme areas, and they also will choose photos to appear in the center’s 2010 calendar.

The four themes are:

1. The eagle

2. The Mississippi River

3. The flyway

4. The human connection

Both amateurs and professionals can enter their work, plus there also is a youth entry level for anyone 16 and younger. People can submit as many as five images in any of the themes.

The negative, slide, or digital images should be printed — not computer manipulated — in color or black and white. The image must be at least 8 by 10 inches; it must be mounted on foam coreboard, matted or unmatted, with no frames, for easy displaying on a wall.

Photographs must be taken in Minnesota or Wisconsin. The animals or birds must be living in the wild.

The judges will look at the technical quality, composition, representation of the category, and intrinsic beauty of each photograph.

Entries may be mailed or hand delivered to Photo Contest, National Eagle Center, Box 242, 50 Pembroke Ave., Wabasha MN 55981. Mailed entries must be received by Feb. 6 to be included in the judging.

An entry blank must be attached to the back of each picture. The photographer’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and theme category must be indicated on each entry blank. People who do not plan to personally pick up their photos after the contest should include a sufficiently stamped, self-addressed envelope large enough for returning the photos.

For further information call the National Eagle Center at (651) 565-4989 or go to the Web site www.nationaleaglecenter.org.

Last year’s contest winners included Red Wing photographer Sandra Borgen, whose entry “Ice Fishing” took first place in the Mississippi River division.

The 2008 contest attracted a record 172 entries from 57 photographers. Winner in the eagle division was Hope Rutledge, with “Surviving the Northern Winter.”

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