Time is running out to submit entries for the Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve 2025 Photo Contest honoring Carolyn Babb. The deadline is Jan. 31.
The contest is limited to amateur photographers and only digital entries can be submitted. Photos must be of native species and must have been taken at the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, which includes Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve North.
Last spring, the Friends of Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve Board named the photo contest in honor of the late Carolyn Babb, a longtime volunteer and Friends member who founded the contest in 2009 and who died in December 2023.
Babb served seven years as president of the Friends Board, the longest tenure of any president.
“She wore many hats at the Slough through the years,” said Theresa Roake, Friends Board secretary, “and had a hand in pretty much everything the Friends organization has accomplished over the past 20-plus years.
“As the board looked for a way to honor her lasting legacy at the slough, we looked to one of her other passions. The slough truly inspired her love of nature photography," Roake said. "She was seldom seen without her camera and shared this love with other photographers at the slough.”
And that, Roake said, inspired her to create the photo contest in 2009, with the first winners announced in January 2010.
Registration and entry submissions should be made on the Friends website, www.sloughpreserve.org Details about contest categories and entry fees are on the website.
First, second and third place winners will be awarded in three categories: Plants and Landscapes, Birds, and Animals. A Grand Prize winner will be awarded to the photo the judges deem best overall. In addition to the regular adult contest, there will be separate contests for youths and staff members.
Winning photos from past years can be viewed on the Friends website, www.sloughpreserve.org, and in the Interpretive Center at the Slough.
The center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Mondays. Admission to the center and the boardwalk is free with paid parking, which is $1 an hour or $5 for an entire day.
Last year, a total of 244 photos were entered by 103 photographers.
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