Big South Fork Announces Third Annual Photo Contest

Cultural -- Blue Heron

LD Coffey

News Release Date: January 18, 2017

Contact: Christy Strand, 423-569-9778

Contact: Christopher Derman

The National Park Service (NPS) invites photographers to submit entries for an exhibit at the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. The NPS is looking for striking digital images highlighting the spectacular views, historic sites, recreational opportunities, and diversity of life in the park. Images may show wildlife, plant life, natural landscapes, historic areas, weather, or people interacting with nature within the boundaries of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. All photographs, except those submitted in the artistic category, should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared.


Photographs may be submitted into one of seven categories:

1. Action/Adventure (photographs of people participating in recreational activities)
2. Artistic (artistic compositions in nature both natural and manipulated in post processing)
3. Cultural (photographs that illustrate historic or culturally significant structures)
4. Flora & Fauna (animals in their natural habitat, including close-ups of invertebrates, or plants in their natural habitat, including close-ups of flowers, fungi, lichen, and algae)
5. Kentucky Landscapes (expansive and dramatic views of the land and its features within the Kentucky park boundaries), Tennessee Landscapes (expansive and dramatic views of the land and its features within the Tennessee park boundaries)
6. Youth (entries in any category by photographers under 18 years of age). 

Entries will be judged on technical excellence, originality, creativity, visual impact, and artistic merit. Judges’ decisions are final. Selected images will be printed for an exhibition at the Bandy Creek Visitor Center that will open on Saturday, September 2, 2017. Selected images may also be displayed on the internet and other venues. 

Contest is open to all photographers except NPS employees and their immediate families and household members. Each person can only submit two photos into the competition. All photos must be in a digital format. Entries must be received no later than Friday, July 03, 2017. Each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form with all information clearly filled out. Entry forms may be downloaded from https://www.nps.gov/biso/photosmultimedia/biso-photo-contest.htm. 

Entries may be emailed to [e-mail] or dropped off at, or mailed to park headquarters at:

Big South Fork NRRA
Attn: Photo Contest
4564 Leatherwood Road
Oneida, TN 37841

For more information, please call [phone].