9th Annual City Of Lake Oswego Photo Contest Deadline Approaches

LAKE OSWEGO, OR — It's time once again for the annual City of Lake Oswego Photo Contest, giving Lake Oswego lovers an opportunity to share with the city, its residents and visitors their best photos of what makes Lake Oswego a special place for a chance to win cash gift cards and local notoriety.

This marks the ninth year city officials have held the contest, which closes at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8 — meaning hopeful winners have mere days left to turn in their stunning photos.

Participants can enter their photos into seven different categories, with judges choosing the top three photos from each. Gift cards valued at $100, $50, and $25 will be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners from each respective category.

According to Bonnie Hirshberger, citizen information specialist for the city, the categories and their descriptions are as follows:

• Category One: Life in Lake Oswego — Photos should reflect what you do or see every day; photo examples include special events or community celebrations, sports, parades, people taking a walk, children playing, raking leaves, city crews at work, street scenes, having fun, or work.
• Category Two: Places in Lake Oswego — Photo examples include Lake Oswego's neighborhoods, shopping districts, streets, parks, trails and green spaces, businesses, etc.
• Category Three: People of Lake Oswego — Photos should reflect the wide range and diversity of individuals and families who live, work and play in Lake Oswego.
• Category Four: Positive Aging in LO — Photos should depict people 50 and older, specifically. It should feature great aspects of aging in Lake Oswego; for example, someone hiking one of our trails, having a picnic with family in the park, shopping at the Farmers Market, painting, fishing, etc. While the subjects have an age requirement, photographers can be of any age.
• Category Five: Pets in Lake Oswego — This one is pretty straight forward; send in your favorite pet photo, but be sure to make it clear your pet was playing in Lake Oswego.
• Category Six: Youth (unlike the Positive Aging category, this category demands the entrant/photographer be under the age of 18) — Photos taken in Lake Oswego can reflect any subject matter the entrant would like to submit, so long as the age requirement is met.
• Category Seven: Digitally Altered Photographic Images — While normally photographical blasphemy, this category is designed for photographs that are more than just enhanced through digital fine-tuning. Each photographer in this category also needs to describe/explain the digital enhancement or manipulation applied to the image.

Along with the gift card awards, winners will also see their photos displayed in a special photo exhibit at city hall throughout 2018 and on the city's website. Additionally, winning photos could be published (with credit) in the November edition of the "HelloLO" newsletter and the "LO Down" e-newsletter.

The judges, which will be made up by city staff and city councilors, will notify the top three finalists from each category by mid-September, Hirshberger said. Those finalist photographs will be published in the October "HelloLO" newsletter, giving the community its chance to finalize the first, second, and third place winners by voting for their top choices either online or by mail, Hirshberger said.

Public voting will close on Oct. 15, and the rankings of each category winner will be announced in early November.

For more information, and to see the contest guidelines and submission form, click here to visit the city's contest website.

Top Image: 2016 Category Two second place winner "Polaris", shot by Michael Berger, via city of Lake Oswego