By William Scott

Correspondent

Suffolk photographers — get your lenses and tripods ready. A photography contest held by Nansemond River Preservation Alliance will test your abilities as a photographer and give you the chance to show your work in an art gallery.

NPRA is holding its second annual themed photography contest, this year giving it the theme “Nansemond Wildlife.” Photos for the competition should be of any wildlife — including fish, birds, insects, mammals and shellfish — that either live along or in Suffolk’s bodies of water or that seasonally migrate through the area.

Jean Johnson, committee chair at NRPA, is in charge of the event.

Photos can be submitted to PhotoContestNRPA@gmail.com by Aug. 14. The photos should be in JPEG format no larger than four megabytes. Each photographer is allowed to submit only three photos for the contest.

The photos will be judged based on composition, technical quality and appropriateness of subject. Tidewater Community College instructor and photographer Sam Hughes will judge the contest.

The winning entry will be reproduced on a 24 x 36 canvas and displayed at the Suffolk Art Gallery on Sept. 7 through Oct. 25 as part of the “Waterways” exhibit. Suffolk Art League and Suffolk Art Gallery sponsor the exhibit.

When the event is finished, the winner will be given the canvas to keep, according to Elizabeth Taraski executive director at NRPA.

All entries will be displayed at the NRPA River Talk Environmental Education Program, which will be held Oct. 15 at the C.E.&H. Ruritan Hall in Eclipse.

The contest was created to foster awareness of Suffolk’s waterways and natural habits and to encourage citizens to be environmental stewards, according to Taraski.

Last year, Marc Weiss won the competition for his sunrise scene of the Godwin Bridge. The theme involved scenes of Nansemond River.

Thirty photographers participated in last year’s contest. Fifty participants are expected this year, according to Taraski.