Snap. Click. Ka-ching!

Those are the sounds of local youths taking pictures and winning prizes. The Musée Héritage Museum is once again hosting its annual Take Your Best Shot photography contest.

Considering the overwhelming popularity of the inaugural edition held last year, curator Joanne White fully expects this new event to be gangbusters as well.

“It was great! Everybody loved it,” she exclaimed. “We got a great response. The kids were really pleased with all of it.”

There were dozens of entries with 27 making the final cut to go in the show and on the wall. Each photograph was enlarged, and the artists were given the end result after the show finished its run.

White said that there were numerous contributors from last year who expressed interest in participating again.

“We’re glad they’ll try it again.”

She added that the deadline is a little longer than it was for last year, making it easier for more people to enter.

This time, the theme is Nature Nearby so entrants are expected to find some interesting nature scenes from within St. Albert’s city limits or very close nearby. Considering that there’s Riverlot 56, the Red Willow trail system, the botanic park, the Sturgeon River, not to mention Big Lake and Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park, there should be no shortage of venues for the budding photographers to set up their tripods and start snapping shots. Of course there’s nothing stopping entrants from taking a picture from their own backyards either.

Entries must be JPEG files no smaller than 4 megabytes. Files up to 7 megabytes can be emailed; larger entries must be burned onto a compact disc and dropped off at the museum in St. Albert Place.

The second part of each entry requires the participant to write out a description in 75 words or less of why that particular subject was photographed.

Entries will be divided into three groups: Grades 3 to 6, Grades 7 to 9, and Grades 10 to 12.

The deadline for submissions is October. 14. Winners will be notified by November 2.

A jury will choose eight photographs from each age category to be put on display for a temporary exhibition called Nature Nearby, running Nov. 27 to Dec. 24. A special reception and prize presentation will be held on Nov. 30. Last year, attendance at the exhibit reached more than 3,500.

The jury will then decide on the top three from each group. Each of the three first-place winners will get a $200 gift card from McBain Camera, while each second-place winner will get a $150 gift card, and each third-place winner will get a $100 gift card.

To get in contact with White at the museum, call 780-459-1528 or email joannew@artsheritage.ca. More information can be found at the museum’s website at www.museeheritage.ca.

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