As a way to encourage RCAP staff across the country to produce communications materials that promote RCAP and raise its profile, the national office sponsored a photography contest in the fall of 2010. The contest was to challenge staff of RCAP's regional partners to "picture RCAP" - to depict the work of RCAP in the field in photos.
The contest was open to all staff of RCAP's regional partners, and winners were chosen in three categories by a panel of judges consisting of RCAP national office staff and an at-large member of RCAP's national board. The winners were announced at RCAP's national conference, which was held in Washington, D.C., Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, 2010. A winner in a fourth category - "audience favorite" - was chosen by participants at the national conference. The winners were given their choice of prizes of a digital picture frame, an iPod Nano, a Flip video camera, and a Kindle.
All entries and winning photographs can be seen on Flickr [1].
See below the winners for category descriptions and contest rules.
The winners in each category:
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KIM PADGETT Category: People Photographer's explanation: Carlos Phillips and Edward McBee, Fleming Neon, Ky. |
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KAY MULLIGAN Category: Infrastructure Photographer's explanation: Santa Cruz Water Treatment Plant, Santa Cruz, Calif.
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JOAN DOUGLAS Category: Landscape Photographer's explanation: Dudley Farm, Newberry, Fla., taken Sept. 2008 |
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KURTIS STRICKLAND Category: Audience favorite Photographer's explanation: This is a photo of a duct-taped well head. The photo is a perfect visual of how small, rural communities |
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Contest Categories
Entries were accepted and prizes were awarded in these categories:
- People: Show the faces of your work and communities. Potential entries could include photos of training events, meetings, field work, residents of communities, etc. Candid photos of people doing something are usually better than posed or staged photos, although you may choose to take artistic, posed photos of residents in a community.
- Facilities/infrastructure: What does the infrastructure of water and wastewater systems look like? Photos submitted to this category can be before and/or after images of the actual construction and condition of utilities in your communities. Some other ideas are water towers or interesting shots of equipment.
- Rural landscapes and nature: Capture the beauty or starkness of a community. Entries could be images of bodies of water, plant life, or local landforms or could show the historic main street of a community.
- “Audience favorite”: All photos submitted to the contest in any of the above three categories will be automatically entered in this category. The panel of judges will pick the top images to be voted on by all participants of the 2010 RCAP national conference. The winner will be chosen by a majority vote by the conference’s participants.
Judging
Photos were judged first on how well they illustrated the work/mission of RCAP and how well they illustrated the category they were entered in. The judges also considered photos’ composition, lighting and artistic and technical qualities when necessary.