Oregon Parks and Recreation photo contest.

Yesterday I came across an article in The Oregonian that discussed an upcoming photo contest for the Oregon Parks. I thought I'd share their offer with you. It seems like a great idea.

Sharing an experience in an Oregon state park could lead to two weeks of free camping.

That's the prize in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's third annual Go Click! photo contest.

A 14-day state park camping package will go to the grand prize winner of this year's contest, in which amateurs of all ages are invited to enter from now until Aug. 1. The top two runners-up will receive free 24-month passes to state park day-use fee areas.

The contest, in its first two years, drew more than 3,000 entries, and coordinator Jennifer McCormick of OPRD is looking forward to seeing its popularity continue.

"We're building an impressive photo album," she said. "It already shows the huge number of ways people enjoy their parks. The contest has proven to be a great outlet for people to share
their experiences."

Photos judged the best of the lot will receive more exposure this year. Besides displaying the top selections at the Oregon State Fair in August, OPRD will post a number of entries still to be determined on the Web and ask the public to pick the grand prize winner and runners-up.

"Our panel of judges have had a hard time picking winners," said McCormick. "This time we're going to let the public decide."

Entry rules and ways to compete will remain the same.

"It's pretty simple," McCormick said. "Just make sure you're in a state park and have your camera ready to take pictures of the scenery and people having fun."

All photo entries must be digital and uploaded to the OPRD Web site. The contest rules are online at www.oregonstateparks.org/goclick.

Both first-place photos in the contest, thus far, have featured scenes on the south Oregon coast. Patricia Davidson of Coos Bay claimed the top prize in the first contest with a photo at Sunset Beach. Alan Hirschmugl of Gresham shot last year's grand prize winner along the shoreline at Cape Blanco State Park.