Mountain Photography Competition open for entries

The eighth annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition (AMPC) will open for registration and submissions Friday, Sept. 17.

Amateur and professional photographers 13 years of age and older are encouraged to submit at http://www.appmtnphotocomp.org prior to the competition's close at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 17.

AMPC is a partnership between Appalachian State University's Outdoor Programs and Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. The competition celebrates the people, places and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians. It attracts entries from across the United States.

For more information about the competition, visit http://www.appmtnphotocomp.org or call (828) 262-4954.

New this year is the Parkway Tree Project photo category sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Photographers are encouraged to capture images of trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway that stand out as the most beautiful, the oldest or largest, that tell a story or have a place in history, and those that are unique for their shape, species or character.

The areas comprising the Blue Ridge Parkway boast nearly 100 tree species that contribute to ecological zones of unsurpassed diversity.

Those submitting images to the Parkway Tree Project will be asked to identify the tree species, document the tree's location (e.g. GPS coordinates, parkway mile post, or other identifying indicators of the tree's location), and describe in a short story of at least a paragraph why the photographed tree is of particular significance.

Entries will be judged on impact, subject matter, center of interest, and storytelling - effectively sharing the journey by celebrating trees along the parkway.

The AMPC offers seven separate categories for submissions and $4,000 in cash and prizes. Competition categories include: adventure, Blue Ridge Parkway vistas and Share the Journey, culture, our ecological footprint, flora and fauna, and landscape.

A panel of professional photographers will review all entries and select approximately 46 that will be exhibited at the Turchin Center Feb. 4 through June 4, 2011.

AMPC is made possible through the sponsorship of Virtual Blue Ridge, an online resource for the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the support of Appalachian Voices, Bistro Roca, Inventive American Cuisine, Footsloggers Outdoor and Travel Outfitters, Mast General stores, and Peabody's Wine and Beer Merchants.