The criteria were fairly straightforward: the photo had to be taken within the calendar year and shot in the Eastern Kings region.

“We never anticipated it was going to be anything this size. We figured if we got 40 pictures we’d be doing well,” says Fred Cheverie, Souris and area watershed co-ordinator and branch member.

Much to everyone’s delight, the first contest attracted more than 450 entries to the four official categories which were elementary school, high school, college/university and adult.

“I think our timing was great. A lot of people have digital cameras and like to use them and obviously we have a tremendous interest in Eastern Kings in terms of wildlife and nature scenes,” Cheverie adds.

A trio of professional photographers familiar with Kings County but based in various parts of the world was enlisted as volunteers to judge the submissions for technical quality, composition, creativity and content. The photos were posted on flickr.com by only by a letter/number code for fairness.

Prizes were donated by MacPhee’s Main Street Home Hardware, Ducks Unlimited and the Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation. The judges also pitched in for a prize for the special category of most promising youth photographer.

With such positive response, the wildlife federation decided to go ahead with a 2008 contest which drew nearly 1,500 entries from every province and territory in Canada and as far away as California and Mexico.

“They’re people who came to this region and took the pictures here,” Leard says.

Photos are always added to the website when they are submitted.

“We find that by posting the photos when we receive them that people are following the contest. I know of one person who looks through the photos to see how they’re done because that individual wishes to improve their own photography,” Leard says.

“It’s an educational thing, too. People are not only learning about how to use a camera, they’re learning about the environment, they’re learning about all the storm systems, the changing of the seasons.”

For example, one person focused on a particular grouping of trees at certain times of the year.

“That person went back to that same location three different times so that person, I think, is actually getting an awareness of our environment.”

This year’s photo images ranged from bevies of birds and scenic vistas to a freaky-looking toad taken along the Souris River by Becky Petersen, which won one of 12 honourable mentions.

A single spectacular sunset, in particular, drew multiple submissions from shutterbugs locally and people from as far away as Quebec, all of whom were here to witness that P.E.I. night fall.

“It was a really neat sky, different colours and the whole works,” says Leard.

“I think in the final 61 photos (in the final round) there were three from that night.”

In fact, Shane MacClure’s photo of that sunset taken at Albion Cross captivated the judges’ attention and garnered second place in the adult category.

“I’ve been saying for years that everybody should keep their camera by their side because they never know what they’re going to see,” Leard says.

That train of thought boded well for Kaylee Campbell, 17-year-old daughter of Joseph and Judi Campbell of Kingsboro and a Grade 12 student at Souris Regional High School.

That, for me, was kind of a fluke when I took that picture,” a smiling Kaylee admits of her stunning photo of the harbour at North Lake that features soaring gulls balanced against the crispness of the wharf and the softness of the fog and a surging surf.

She shot this picture as she headed out on the family boat, Kaylee Belle, for a day of lobster fishing with her father as she often does. But that day offered up a snapshot that put her firmly in first place for the photo contest’s high school category.

“I’m not big into photography. I just take random pictures, but I just had luck with it, I guess,” she laughs.

“I just love Eastern Kings and it was pretty cool that there was a photo contest for this area because this area is really pretty.”

The grand prize photo of 2008 was of a fine-feathered chickadee friend taken by Cathleen Gallant of Monticello, who also received a special mention for humour for her photo of two fox pups. Although the crop wasn’t perfect and the focus was a bit off on the latter photo, the judges felt it deserved notice because of its cute-factor content.

“They wanted a special mention of this one because of the look on (the pups’) faces,” Leard says.

The first submission for 2009 is already in place. This year there will be a people’s choice category so website visitors can make note of their favourites. The contest will also be open to digital videos for the first time as well once the infrastructure is put into place to facilitate that.

“Hopefully people will see the big picture with the video,” Leard says.

People can submit as many entries as they wish but are only eligible to win one prize, with the exception of the most promising youth photographer award, which can be given over and above another win.

“This way we’re allowing the photographers to showcase their work,” Leard says.

Insofar as generating interest for this wildlife federation branch’s website, the numbers paint a pretty picture of about 3,000 hits a day.

“(It showcases) all the good work that we’re doing in the environment in the Souris area. People go on the website, they browse through the photos and that leads them into other sections where they start reading about things we’ve done, things of that nature,” Cheverie says.

“So it’s giving the world a view of what we’re doing in our area. It’s definitely brought us to the forefront as an environmental group.”

Just the facts

At a glance

For more information about the Souris and Area Branch of the P.E.I. Wildlife Federation and its photo contest or to see some of the nearly 2,000 photos submitted to date, visit www.souriswl.ca.