State Park Service Photo Contest

The S.C. State Park Service is holding a year-long photo contest in celebration of the parks’ 75th anniversary.

The first-place winner in each category received a prize pack worth approximately $50. More than 1,200 photos have been submitted in the contest since it began in April. The monthly contests will continue through next April 30.

The grand prize is an Edisto folding kayak outfitted with a special fish and photo package – a $2,500 value donated by Folbot North America in Charleston (www.folbot.com). Best-of-show winners will receive prizes such as a state park cabin overnight getaway or digital cameras.

Contestants are submitting their photos for display online. Entry information and the entries themselves are at www.SouthCarolinaParks.com. Click on the “Come Out and Play” button and then the “photo contest” link.

Subject categories include mammals, birds, other wildlife, plants and “connecting people to South Carolina state parks.” The latter category can include anything from the wide range of activities – from paddling to picnicking and fishing to birdwatching – that have made the parks an integral part of South Carolina life since the first were built in the 1930s.

The judging panel includes professional photographers and staff members from the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, the Park Service’s parent agency.

Winning and other selected entries will be displayed on the Web site during the year to help showcase the photographers’ work and the natural, cultural and historic sights and activities that more than 7 million visitors a year now enjoy at South Carolina’s 47 state parks, which trace their beginnings to enabling legislation passed by the General Assembly in 1933.