• Get students at a most formative stage in their lives outdoors and involved in nature.
• Promote photography as a way to experience the area's natural beauty.
• Encourage area residents to be more environmentally aware.

• Young people who live in or who attend public, private or home school in Arlington/Pantego/Dalworthington Gardens and who will be in the 3rd through 6th grade in the 2016 fall semester.

• Photos must be taken between April 15 and November 1, 2016. The Application/Sign-In form must be completed by November 1, 2016.
• A student may enter 1 to 10 photos - taken in his or her backyard or taken in a greater Arlington park or nature area.
• Upload your photos on this site after you have completed the Application/Sign-Up and you have logged-in.
• Each student will be assigned a unique username and password so that parents or teachers can sign-up more than one student.

• The Theme/Picture Title should come from a school class. Each entry should identify where it was taken and state in a few words its nature theme and how the photo reflects it.
• Examples of themes provided by AISD teachers are: life cycles, structure/function, animal behaviors, adaptations, energy flow, interactions, ecosystems change, inherited traits, learned behaviors, metamorphosis, classification, interactions and organization. (These are only examples).

• Judges will be local experts in photography and the natural sciences. They will look for originality, ingenuity, detail and how well the picture depicts the theme. Any camera that produces a quality image, from sophisticated to smart phone, is fine.
• Judges will use your last 3 photos submitted for the judging, if you upload more that three.
• Cropping is allowed, but photos that have been electronically manipulated or that contain recognizable people, domestic animals or pets will be disqualified. Photos submitted may not currently be entered in another contest, have won another contest or have been published.

• No limit exists on the number of entrants the judges may recognize. A student can win only one time.
• Cash prizes of $50, $35, $25, $15 and a gift certificate from Arlington Camera will reward the top four photos in each school grade. And, other merchant prices will be awarded.
• The best may be displayed at venues such as River Legacy Living Science Center and the Arlington Conservation Council website.

Questions or Support email: focus@acctexas.org

Continue to Application Page