Upcoming Photo Contest In Gonzales

Fire up your cameras and try to focus! The Gonzales County Camera Club will have its annual photography contest during this year's Come and Take It celebration Oct. 5-7 in downtown Gonzales. "The show will be moving this year to a new location, the Café on the Square, 511 St. Joseph St.," contest chairman Kenneth Gottwald told the Victoria Advocate. All area photographers are encouraged to enter. The free exhibit will be open to the public from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 5, from 1 to 6 p.m. Oct. 6 and from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 7.

An entry fee of $3 per photo must be submitted with all photographs. The youngest shutterbugs, 18 years of age and younger, may enter the youth category for $2 per photo. This year's adult categories include portraits, architecture, still life, flowers, landscapes, people, Texas history, animals, digitally-altered and miscellaneous. All photos must be at least 8-by-10 inches and matted to 11-by-14 inches.

Entries are due Oct. 1. For a complete copy of the rules and submission guidelines, contact Gottwald at 830-672-8676 or Reta Hines at 830-672-2242. No entries will be accepted after the deadline.

Judging will take place before the show, and first-, second- and third-place ribbons will be awarded in each category. Best-in-show will be selected from the winners. First-place winners will each receive $25, second place $15 and third place $10. The Best-in-Show prize is $100.

This year's contest will also feature a photo sale fundraiser. Entrants will have the option to sell any of the photos they submit for judging. A minimum sale price of $20 will be assigned to each photo authorized for sale, but any exhibitor may place a higher price on his or her photograph. The Camera Club will receive $10 from each purchase and the remainder will go to the photographer.

Photos will remain on exhibit throughout the show, and buyers will be able to pick up their purchases at the close of the show or may have them mailed to them for an additional fee.