Shoot the Hills Photography Contest

Shoot the Hills Logo

Registration is Now Open!

Click Here to use our secure online registration form

Download the STH 2012 Registration

to mail or fax. Forms may be faxed to (877) 835-5798.

New for 2012 - Pre-order your personalized Brag/Bag Tag for just $5 each!

April 20-22, 2012

All nature photographers are invited to join Ohio’s largest photo contest, Shoot the Hills. Held annually in the Hocking Hills State Park (Ohio), the contest primarily promotes nature photography. More than $5,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded to winners at the conclusion of the 3-day photography event, April 20-22.

The contest is open to pros and amateurs alike, but digital entries must be captured within a specified 24-hour period (from 12:00 pm (noon) on April 20 to 12:00 pm (noon) on April 21). Digital entries must also have been made within the four-county coverage area of the Hocking Hills Region. (See rules for more details.)

Shoot the Hills is an official fundraiser of the Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park, and all proceeds are used to build and maintain photo-friendly wildlife blinds and habitats within the Park. These special areas currently include nesting boxes and feeding stations for local and migrating waterfowl and wildlife, a gazebo-style photo hut on Rose Lake, and a butterfly habitat and garden.

The digital competition is the 24-hour photo contest. Entry fees are $35 for Digital Point-n-Shoot and $45 for Digital SLR. Photographers may enter twice. Registration will begin mid January 2012.

Digital contest categories are: Wildlife, Flora, Landscape, Human Interest in Nature, Abstracts in Nature, and “Photographers Choice” (an open category). Each digital photographer may enter a total of six images per paid entry fee.

The competition also includes a Print Contest.

While entries for the Digital Division must be shot within the designated time period, entries in the Print Division are not restricted by date and may be taken using film or as a digital capture.

Photo manipulation is not allowed in the digital competition, but entries in the print competition may be the artistic expression of the photographer and may be manipulated or composited as long as the print is deemed “suitable for family viewing” by the event coordinators.

Entries in the Print Division are required to be unmatted and unframed prints measuring 8x10 inches. Photographers may enter any quantity with a $35 entry fee per print. Prints may include any subject or topic, and may be digitally enhanced, modified, or composited. Print division entries are to be taken within the four county competition areas of Athens, Fairfield, Hocking, and Vinton counties.

Three winners will be named in the Print Division. Judges Choice, Peoples Choice and , Highlight of the HIlls which is selected by the Hocking Hills Tourism Association.

The Hocking Hills State Park is a photographer’s paradise in the spring! It is home to four primary waterfalls and many smaller seasonal waterfalls in a diverse geographic region that includes unique caves and rock shelters, sandstone cliffs and deep gorges. Additionally, the Park encompasses Conkle’s Hollow State Nature Preserve, which has a diversity of plant and animal species.

In April, wildflowers dot the landscapes and forest floors. More than 25 miles of hiking trails wind through 2,356 acres of the State Park that adjoin over 9,200 acres of nearby State Forest land. This is a must-see for any serious nature photographer!

Shoot the Hills Photography Weekend includes a variety of photography programs, including presentations from NANPA members. Any nature photographer desiring to present a program should contact Jennifer Starkey at (614) 505-7201.

Other programs, including a birds of prey event and a wildflower hike, will be hosted by the Hocking Hills State Park.

For questions regarding Shoot the Hills contact co-chairs Jennifer Starkey by email jennifer@kmsi-amc.com or by phone at (614) 505-7201 or Jennifer Allen at jennifer@getaway-cabins.com.

For lodging and local services, please Click Here, to visit the Friends of Hocking Hills business partners.

Additional lodging and travel information, is available by contacting the Hocking Hills Tourism Association at 1 (800) HOCKING or visit www.1800hocking.com.

Donate to FFHSP