Calling all nature lovers! The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control wants you to showcase your skills and love for nature in the new DNREC Photo Contest.
Open to all ages and skill levels, this contest seeks to highlight Delaware’s outdoors through striking photography.
New Year, New Contest
This new, expanded contest brings together all DNREC’s former photo contests into one unified program. Rather than holding separate competitions throughout the year for different areas, DNREC now invites participants to submit their best Delaware photos across four categories.
- People Enjoying Nature – Photos of a person or people engaged or interacting with nature, such as boating, hiking, biking, picnicking, birdwatching and other outdoor activities. Examples: Canoeing or kayaking with family or friends; hiking out on the marsh to watch and photograph birds; biking park trails.
- Watersheds: Landscapes and Waterways – Artistic, scenic photos that capture Delaware’s nature beauty throughout the state in any of the four seasons; people can be included but not as the main focus. Examples: Sunsets or sunrises over land or water; wildlife footprints in the snow; a storm rolling in or an exceptional blue sky. Think light, color, composition and balance.
- Wildlife and Aquatic Life – Photos featuring Delaware’s native species in their natural habitat as the focus; no people included. Examples: a chance to frame a fawn, heron or other wildlife up close; underwater photos of fish or other aquatic life;
- Hunting and Fishing – Photos of people engaged in hunting, trapping, fishing, crabbing and clamming. Examples: Besides showing off a big fish, prize wild turkey or eight-point buck; hunters sitting in a deer or duck blind, anglers casting a line or pulling in crab traps.
- Youth Entries – Entries by those under 18 in any of the four categories above.
 | The contest runs from 1/15 to 4/15 at 4:30 pm. DNREC will make reasonable efforts to notify winners by phone or email by May 1. Contest winners will be announced publicly via email, news release(s), and social media on or around May 15. |
How will photos be judged?
A panel of DNREC experts, including a photographer, an educator and an environmental scientist, will judge the entries and select one adult winner from each category. Youth photographers will also have a chance to shine, with one overall winner being chosen from all submissions.
Photo submissions shall be judged and winning entries for each category shall be selected based on how well the photos represent the following criteria: visual effectiveness (40%), originality/creativity (25%), universal appeal (25%) and message/theme (10%).
Prizes for Winning Entries
The winners in each category will receive the following: a $500 gift card, a Delaware State Parks annual pass, a gift bag and an award certificate.
All winners will be invited to participate in the DNREC Awards ceremony on Governor’s Day in July at the Delaware State Fair.
How to Enter
- Complete the online Entry and Photo Release Form and upload a photo under the appropriate category.
- Photos must be taken in the State of Delaware. The Entry and Photo Release Form must be completed for each entered photo.
- A legal parent or guardian must complete the form for contestants under the age of 18.
- Images must be at least 1650 by 2100 pixels (but no larger than 10MB) resolution, and the digital image must be submitted in .jpeg or .png format.
- Each photographer may submit a limit of three photos in each of the four categories listed below.
- Only photos that meet the criteria, along with a completed form, will be accepted.
- Late or incomplete entries, or entries that have not followed the official contest rules will not be accepted.
Full contest rules and entry forms are available at de.gov/outdoorphotography.
