The editors of Nature’s Best Photography invite all photographers to enter the Nature’s Best Backyards Photo Contest. Enter images made close to home, in a public or private garden, or a nearby park or preserve.

Suggested photo topics:

PLANT LIFE: Flowers, trees, and other flora in their natural habitat (please identify exotic or hybrid species).

PRIVATE GARDENS: Beautiful, dramatic, or unusual perspectives.

PUBLIC GARDENS: Community parks and gardens, neighborhood parks that are open to the public.

SMALL WORLD: Close-up images or macro shots of single flowers or parts of a flower, butterflies, caterpillars, insects, etc.

WATER LIFE: Man-made or natural ponds, waterfalls, streams, and wetlands in a backyard environment; also frogs, fish and aquatic plant life.

WILDLIFE: Wild animals observed in backyard habitats (no captive animals are accepted)—birds, mammals, etc.

YOUTH: Photographers 18-years-old and younger.

Contest entries will be judged on technical quality, composition, originality, and artistic merit. Professional photographers, Amateurs, and Youth (18 and under) are welcome to enter. You may enter a total of up to 20 images for one entry fee ($25 US—no foreign checks or foreign money orders).