CHNEP 2012 calendar: The calendar will be distributed in early November.

 

We live in a beautiful place in the world, and many of you have captured this beauty in your artwork, as is evidenced by the calendars produced by the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (CHNEP) since 2005. The earlier calendars are available as PDF files.

Step 1: Since 2005, many people have generously donated their time and talent to CHNEP by submitting images that depict the beauty of the natural environment of southwest Florida. The finished product have been beautiful calendars that feature your contributions and help more people understand CHNEP's purpose. This step is now completed.

 

Step 2: We ask you to select the images you would like included in the CHNEP 2012 calendar. By August 31, let us know the images you'd like included. This step is now completed.

 

Step 3: Be sure you sign up for Harbor Happenings, the CHNEP's free newsletter, by September 14 so that you will automatically receive the 2012 calendar in the mail. This step is now completed.

 

Do you want to help distribute 2012 calendars? This step is now completed.

Please let others know who you think may be interested in participating.

 

Step 1: Submit entries by 5 p.m. on July 14. This step is completed.  This information is available as a one-page flier and an entry form.

 

You can have your artwork published! The CHNEP encourages you to submit up to three images that capture the beauty of the natural environment found in the CHNEP study area. The images could have been captured by the young or old, amateur or professional, today or 50 years ago, and in any medium (photography, oil, illustration, etc.) The goal is that the 2012 calendar will depict the diversity and beauty of the natural environment found within this geographic area, which may include estuaries, rivers, streams, native plants, native wildlife, and people enjoying these resources.

 

Thank you to those who have generously given of their time and  talent to help create calendars that depict the beauty and diversity of the natural environment of southwest Florida.

 

There is no entry fee and the only "rules" are:

  • The image captured must be within the watershed of concern to the CHNEP, which includes all or part of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Polk and Sarasota counties. Maps of the programs watershed are available on this website.

    • Images will not be considered if it is obviously not within the CHNEP study area (e.g., Tampa shoreline), features an exotic plant or animal (e.g., Brazilian pepper and Nile monitor lizard) or if the message isn't one that CHNEP wants to encourage (e.g., feeding animals). If time allows, the person who submitted the images will be notified and may submit other images if they can be received by the deadline of July 14.

  • Each person may submit up to three images.

  • Images must be received as digital files. (For more information, see the hints provided below.)

  • There are two ways to submit your images: on a compact disk (CD) or by email. No matter which way the images are provided, they must be received by 5 p.m. July 14, 2011. Each entry must be accompanied by a release form that allows the CHNEP to use the entries in items such as the calendar, the Harbor Happenings newsletter or on the program website. Images will only be posted for selection if a completed release form is received and if the images are submitted as digital files. A signed model release form must also be provided for each recognizable person in the image(s).

     

    (1) Send the CD and completed release form (the form is page 2) to:

    • CHNEP Calendar Art Contest, 1926 Victoria Avenue, Fort Myers, FL 33901-3414.

    Please write your name and "2012" on the face of the CD.

or

(2) Send the images by email to mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org. Please write "CHNEP calendar images" in the subject line. Do not consider them received until you receive an email confirming they were received. If you do not receive this confirmation email, your entries were not received. In lieu of the printed release form, complete an online version of the entry form. We are able to make this email/online form option available this year because our email has been upgraded, giving us the ability to accept large files.

 

NOTES: Some people haven't been able to access the online entry form through FireFox but it works fine when opened in Internet Explorer. A few people have emailed very large files by using WinZip, a free software program.

If you email the photographs, please complete the online form. If you mail the images, please complete the printed form and include a print out with your CD.

 

CHNEP staff will have the final decision on entries posted and printed and will not display images that are obscene, provocative or whose content is otherwise questionable or whose quality does not conform to the standards as specified here. CHNEP retains sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content.

 

 

Step 2: By August 31, select the images you'd like to see included in the 2012 calendar. This step is completed.

 

If you'd like more details about the images submitted, read below.

 

When you are ready to let us know which images you'd like included, please go to the online survey. This step is now complete so the online survey is no longer available.

For the CHNEP 2012 calendar, more people submitted more entries than ever before. A total of 180 people submitted 490 images that are posted in this online survey. Before August 31, we ask for your advice on which images to include in the calendar. The results of the survey help further the process of developing the calendar but other considerations also help CHNEP produce the final calendar.

If you'd like a peak at the 490 images submitted, a contact sheet is available (PDF @ 4,690 KB). (The free software Adobe Acrobat Reader is available at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.) This year we attempted to group similar subjects together. Also, some images could be categorized multiple ways so please don't rely solely on this grouping to guide you in your review. About two of every five images submitted is of birds.

  • Alligators: images 1-18

  • Sealife: images 19-29, 33-35, 40-48, 302-304

  • Dolphins: images 30-32

  • Birds (multiple species): 49-250, 257, 308, 315

  • Manatees: images 36-39

  • Bobcat: images 251-252

  • Spiders, ants and more: images 253-256, 258-259, 470-474

  • Butterflies and moths: images 260-287, 475

  • Deer: images 288-293

  • Dragonflies: images 294-301

  • Flowers: images 305-307, 309-314, 316-321 (see also spider group above)

  • Frogs: images 322-328

  • Landscapes: images 329-407, 414

    • NOTE: Some landscapes include birds (396, 397, 407) and people (348, 353, 389, 394). Some "plants" could also be categorized as landscapes.

  • Otter: images 408-410

  • Panther: image 411

  • People, buildings and boats: images 412-438

  • Plants: images 439-455

  • Raccoons: images 456-459

  • Sea turtle: images 460-461

  • Skunk: image 462

  • Snakes: images 463-469

  • Squirrel: images 476-479

  • Gopher tortoise: images 480-487

  • Turtles: images 488-490

The goal of each calendar is to have images that depict the beauty of the natural environment of southwest Florida as defined by the CHNEP. This definition restricts images to the greater Charlotte Harbor watershed, which includes Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee and Lee counties and portions of Highlands, Manatee, Polk and Sarasota counties. The "natural environment" to CHNEP is defined as native landscapes, plants and animals and people enjoying this environment. While nearly half of the images submitted feature birds, we would like the calendar to depict the diversity of the natural environment found in southwest Florida. Please base your vote with the CHNEP 2012 calendar in mind.

 

Are you ready to let us know which images you'd like included? Please go to the online survey.

 

Step 3: If you aren't already receiving the CHNEP newsletter Harbor Happenings, please sign up by September 14 to receive this free quarterly newsletter and the 2012 calendar in the mail. This step is completed. (No action is required if you already receive the newsletter or you submitted an image for consideration.)

If you have any questions, please contact:

Maran Brainard Hilgendorf, Communications Manager

mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org, www.CHNEP.org

Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program

1926 Victoria Ave, Fort Myers FL 33901

239/338-2556 x 240, Toll Free 866/835-5785 x 240, Fax 239/338-2560

Working together to protect estuaries and watersheds from Venice to Bonita springs to Winter Haven

 

 

Hints

 

If you want help in digitizing your image, contact The Set-Up in Cape Coral (239/542-4142 or info@thesetup.com) or a local commercial printer. Scanning costs are estimated to be $50 an image.

 

The resolution of the images you submit will determine how the image can be used in the calendar. To be considered as a feature image, the resolution must allow the file to be printed as an 12" x 9" image at 300 dpi. Images that conform to a 4 x 3 ratio (12 x 9) are preferred as they conform to the anticipated print size of the calendar. Those with resolutions lower than this will be considered as smaller images to appear within the dates of the calendar.

 

From WiseGeek.com -- The term megapixels is used by digital camera manufacturers to describe the resolution at which the cameras are capable of taking pictures. In most computer contexts, resolution is given as two dimensions, such as in a computer display resolution of 1600 x 1200, which represents a width of 1600 pixels and a height of 1200 pixels. Digital camera manufacturers take the sum total of pixels generated by multiplying the two dimensions, so that a camera capable of producing images at 1600 x 1200 would produce a total of 1,920,000 pixels, or 1.9 megapixels. The website Unlikelymoose.com includes a digital camera conversation chart.