Marion County Master Gardener Association
Photo Contest – 2025
The MCMGA photo contest is partly photography, but mainly about the great things in your favorite garden(s), home or away, that you would like to share with the rest of us.
WHEN and WHERE
I will accept entries for the 2025 Photo Contest until 11:59 pm on October 6, 2025. You may submit a total of three entries spread out among any of the six categories described below to photos@indymcmga.org.
The photos can be taken in previous years as well as the current year. Remember they must be photos taken by you. They must be your creation.
Voting will take place online as it has in the last several years. Information will be forthcoming on when voting will be open online. Stay tuned!
Following are some basic rules for the contest.
Don’t worry about having a big expensive camera. Today’s cell phones have great cameras. Please, just snap away, and enter our contest!! We want to give our previous winners some competition! Your picture just might give someone else a gardening idea they have been waiting years for, so jump in and have some fun. You never know what will come out of that lens!
- The contest is open to current MCMGA members onlyand you must have taken the photos. Entries can be of plants and scenes in your own garden OR in some other garden you enjoy. You may submit up to three photograph entries as digital files only. Please make sure you rename your images with your entry name and your name. For example, Red Tulips Vickie Davis
- Each photo must be accompanied by a written comment that is 25 words or lessand that provides some educational information about the subject matter that your fellow MGer’s would like to know. TIP: Sometimes an informative explanation makes the difference between a winning photo or not. The 25 word limit will be strictly enforced.
- The entries will be judged in six different categories –
- Blooms,
- Exotics and Tropicals,
- Fruits and Veggies,
- Landscapes or Garden Views,
- Natives, and
- Wildlife in the Garden.
- Photos with their written statements will be assigned numbers (anonymity) and put on display by category. Voters may choose their favorite based on beauty, interest, how unusual or educational they think it is, etc.
- Voting will be open to all Marion County Master Gardeners and will be held online as we have done for the past few years. More information will be forthcoming on when voting will be open on the MCMGA website, BUT FIRST…….
- Submit your photo (up to three) via email to photos@indymcmga.org. Include in each submission a brief 25-word-or-less description of each photo submitted. The 25 word limit will be strictly enforced. Indicate the category in which you want your entry placed. If you do not indicate a category, a category could be assigned to your photo.
- Suggested camera settings: Use the highest quality settings e.g. “fine” (i.e. most pixels) and have a relatively new camera for high‐ Some camera companies use their own proprietary quality standards such as SQ, HQ, and SHQ (standard, high and super high quality respectively.
Winners will be announced at the December MCMGA holiday meeting. The winning entries will appear online after the winners are announced. Prizes will be given to the first, second, and third place winners in each category and the “overall” winner.
PLEASE NOTE: There is a change in how the overall winner will be determined this year. After you have voted for your favorite photo in each of the six categories, you will then be allowed a seventh vote for you to choose your overall favorite photo. You will be able to vote for this photo from any category. This will appear at the end of the regular ballot. So you should be checking a total of seven boxes.
NOTE: Check out the Photography Tips page and tips given in previous editions of the Greenery earlier this year.
If your files are larger than 10 MB you can send them via an online free service at www.wetransfer.com and address the email to photos@indymcmga.org.
Disclaimer: By entering the contest, you represent that you do not claim a copyright in the photo and agree that MCMGA may use your photo on its website, in publications, and for any other purpose.
Questions? Email Vickie Davis at photos@indymcmga.org.
Updated July 29, 2025