JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — With so many people practicing social distancing and spending more time at home, Audubon Community Nature Center (ACNC) in Jamestown has extended the deadline for submissions to its 2020 Nature Photography Contest.

“With better weather for many of us, we’re hoping that extending the deadline to August 31 will encourage photographers both young and old to grab their phones or cameras, head outside, and take their best shot,” said ACNC Executive Director Leigh Rovegno.

A $200 cash prize will be awarded to winners in both the Youth (ages 8 to 18, or still in high school) and Adult (ages 18 or older, or out of high school) divisions in all three categories of:

Wildlife Portraits: any wild animal. No photos of animals in captivity, such as pets, zoos, or rehab animals.

Macro Abstracts: anything that is natural/wild such as flowers, insects, leaves, water droplets, eyes/feathers of animals, close-up textures in nature, etc.

Habitats and Landscapes: places that any wild animals live in and/or waterfalls, sunsets, mountains, etc.

The 12 winning photographs and 12 finalists — six youth and six adults — will be displayed indefinitely on the contest website along with the photographer’s name and city/state/country. ACNC will print the winning photographs to exhibit in the Nature Center, and winners will be named in a news release that is widely distributed, including to their local media, when known.

Deadline for submission of photographs is Aug. 31, 2020.

Full details of the competition as well as images of previous winners and finalists can be found at ACNCPhotoContest.com.