Our national photo contest celebrating lakes across Canada now open for submissions!

Living Lakes Canada’s photo contest is back for 2023! The 3rd annual Lake Biodiversity Photo Challenge celebrates the beauty of lakes across Canada and helps raise awareness around the impacts that are threatening their incredible biodiversity.

From May 1st to July 31st, lake enthusiasts from coast to coast are invited to submit their favourite lake photos. Submissions can be made in two ways: by using the online submission form at lakeblitzphoto.livinglakescanada.ca OR by following Living Lakes Canada on social media and tagging your lake photos using the #LakeBlitzPhoto2023 hashtag. Photos must appear as posts (not stories) and include the name and location of the lake in the caption, and the category of choice.

There are four different categories to choose from: Land Landscapes (includes surrounding landscape such as mountains, forests, glaciers or people enjoying the lake); Lake Biodiversity (showcases a diversity of plants and animals); Lake Impacts (threats to lake health like visible pollution or human development); and a Kids category (for young photographers aged 12 and under who have a parent’s or guardian’s permission to enter).

All submitted photos will be displayed in the 2023 online gallery at lakeblitzphoto.livinglakescanada.ca. Each week a selection of entries will be shared on Living Lakes Canada’s social media channels. Up to one entry per day is permitted and the photo must have been taken in the last 12 months.

Everyone who enters is eligible to win! In August, a Judges’ Favourite and a Public Favourite will be chosen in each category for a total of 8 different winners. Awesome age-appropriate prizes will be provided by 2023 Photo Challenge gift sponsors LUSH Cosmetics, Kicking Horse Coffee, Earth Rangers, Float-EH, Teadore and Laykhaus. A huge thanks to RBC’s Tech for Nature program for making the 2023 Lake Biodiversity Photo Challenge possible.

The Photo Challenge is the sister event to Living Lakes Canada’s National Lake Blitz, an annual citizen science lake-monitoring initiative that enlists volunteers to monitor lakes across the country. Each volunteer is sent a monitoring kit and receives training and resources to help them monitor their favourite lake from May to September. Registration to sign up as a Lake Blitz volunteer has been extended to May 8! To learn more, visit lakeblitz.livinglakescanada.ca or email the Lake Blitz Program Manager at lakeblitz@livinglakescanada.ca.