Calling all nature photography enthusiasts! The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC)’s Photography Contest returns this year and invites avid photographers to test their skills and submit their best shots which capture the uniqueness of Malaysia’s tropical forests.
The contest, themed “Experience Forest, Experience MTCS-PEFC” will run from 22 April to 6 July 2020 and includes five categories including one new category for social media butterflies to show their photography flair on Instagram/ Facebook.
MTCC Chief Executive Officer Yong Teng Koon says the contest, a third-time collaboration between MTCC and PCP Publications, is aimed at raising public awareness on the beauty and benefits of our tropical lush forests while promoting the importance of valuing the nature and sustainable forest management through timber certification to benefit future generations.
“The MTCC Photography Contest is one of MTCC’s initiatives to inculcate the love and appreciation for forests and nature among the public via visual arts – which we believe have more impact in conveying messages concerning environment conservation. We’d received high quality entries that captured the richness of our forests and the people responsible for their well-being when we organised the contests in 2017 and 2018. We definitely look forward to see more inspiring shots by adding more prizes and categories this time around,” he says.
Besides four photography and videography categories, there will be a new category for Instagrammers who are passionate about caring and doing their bid for the environment, says Yong.
“The new category, #fortheloveofnature invites Instagrammers/ Facebook users to capture creative shots showing how they do their part to protect the environment. For example, cleaning up rubbish after having a picnic or camping in the forests. We hope they can inspire and spread positive messages to more people by sharing their entries on the social media,” he adds.
CATEGORIES AND PRIZES
This year’s contest comprises the following categories:
- Category 1 – Forests and People: This category seeks images of people involved in the field of forestry responsible for the well-being of Malaysia’s forest resources such as foresters, forest rangers, forest researchers, auditors and indigenous peoples. Images portraying people at work and the utilisation of modern technologies for managing and conserving Malaysia’s forest resources are encouraged.
- Category 2 – Forests and Forest Landscapes: This category welcomes any shots showcasing the natural beauty, diversity and uniqueness of forests by capturing the geological, climatological features and natural environment of Malaysian forests.
- Category 3 – Forests and Fauna: This category seeks amazing images of animals in the wild including mammals, birds, amphibians or reptiles.
- Category 4 – Mobile Short Video: This category requires participants to record the wonders of Malaysian forests in a short video clip with a duration of not more than three minutes. Participants may use a variety of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, drones, GoPros, or a combination of these mobile devices, to capture the sights and sounds of the natural environment.
- Category 5 – #fortheloveofnature This category invites Instagrammers to take creative shots on how Malaysians do their bid to protect the environment and share them on the social media with the following hashtags: #mtccphotocontest2020 #fortheloveofnature
Besides the grand prize of RM2,000, the contest offers one first prize of RM1,200, two merit prizes of RM600 and 10 consolation prizes of RM200 per category for Category 1 – 3. The best two mobile video clips (Category 4) will receive a cash prize of RM500 each. The three best entries on Instagram (Category 5) will receive a cash prize of RM100 each and 7 consolation prizes of RM50 each will also be awarded. All winners will also receive a book/magazine courtesy of PCPPublications.
Participation is open to all Malaysians who have a passion for forests and photography. Participants may submit up to 10 images for each category and are required to upload their entries to a cloud storage system and email the link to [email protected].
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