Nature’s Best Photography Magazine is announcing an open call for all photographers to enter the 2009 NATURE’S BEST PHOTOGRAPHY WINDLAND SMITH RICE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS competition. A total of $15,000 is offered in cash and prizes.

The winners of the contest will have their photographs published in the Awards 2009 Collector’s Edition of Nature’s Best Photography. Winning entries may also be selected for the annual exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The photos are also eligible for presentation in other photo gallery displays that are related to the contest.

The entries are judged by the magazine’s editorial staff and critiqued for technical quality, originality, and artistic merit.

Entry fee is $25. The deadline for this contest is May 4, 2009. Entries for this contest are submitted digitally to the website. The official contest entry form is located at the Nature’s Best Photography site. For full details of the contest and submission requirements, go to Naturesbestphotography.com.

Windland Smith Rice was a strong advocate for conservation and an accomplished photographer in her own right. She won a Nature’s Best Photography award in 1999 and began a close relationship with the contest by volunteering her time to the event. She is remembered by her strong love for nature and photography as well as her warm spirit and love of people.

A partial contest category list follows:

ART IN NATURE:
Naturally occurring artistic compositions (colors, forms, textures, etc.) in nature.

BIRDS:
Wild birds in native habitats displaying plumage, mating rituals, nesting, feeding, or other behaviors.

CREATIVE DIGITAL:
Any nature-related image or combination of images that is created and/or manipulated using digital/electronic technology (such as Adobe® Photoshop®). Let your imagination go wild!

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
Images that document current environmental issues, such as pollution, global warming, loss of habitat, etc.

OCEANS:
The fascinating world of the sea: tide pools, coral reefs, marine life, waves, etc. Photos taken above the ocean’s surface, related to ocean life, are also welcome.

SMALL WORLD SPECTACULARS:
Shots of plants, animals, and miniature landscapes taken with macro lenses.

WEATHER:
From dramatic storms to tranquil skies—weather in all its fury and forms. (Tornados, hurricanes, floods, rain, wind, cloud formations, etc.)

WILDLIFE:
Wild animals (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc.—birds are a separate category, see above) photographed in their natural habitat (no captive animals).

The Design Green Project is the first of its kind to honor and reward designers’ creativity from around the world for their excellence in designing ‘Green’ for a better planet – in the disciplines of art, branding, environments, fashion, packaging, photography, print, design green, and now interactive.

All designers who participate in this unique competition will be part of the solution to the Global Warming Crisis by replacing one of their old light bulbs with a compact fluorescent light bulb provided by The Design Green Project. Additionally, there will be a tree planted in their name and 50% of all proceeds will be donated to the StopGlobalWarming.org fund, just for entering.

This is an international competition with various caveats to entries, so be sure to visit the site to learn more about the guidelines and the creative categories. Deadline is 15 December 2008.

Got a project to show off to the world? Want your work recognized by a distinguished panel of architects? The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association and the Cedar Shale and Shingle Bureau invite entries in the Western Red Cedar Architectural Design Awards program honoring design excellence and architectural accomplishment using western red cedar.

Deadline is 31 October 2008. Visit the site to learn more.

Design For The Children is an open, international design competition asking architects and designers from around the world to develop a sustainable, culturally responsive, pediatric clinic model for East Africa. Fight for the Children staff will work with local residents at the proposed site in East Africa to build the clinic based on the winning design, using local materials and building techniques. Fight for the Children staff will train and work with local doctors and nurses, who will in turn train other area residents.

Registration deadline is 15 October 2008. 15 January is the submission deadline (only the registration date will be noted on the calendar). Visit the site to learn more.

School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York City, in partnership with Giraldi Media, announces the first annual Out of Hand International Festival, a showcase for innovative digital content created by students and intended for playback on mobile phones and other wireless or handheld devices. The festival invites aspiring artists, designers, filmmakers and creative thinkers worldwide to enter original work into competition using the online submission form by December 31, 2008. A public showing and awards presentation, awarding cash and other prizes to the top submissions, will take place in New York City in March 2009. Details to come.

Visit the site to learn more.

Enter the most prestigious design competition for interactive media, the 15th annual Communication Arts Interactive Design Competition. Any interactive project created for digital distribution on the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, interactive kiosk or handheld device is eligible. Selected by a nationally representative panel of distinguished programmers, interface designers and creative directors, the winning entries will be published in the 2009 Interactive Annual of Communication Arts and on our Web site. Over 70,000 copies will be distributed worldwide, assuring important exposure to the creators of these outstanding projects.

Deadline is 15 December 2008. Visit the site to learn more.