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September 1, 2010

'Favourite green thing' photo contest? Use your imagination

Posted by Rob Klovance

Last year's Team Power Smart Photo Contest produced dozens of brilliant images, many erring on the side of Beautiful British Columbia, more or less. This time around, we're back with a grand prize of a digital SLR camera, and a decidedly different theme.

The top 10 images, including the grand prize winner, will be included in the Behind the Scenes Exhibition at the Royal BC Museum from November through December, 2010.

Chances are that this year's big winner, and the runners-up, won't win with shots of scenic wonder. The theme, "My favourite green thing" is designed to get you thinking about conservation and what's in your life – or what you're a big fan of – that demonstrates a great conservation idea.

It's not that a brilliant photo, even a pretty one, isn't going to win this year. It's just that creativity – and a clear link to electricity or other conservation-related issues – will be high on the priority list. So that amazing shot of your Black Lab jumping to catch a frisbee, with Mount Robson in the background, is not going to cut it.

If I could enter the contest...

As a BC Hydro employee, I'm not eligible to enter Team Power Smart contests. But just to help give you an idea of the type of photos that might fit the "My Favourite Green Thing" theme, here are a few ideas I might use if I could enter.

At or near the top of my list would be a simple, very Power Smart device, recently added to the strata complex I live in. It's a variable light switch timer, which allows anyone who enters a room in the common property – bike locker, fitness room, storage locker, bathrooms etc. – to time the light to go off in 5, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes.

Would that make for a boring photo? Maybe. But what if I got a shot of someone in workout gear entering the fitness room – equipment in the background – using the device? Of course, I'd need to get a signed waiver from any person in a submitted image, but that would be easy enough.

Another option for this timer photo, and one I'm using as an example here, would be to take a shot of the timer in our bike locker. If I were a better photographer, I might have been in contention with this one.

Helping allow for more creativity in this year's contest is the addition of a caption area each entrant can use to describe what the photo's about and what it means to them.

Other ideas? Think about cool, energy-efficient products, buildings, transportation... and personal choices. It could even be a shot from your travels, to a city or town that really got something right (State-of-the-art recycling? Amazing transit? A solar-powered device?)

And then there are the out-there ideas that might just work. For me, it might be the shot to the right of plums in a market in France. One of my favourite green things is eating local, and each time I travel and take the time to shop for fresh, local food at markets, I'm reminded how I should do that more at home. It may be more efficient in terms of time to get all my food at a major supermarket, but my best bet for fresh and local is often at markets and smaller shops.

Going the farm market route would allow me to go for a pretty shot after all. I can only guess, however, that any great ideas and photos around electricity conservation are going to earn extra points with the judges. So while an image related to a conservation issue beyond BC Hydro's core business could win, nailing an electricity-themed idea with a fantastic image might just be unbeatable.

How to enter the contest

1. Join Team Power Smart
2. Upload your photo via the official Team Power Smart Photo Contest site, hosted by London Drugs.

Rob Klovance is managing editor of bchydro.com and a regular contributor to Unplug This Blog!