A photo of Okanagan Lake is a winner in a national photography contest.

Okanagan resident Richard Smith won Living Lakes Canada鈥檚 (LLC) Judges鈥� Favourite honour for the Lake Landscapes Category in LLC鈥檚 third annual 2023 Lake Biodiversity Photo Challenge.

Smith was among three winners selected by a Living Lakes Canada panel that awarded Judges鈥� Favourite in the Lake Landscapes category to Richard Smith, who captured an ethereal shot of Okanagan Lake after an afternoon rainstorm. Rachelle Mack won Judges鈥� Favourite in the Lake Biodiversity category for her photo of a frog seeking cover under a lily pad on Lake Scugog, Ont.

Chelsey Breeze won Judges鈥� Favourite in the Lake Impacts category for an eagle鈥檚 eye shot of urban infrastructure along Lake Ontario in Burlington.

Winners of the Lake Landscapes, Lake Biodiversity and Lake Impacts categories will receive generous prize packages with items from Kicking Horse Coffee, Lush, Teadore, Laykhaus and Float-Eh.

鈥淧hotography has the power to capture hearts and minds and inspire positive change,鈥� said LLC.

Images that show the wonder of natural lakescapes, glimpses into the lives of wildlife, and intimate moments of people in nature perfectly describe the photos submitted to the recently completed photo challenge.

Organized by Living Lakes Canada, a national non-profit focused on water stewardship, the event aims to celebrate the beauty of lake biodiversity while raising awareness around growing impacts on lake health.

Every year, the Photo Challenge invites people from coast to coast to submit their most engaging lake photos.

For the first time since the contest was launched in 2020, photos were submitted from every province and territory across the country. There were 629 submissions, and more than 1,600 people cast online votes in August.

The 2023 Photo Challenge was made possible thanks to funding from the RBC Tech for Nature program.

The entire 2023 online gallery can be viewed : https://livinglakescanada.ca/lake-biodiversity-photo-challenge-2023/

roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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