Submitted Photo If you haven't already taken your "best shot," now is the time to go outside and take some pictures to submit to Audubon Community Nature Center's 2018 Nature Photography Contest. Prizes this year are better than ever before. In 2017, Olean photographer Paul G. Barretta's "Two Birds on Perch," pictured here, was a winner.

JAMESTOWN — Submissions are now being accepted for the 2018 Audubon Community Nature Center (ACNC) Nature Photography Contest.

This year’s theme is Natural Wonders: Big and Small. All are invited to submit work that best fits within the concept of the theme.

Nature photographer Bill Smith will judge the entries after the July 31, 2018, submission deadline.

First place winners in both the Adult (ages 18 or older, or out of high school) and Youth (ages 8 to 18, or still in high school) divisions will receive prizes of $300 cash plus $75 gift cards to Delaware Camera (cameraspot.com). Second place winners will receive $100 plus $50 gift cards to Delaware Camera.

ACNC will make and frame prints of the winning photographs that will be on exhibit at the Nature Center for one year.

Winning photos and 12 finalists (six in each division) will be displayed indefinitely on the contest website (acncphotocontest.com) along with the photographer’s name and city/state/country. Winners will be named in a news release that is widely distributed, including to their local media, when known.

To foster artistic development, winners and finalists can opt in to receive a personalized critique from the judge.

In 2017, ACNC Nature Photography Contest winners came from as nearby as neighboring Cattaraugus County in New York and as far away as Hawaii.

Full details of the competition as well as images of previous winners and finalists can be found at acncphotocontest.com.

Audubon Community Nature Center builds and nurtures connections between people and nature by providing positive outdoor experiences, opportunities to learn about and understand the natural world, and knowledge to act in environmentally responsible ways. Visit at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown and Warren or online at auduboncnc.org.