The Colby Outing Club (COC) recently announced the winners of its photo contest. Photos were displayed in Cotter and passer-bys voted on as many or as few photos as they wanted.

This year’s categories and winners were Naked in Nature–John Perkins ’11, Black and White–Scott Carpenter ’14, Sunrise/Sunset–Eric Freeman ’11, Landscape–Allison Bolger ’13, Wildlife–Amie Fleming ’11, Waterscape–Amie Fleming, Individual–Jake Marty ’11, Group– Jake Marty.

The photo contest has a haphazard history, but Fleming said there are books of past photo contest submissions dating back to the 1990s in the COC office. 

Fleming said that between 20-45 photos were submitted for each category. “Each of the winning photos has great framing and captures a unique moment,” Fleming said of the winning photos.

“The photos are a cool way to see what other Colby kids are up to because they do great things and take phenomenal pictures,” Fleming continued.  “Sometimes we forget to celebrate artistic talent in photography [when] there's a "like" button conveniently underneath it.”

Photos range from COC sponsored trips to individual contributors’ own adventures. Fleming’s winning photos came from her semester abroad in Botswana.

Marty’s winning photos came from the COC sponsored spring break trip. His was at Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

“Spring break trips are one of the best things about the Outing Club,” Fleming said, “and this photo really captures how fun it is to be with other Colby kids outside in a checking out such a cool part of the country.”

The photo contest is a great way to both share and preserve the experiences students have in nature.

The COC’s spring trips are popular and easy ways for students to check out different parts of the country.

In addition to the spring trips, the COC organizes trips of varying difficulty throughout the year to different parts of Maine that are stunning and worthwhile.