Monday, December 10 at 4 p.m. is the deadline for submitting photos to the Southern Midcoast Chamber's "Allure of the Coast" contest.

The winning photo will be used for many different projects, including the 2008 "Allure of the Coast" visitors' guide. A total of 80,000 copies of the guide will be distributed in the spring at all tourist information and visitor centers in Maine and various trade and travel shows in New England.

Photos may be used for various publicity purposes, including inside the guide, on the Chamber's website and on the state of Maine's official tourism website. The Chamber is looking for photos of all four seasons, the outdoors, landmarks, buildings, farmers' markets, lobster bakes, fruit stands, museums, art festivals, concerts, beaches, parks, forts, boating kayaking, hiking, biking, cross county skiing, kids picking blueberries or playing in the surf or petting alpacas - and photos that highlight businesses and business opportunities.

The winner will be selected by a panel of Chamber representatives and notified by December 21. All photos must be in electronic format and E-mailed to "Photo Contest" to jeiaF@midcoastmaine.com or mailed on a CD-ROM to SMMC, Border Trust Business Center, 2 Main Street, Topsham, ME 04086. Photos must be formatted to a 5 3/8 by 8 3/8 size.

The winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to Frontier Café in Brunswick. All photos in all publications will include artist attribution. Artists must live and/or work in one of the 16 communities that we serve (summer residents are welcome to participate).