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Date: 5/11/2021
WESTHAMPTON – Through the work of a singular backyard trail cam, local Westhampton resident George Graham has recently won Best Trail Cam/Backyard Film in the 2021 Natural History Filmmaking Festival.
Graham’s 24 hour, seven-day-a-week trail cam is tied to a tree on Beaver Pond – an extensive wetland in back of his property.
“I’ve been doing this for about seven years. My sister did it in Maine and got me a cam for my birthday,” said Graham.
He explained that once he saw what the trail cam was capturing, he instantly became “hooked.”
Now, Graham considers this a hobby that he does regularly. He often checks the trail cams and is amazed to see the immense wildlife.
Graham’s interest in video began during his work. For over 30 years, Graham was a reporter at The Republican.
“At one point, my videos got popular on Facebook and my editors asked if I would share these on MassLive,” said Graham.
He went on to say, “Every year, I make compilation videos to see how the year panned out.”
This year, he decided to enter his compilation into the Natural History Filmmaking Festival that was created by Edward Frank, a filmmaker and writer.
Graham discovered this contest through a friend, who suggested he apply. This was the first year the festival took place and was strictly carried out online.
Graham said, “A lot of people were interested in the festival.”
He added, the trail cam videos were only a part of the festival. In addition, there were other categories with various winners.
According to Graham, the first phase of showing the public the videos online took about four hours. “There were all kinds of different things,” he claimed.
Graham equated his hobby to fishing – you never know what you may catch.
In the spring, he believes this is the time the trails are most active. During this season, his trail cam has recorded foxes, a family of bears, and even a moose.
In the summer, wildlife seems to quiet down, whereas the fall gets busy again due to animals preparing for the winter months, he explained.
Through Graham’s successes with the first film festival, he said he would love to participate and enter again, if his camera captures more this year.
Along with the satisfaction of winning, Graham will receive a certificate in the mail and a laurel symbol through email.
Graham emphasized, “Anyone with trail cams should enter if interested. The contest calls for a minute at least for entry and a maximum of 20 minutes for the longer films.”
Anyone interested in participating in this festival or additional events led by Edward Frank, visit eforrestfrank.wordpress.com.
To see Graham’s winning video, among others, visit George Graham on Facebook and YouTube.