Three photographers from Outlook were recently selected to represent the community in this year's upcoming "Communities in Bloom" contest.

To choose which pictures would be submitted, Outlook held a contest of their own, called the "Take a Shot" Photo Competition.

The the three winners of the competition are Derek Ruttle, Henry Buys, and John McPhail. Ruttle and Buys each had two pictures selected, and McPhail had one. The pictures were voted on by the community through the town's official Facebook Page, which also had up to 21 other pictures to choose from.

The Communitites in Bloom contest encourages participants to capture what they are most proud of in their area. Outlook gave the ideas of parks, boulevards, floral displays, and other heritage and ecological features of the area.

Here are the five pictures Outlook will be submitting this year:

Submitted by Derek Ruttle (98 votes)

Submitted by Derek Ruttle (67 votes)

Submitted by John McPhail (50 votes)

Submitted by Henry Buys (48 votes)

Submitted by Henry Buys (38 votes)

Officially, participating communities are judged on various factors, including the quality of the areas's green spaces, general tidiness, environmental awareness, and the level of involvement seen in the community. The community is visited by two volunteer “judges” who conduct an assessment related to all the evaluation criteria. The assessment form is returned to community for planning purposes. A “bloom rating” is provided and is based on the score received through the assessment.

Outlook was actually one of last year's winners. The town placed at the top for the category of communities with a population between 2,001 and 3,000. They were given a rating of 3 blooms, and given a special mention for the Highway 4 Way-Stop Greenspace. Other West Central communities took part last year as well, including Kyle, Eston, Kerrobert, and Eston.