Playful Beach Photo Wins Week 2 of Your Patch of Michigan Contest

For many people, Michigan means lakes and beaches. It's the beauty, the fresh air, the beach walks and bonfires and family cottages and memories of vacations that make it special.

Megan Gunnell's family has a place up north near Onekama and it was on the Lake Michigan beach there that she took the photo that wins the second week of the Your Patch of Michigan 2012 photo contest.

"This photo was taken about 3 years ago. At the time, my daughter Hannah was 3 and my son Elliott was 7," Gunnell said. "We had all just arrived as an extended family up north for the weekend at my mom's place near this beach and the kids were dying to get to the beach and run around. My daughter to this day still bounds with joy and prances around in the sand every time we go there!"

Gunnell's entry was selected out of more than 100 wonderful photos submitted for the . The Royal Oak resident wins four tickets to Taste of Dearborn on June 20, courtesy of the .

You, too, can share your visions of Michigan in photos in our Your Patch of Michigan photo contest.

Every week through Labor Day we'll have a new photo gallery and a new winner chosen by a panel of Michigan Patch editors. Each weekly winner will get a prize worth roughly $50.

After Labor Day, we'll choose a grand prize winner from all of the weekly winners. The grand prize winner will receive a certificate for a two-night stay at Mission Point Resort on Mackinac Island (to be used before Oct. 31, 2013, and blackout dates and other restrictions may apply). The approximate retail value of the Grand Prize is $600.

Do you need to be Ansel Adams to win this? No. The single qualification for photos you send is that they say "Michigan" to you. 

How to enter Your Patch of Michigan contest

Here's how you can enter: To add your own images, first, become a registered Patch user if you aren't already; just sign up at the top right corner of the homepage of this website. Then add your photo(s) to the .

In the photo caption area, be sure to include your real, full name and the place where the photo was taken, as well as any other relevant information about the photo. The email address you use to register with Patch must be a working one so we can reach you should we have questions or should you be selected as a winner.

Each week, we'll have a new gallery and a new winner.

Contest rules

All photos must be posted by midnight each Sunday to be judged for that week. This week, photos will be judged from those .

The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. This wouldn't be a contest without a . Please, no more than three (3) entries per person per week. The winner will be selected each Monday, and must respond to notification within 48 hours.

How to submit photos

If you aren't quite sure how to upload a photos, check out our  to uploading photos to Patch. If you still have trouble or have questions, email Associate Regional Editor Beth Valone at beth.valone@patch.com.