Thousand Islands Life Photo Contest for 2026
by: Larry Asam & Erin McCarthy Greene
Celebrating 15 Years of River Images
The Thousand Islands Life Photo Contest is now in its 15th year, and we are delighted to be back to review the photos that will come our way from Editor Susie Smith after the December 6 deadline.
Since renowned Canadian landscape photographer, the late Ian Coristine, judged the first round of contest photos in December of 2012, the contest has provided River photographers an opportunity to share personal views of the region.
The closing date for submissions is December 6. Please send up to three high-resolution JPEGs, with captions, to susansmith@ThousandIslandsLife.com.
Editor Susie will forward all the images blind for us to review, so please remember to remove ALL watermarks and metadata from your images. We will then work together to select three medal winners, Gold, Silver, and Bronze, who will be featured in the December issue.
Books about the Thousand Islands and certificates ready for framing will be awarded to those winners. We will also recognize several images as honorable mentions.
As we have stated before, judging art is very subjective, but there are recognized elements of a photograph that can be used to guide the selection of a "best image," such as composition, use of light, visual impact, storytelling, and technical excellence. More important than winning is the personal journey toward more images with visual and emotional impact. There is great satisfaction derived from improving one's craft. With so many types of cameras available today, what matters most is each photographer capturing a personal creative vision.
In the December 12, 2012, issue of Thousand Islands Life, Ian Coristine wrote of the inaugural TI Life Photo Contest:
“Our editor’s incredible energy and efforts using TI Life to showcase the very best in our region is encouraging everyone to raise their personal bar, whatever it is that they do.”
Cameras provide us with a great opportunity to “raise our personal bar” as we save our personal memories, as well as to appreciate and document our fragile River environment. The late author Annie Dillard, a keen observer of nature, wrote in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, “The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will see or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.” Regularly and keenly observing the River and its surrounding landscapes puts us in a position to witness nature's raw beauty, while making us better photographers. We hope readers will share their River observations with us for this 15th annual photo contest.
Photographs that were previously published in TI Life articles or on TI Life's Facebook page can be submitted. Again, send your images to Susie Smith at susansmith@ThousandIslandsLife.com by December 6. We both thoroughly enjoy the judging process and cannot wait to see everyone's very best River images!
[If you have time, take a look back at TI Life December issues from 2012 through 2025 to view all the fabulous photos that have garnered awards and honorable mention status. They provide both inspiration and a sense of serenity.]
By Larry Asam and Erin Greene
Larry Asam has lived in and around Stowe, VT, since 1974, where he taught skiing, then spent several winters at Snowbird, UT, continuing to teach skiing. In the 1990s, he started photographing Vermont weddings. By 1997, wedding photography became his full-time occupation, and this continued for almost 15 years. Now his photography is mainly focused on nature, old boats and the people he encounters. Since 2014, Larry and his wife, Kym, have been part of the Grenell Island community. Larry is currently serving as president of the Thousand Islands Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society. His photo gallery can be viewed at www.RiverGloss.com. Larry can reached at Larry@LarryAsam.com for those who have questions about their submitted photos.
Erin McCarthy Greene is a documentary and fine art photographer who explores and captures the Thousand Islands of northern New York State and any other place she travels. She is a former English teacher, and in January 2025, she retired from the 'Thousand Islands Sun' newspaper, Alexandria Bay, after more than a decade there as an editor. She is an affiliate photographer with 'The Tilly Project' (https://thetillyproject.org/), which offers end-of-life portrait sessions for family pets, including large animals and exotics. She can be reached at emccarthygreene@gmail.com, and her work can be viewed at erinmccarthygreenephotography.com and on Instagram at @emccarthygreene1. Erin and her husband, Richard, live year-round in Thousand Island Park on Wellesley Island.
