The Lyme Land Trust is pleased to announce the Photos of Distinction for the Spring 2025 session of Imagining Lyme. All of the photos chosen this season just happen to have been taken in the Lyme Preserves.

There were many wonderful photos submitted to the gallery this season. Please take the time to look at the other beautiful photographs that are displayed in our showcase gallery. Please visit the gallery to see all the submissions and to submit your photos. The next deadline is September 30, 2025 for photos of Summer.

The judges felt that the following photographs stood out above the rest based upon the criteria of emotional impact and creative design. Here is the list of these photos with judges’ comments.

Sun Dappled Roaring Brook #2
By John Gluszak
Banningwood Preserve

Not too far down the Banningwood red trail one comes to a bend in Roaring Brook with a bench overlooking a quiet scene. One is also presented with a convoluted jumble of broken trees. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked by there, and been somewhat intrigued by the pile, but never thought to envision it as a creative challenge. John Gluszak decided otherwise and employed a series of creative tools to create this intriguing photograph. *See below for technical musings.

The dappled, side lighting nicely separates the subject from the background, and creates some wonderful highlights on the subject, the ferns, and the water. This invites the eye to move, ceaselessly around the image discovering areas of interest. He has enhanced the photo with a soft, warming overlay. The warm tones somehow make this picture more inviting, and certainly not as cold as the water most likely is.

Written by Joe Standart

Jurassic Ravine Trail
by Sue Wyeth
Ravine Trail

In considering this photograph one must start with its title, which is extremely suggestive and transports the viewer’s imagination to another world. Sue demonstrates her understanding of light and exposure by letting the tree’s tones become quite dark separating it from the Cinnamon ferns and the bright background. This simple but dynamic use of tone creates the strength of this composition which is completed by the branches in the upper right. The framing of the tree on the left, the branches and foreground creates a strong circular composition ultimately bringing the viewer’s eye to the ferns. One could ask, what is the subject of this photograph? Is it the ferns, or the light itself, or simply a forest scene. We will have to ask Sue. And while we’re at it, she will have to tell us if there is a dinosaur around the corner.

Written by Joe Standart

Doe and Fawn
By Scott Martin
Ram’s Horn Creek Preserve

The emotional impact of this photograph is well expressed by Scott Martin in his description, “Nature reminds us of the profound simplicity of a mother’s love.” The composition of the photo emphasizes the subject of the white-tailed deer-fawn interaction with the use of contrast: between the sharply focused deer and the blurred foreground/background elements, as well as the light reddish-brown coats of the deer which pop out against the darker green background. The doe looks relaxed yet alert to danger, staring straight into the viewer’s eyes, while the baby gestures towards her mother and protector with trust and love. Scott most likely used a telephoto lens to capture this rarely seen intimate moment between a doe and her young fawn. Thank you for sharing, Scott.

Written by Wendolyn Hill

Honorable Mention
Mountain Laurel Blooming
By Jos Könst
Selden Creek Preserve

There is nothing more thrilling than to come upon a grove of Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia, the CT State flower) in full bloom in early June in Lyme. Jos hit the jackpot with this scene. The filtered sunlight in this photograph delicately highlights each layer in the composition, which imparts a sense of depth and longing to linger. The lines of the tree trunks lead to the middle ground of fluffy pinkish-white blossoms, which is underlined by the sunlit pollen-sprinkled surface of the vernal pool. The line of light leads us back into the forest. The foreground reflection in the pool balances the tree canopy of the background. A feast for the eyes.

Written by Wendolyn Hill

*Technical musings about Sun Dappled Roaring Brook #2 by Joe Standart:

In the photograph the soft but distinct motion-blur of the water suggests John Gluszak started with a longish exposure and his SLR on a tripod. To bring the somewhat distant subject to the foreground he most likely used a medium telephoto lens, perhaps a 105 to a 150 mm. He used a narrow aperture, which kept the background in pretty good focus and allowed for a longer exposure (probably f11 x ½”).

While I am surmising all of this in order to discuss creative choices one has to make with an SLR, we will have to wait for John to tell us exactly what he did. Did he use Lightroom? Or iPhoto? – or did he fool us all and use an iPhone and in camera processing/editing. Perhaps he will tell us…