The Lyme Land Trust is pleased to announce the Photos of Distinction for the Fall 2025 session of Imagining Lyme.

There were many wonderful photos submitted to the gallery this season. Please take the time to look at all the 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 March 31, 2026 for photos of Winter.

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’ comment

Hartman Park Night Class
by John Gluszack
Hartman Park

As John Gluszack says in his comment, “this one’s a little different,” and really fun. Nice job using multiple exposures and a mysterious lighting source – your flashlight. The composition of the benches as viewing area and the blackboard as the focal point is beautifully designed. Your lighting also plays beautifully into the composition. The blackboard is sensitivity lit, not too bright not too dark. The lighting on the foreground benches creates a lot of energy with darks and lights, while still looking pretty natural. It’s really well done. The light streaking across the leaves has a very natural end of day feel and adds a feeling of depth between the foreground benches and the blackboard background. I think John should rename this, ”MASTER NIGHT CLASS”, and share his techniques with us.

Autumn Passage
By Scott Martin
Private Habitat by Ram’s Horn Creek

Who would not want to enjoy the passage in this photo? The light is Dazzling, and full of energy. It is the perfect exposure, putting the tree trunks in a slight silhouette, while allowing the brilliant colors of fall to really sparkle. Scott Martin’s picture seems to invite you down the path. The Photograph holds focus from the foreground through to the farthest point. This may be a function of a wide-angle lens on a SLR with a fairly closed aperture (f8 or f11) or it could be a smartphone photograph. The feeling of depth is accentuated by the cross lighting of the afternoon sun creating streaks of light and shadows across the two dimensional plane of the photograph. The angle is perfectly off-center, with the edge of the road creating a diagonal from the lower left back to a vanishing point a ways down the road. The open and bright light of the distant opening invites the viewer out of the shadowy woods, down the road to a new place – one of bright dreams and optimism.

Written by Joe Standart

Uncas in October
By Joan Rivington
Nehantic State Forest

There is so much to love in this photo by Joan Rivington. It captures the feeling of joy one gets from the experience of golden light sweeping across the natural landscape as the sun is setting in Autumn. The choice by the photographer to place the bright light of the sun on the edge of the image adds to the drama and feeling of spaciousness. This composition seems to radiate from the center as the shapes formed by the clouds and the grasses push outward toward the four corners of the image, a masterly use of an ultra-wide lens on an SLR camera or a smartphone. The channel of water in the center foreground pulls one in to the main body of the lake–with its beautiful mirror image of the distant vegetation and sky–and then back into the far distance. The sharp focus of the striking native cattails in the foreground adds to the sense of depth. Joan reminds us of the awesomeness in nature that must be cherished and protected.

Honorable Mention
Hartmans Park OCT 2024
By Bob Allard
Hartman Park

This is one of my favorite scenes in Lyme, looking out from the big rock in the beaver pond in Hartman Park. It changes every day and throughout the seasons. In this view, Bob Allard chose the rocks in the foreground as his focal point. The cool grays of the rocks contrast nicely with the warm vibrant Autumn colors of the vegetation. The overlapping shapes of the foreground, middle and back; and the diagonals give this image a strong sense of depth. I would like to linger here for a while. Thank you, Bob!

Written by Wendolyn Hill

The judges for this session were Wendolyn Hill and Joe Standart.

Joe Standart is an internationally known, award-winning photographer. His national public art initiative, Portrait of America, began in New London in 2004. Learn more about Joe.

Wendolyn Hill is an artist, award winning photographer, and former professor of art. Learn more about Wendy.