Photography Contest 2026 Showcase + Winners + Stories

We'd like to thank all of our participants in 2026's Photography Contest including those who voted! Enjoy all of the photos below, arranged by category, including some stories behind the photos written by our special guest authors (photographers).

To view titles and names, hover over the photograph.

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2026 Winners

• K-6th

  • 1st: “Purple Flowers” Lucas Lutz

  • 2nd: “Rolling past the rocks” by Peewee Wilson

• 7-12th

  • 1st: “Rocky Reflection” by Aaron Picazo

  • 2nd: “Purple Raindrops” by Gabriella G.

  • 3rd: “Reflections” by Starliey Martinez

• Community College

  • 1st: “The Mighty Kings” by Niko L.

  • 2nd: “Orange Wall” by Evan Bernal

  • 3rd: “Bright Days Downstream” by Emily S.

• Adult Amateur

  • 1st: “Luminous Ridge” by Barbara Carlson

  • 2nd: “Leader of the Pack” by Robert Lutz

  • 3rd: “Sunrise on a Full Moon, Kings River Into Pine Flat” by Joseph Z.

• Adult Professional

  • 1st: “The Flying Fisherman” by Susana Garza

• Most Creative (Board & Staff Vote)

  • “We’re Going To Need A Bigger Backpack” by Gary Taylor

• Most Scenic (Board & Staff Vote)

  • “Sunrise on a Full Moon, Kings River Into Pine Flat” by Joseph Z.

K-6th Photographers

7th-12th Photographers

Photographer's Perspective: Chaheti Mathur

I titled this photo 'Calming Serenity' because it’s the only way that can encompass what you feel when looking at the river. Despite the river flowing so quickly, it is able to calm your racing inner thoughts down: a beautiful juxtaposition that reflects how it feels to be out in nature.

Nature photography allows someone to not just be present in it, but be engaged and immersed with it. This picture was taken with no filters and no editing, and it wasn’t edited upon taking the photo.

This photo here before you is what I saw with my own two eyes that moved me so much that I thought it deserved to be photographed. That’s the beauty of nature photography: nature is always ready for the photo. There are no “bad” nature photos. Even a fleeting photo is authentically what compelled you to visit in the first place.

The King’s River is such a versatile piece of nature to photograph, as it’s always ever- changing. What gave me the interpretation of 'calming serenity' might have been 'aggressive waves' the next day. Because of how vast the river is, it cannot be fully explored in one lifetime. I think that’s beautiful.

Across from this lone poppy, there was a whole cluster of them. But that cluster didn’t really stick out to me. It was this lonesome poppy, standing tall and dignified, on the other side of all the other ones.

I purposefully decided not to give this one a title, as I want this one to be up to one’s interpretation. This poppy conveys a feeling we’ve all had one point. On the surface, it may just look like a close-up picture of a flower, but is that really all it is? What does this picture mean to you?

-Chaheti Mathur

Community College

Photographer's Perspective: Niko L.

The photo, 'Minimalism' was taken on a cool calm morning. There was a light breeze and subtle warmth from the sun peaking through the trees. When I sat back, to enjoy the babble of the Kings River, my eyes were drawn to a duck peacefully floating along the river. As he came to approach the sunlight he flapped his wings and began to make his ascent."

The photo, 'The Mighty Kings' was taken in the late afternoon. I was trying to get another angle of the foothills to the west of the kings, but to no avail I climbed back up to my vehicle through some tall grass. Reaching the top I saw this powerful shot overlooking the mighty river, with the bright flower bloom in the foreground and the lush spring foothills standing guard in the background.

The Kings River matters to me because it is grand in nature, being the backbone of the Central Valley and it’s source of water as it supplies the land with water to grow. Not only this, but it’s a place of deep history and community memories of being on the lake and enjoying nature.

It is important to get outdoors and connect with nature. You get to expand the world around you and meet people who are as passionate and friendly! So it’s important to get out there, spend time outdoors, meet new people by exploring, volunteering, or photographing.

-Niko L.

Adult Amateur

Photographer's Perspective: B. Auernheimer

"A goal each winter is to find a rare fog, the kind that obscures the livestock's bodies with only heads visible above. On this day the fog was a winter mist, the horses fewer and farther away. It was one of my frequent trips across the bridge below the dam, past the Kings River Wildlife Area sign – the low fenced area was a campground we frequented as kids – past the road’s cattle guard, to the unfenced field beyond. Cattle occasionally, horses less than occasionally, both sometimes reluctant to share the road, and rarely another person. The end of the road is not much farther. Until a bridge washed out long ago the road beyond, now private, went to Wonder Valley."

-B. Auernheimer

Photographer's Perspective: Joseph Z.

I’m a new father so my time is very limited for me to able to do my hobbies (fly-fishing); photography just happens to fall into the same category. We have a just turned one year old son named Canyon Jude! He’s a blessing but a little needy at the moment. Long story short, I snuck away to go fish and check out an area I had yet to fish which was Black Rock Reservoir.

I left my house in Bakersfield around 3:45 to try and get a sunrise photo. Cruising along the river, I got to Pine Flat and was able to get the moon and the sunrise in one shot with the lifting fog. It was an awesome sight. I went a little further back and was able to capture the bridge. I kept climbing but it got super windy at higher elevation once I passed the PGE camp. It was wonderful and I didn’t mind not catching a fish. I definitely got the reset I was looking for!

-Joseph Z.

Adult Professional

Thank you again to all of our photographers and voters!

If you would like to support our annual photography contest and our mission of access, education, and recreation, please consider leaving us a tip (a donation) or becoming a member.