1. Cars

They’re everywhere, and we need them, yet we often take them for granted. Cars can be stylish, sexy, rugged, or very plain. They can be looked at from a number of different perspectives – standing still, in motion, picking up or discharging passengers. They can be viewed from different angles – a headlight, a menacing looking grille, sharp pointed tail fins, or a meticulously detailed engine compartment. How do you see this fixture in our landscape? That’s what we’re looking for here. It’s ok if people or other objects are present in the image, but a car or cars must be the primary subject.

2. Colors in Nature

It might be a brilliantly colored rare bird like a Painted Bunting, or a colorful fall foliage scene, or those same fall colors reflected in water, or who knows? Nature displays its colors in many ways – let’s see your interpretation of the beauty all around us. One thing - please, this is all about nature, so no artificial coloration or over-saturation.

3. Around the Table

The table holds a vital role in creating community.  It invites us to engage. It encourages openness, vulnerability, and interaction.

4. Through the Looking Glass

This theme uses glass to explore seeing the world from an altered perspective.  The presence of glass must be immediately and unmistakably clear in the photograph — whether through windows, mirrors, or other transparent surfaces — and the glass must have the effect of blurring the line between reality and illusion, adding a dimension to your visual storytelling.  It’s important to move beyond clichéd or overly familiar reflection images.  The goal is not simply to show a reflection, but to use the glass intentionally to transform, distort, layer, or reframe the story. The resulting images offer a sense of mystery, wonder, and multiple layers of interpretation.

5. Long Exposure

Long exposures convey the passage of time within a single frame, transforming motion into something fluid, atmospheric, or abstract. Rather than freezing a moment, these images reveal what the eye cannot fully perceive—softened water flowing like silk, clouds stretching across the sky, lights tracing invisible paths, or human movement dissolving into ghostly suggestion.  Long exposure images should evoke mood and continuity, emphasizing contrast between stillness and motion. Static elements often anchor the composition, while moving elements create texture, rhythm, or a sense of quiet transformation. The result may feel serene, surreal, or even otherworldly, inviting the viewer to experience time not as an instant, but as a lingering presence.

6. Silhouette

This all about storytelling through shape, contrast, and mystery. Photographs in this category should emphasize the striking outline or shape of a subject set against a brighter background. The subject is typically rendered as a dark, featureless form, with little to no visible detail, allowing its shape and relationship to the surrounding light to convey the image’s impact. Strong contrast, clean edges, and a clear, recognizable subject are essential. The essence of a silhouette image lies in its ability to communicate mood, drama, mystery, or storytelling through form alone rather than detail.

7. Geometry

There is hidden geometry all around us. Photographs that capture this should feature strong geometric shapes; clean lines, triangles, circles, squares, rectangles, spirals, etc. that are created by architecture, nature, shadows, everyday objects, or urban environments. Geometry should be the main subject.

8. America at 250

We are looking for photographs that capture the spirit of America at 250 years old; photos portraying the celebration of our country by blending founding ideals with contemporary life