Christenson earns grand prize for top entry in ANR’s annual amateur photo contest
The Aurora Borealis created the colorful night sky and Desiree Christenson provided an artistic perspective which combined to create the grand prize entry in this year’s ANR amateur photo contest.
Christenson has a local reputation as both a painter who helped establish a downtown gallery as well as a photographer who previously won top honors in the annual photo contest. She was excited to learn that she is a winner again in 2026, sharing how her background helped capture the grand prize entry.
“I do think having an art background and knowing some of the rules of art help take good photos,” she shared. “There is obviously the rule of thirds and not just putting the subject in the middle, so I do think all of those different techniques can help merge into different art forms. They all kind of go together.”
As for the winning photo, Christenson recalled walking out in the yard of her rural home during a dazzling display of Northern Lights, which unfolded several nights in a row last November.
“I had taken a million photos just standing out in the yard and looking up at the sky, but that particular night I decided to go out a little further,” she said. “I was sitting on some irrigation pipes taking a bunch of photos and then started thinking, ‘How can I make this a little more interesting?’”
Her answer was to walk out into a cornfield and find a spot where she could catch corn tops and a pivot system silhouetted against the colorful backdrop provided by the Northern Lights. She used her iPhone, changing the settings to allow a longer exposure to better capture the lights above.
“I kind of like taking photos where I can get a little bit of juxtaposition of something natural with something more man-made, or bringing old and new, like having those contrasting flavors in the photo, so to speak,” she said. “So that’s how it came to be. I thought it came out pretty neat.”
The judges agreed, picking Christenson’s entry as the best in the Aurora Borealis category, as well as the best of the five category winners. She said she appreciates the annual photo contest and hopes others do as well.
“I just think having a local competition is fun,” she said. “I think there is a lot of creativity in Aurora and people love to share art they are passionate with. It’s a great, low-risk way to have people share what they’re passionate about and it’s something to look forward to each year. I encourage everybody to participate in it by either entering, or even just appreciating the newspaper when it comes out and looking at all of them. I think it’s good for everybody.”
Landscape
Linda Simmons was another first place winner, submitting her first-ever entry of a scene she captured on the Fourth of July. Simmons said she encouraged her sister to submit a photo last year, which ended up as one of the judges’ favorites, so this year she decided to enter one of her own.
“My daughter lives on a private family lake in Norfolk and we were standing on the patio overlooking the lake,” Simmons recalled. “I just happened to walk out and see what a beautiful sunset it was. I took it with my cell phone and didn’t touch it up, enhance it or do anything with it.”
Simmons’ entry won first place in the landscape category.
America 250
A new and timely category was added this year, highlighting the nation’s America 250 celebration. Beth Omel and her family took their first big family trip in May to the Big Apple, where they made several memorable stops, all of course captured on camera.
“We told my son, who is 12 years old, to pick anywhere in the United States he wanted to go and he picked New York City,” Omel shared. “We went to the Statue of Liberty and actually went into the crown. They only allow 300 people a day to do that, and we just wanted the experience for him. It was one of those blow it up and put on your wall type photos.”
Omel’s image of the New York City skyline taken from the statue’s crown won second place in the landscape category (See images on Page B1), but her photo from ground level capturing Lady Liberty against a brilliant blue sky was the judge’s pick in the America 250 category.
“We tried to do as much as possible to have those experiences, especially being from Giltner,” Omel said. “I wanted him to see and enjoy the big city and see what else is out in the world.”
This was Omel’s first photo contest entry, and like so many other participants she used her cell phone.
“I thought this photo had a chance with the Statue of Liberty, knowing what it means to America,” she said. “It was a great weather day, so I was hoping it had a chance.”
Snapshot Nebraska
Weather was also a factor in Tricia Kubik’s entry, which won first place in the Snapshot Nebraska category. She was visiting with Bryce Wert on her back patio on the edge of Aurora in June when she saw lightning in the distance.
“I stood at my fence line and just snapped a few pictures in sequence and that was one of them,” she said of a perfectly-timed image which captured a bolt of lightning as it appears to strike Wert’s tractor. “That lightning looks like it’s right on top of his tractor, but actually it’s very far in the distance.”
Kubik used a cell phone, sharing that this is her first photo contest entry.
“First and only,” she said with a laugh. “I take pictures of my kids and grandkids. I thought it was a pretty cool picture. Bryce was up on our patio so he saw it and I’ve forwarded it to them. I have a feeling that he’ll probably blow that one up and put it in his house.”
Wildlife/pets
The fifth winner was Cheyenne Lopez, who won top honors in the wildlife/pets category for an image she took while on a walk not far from her home by Pioneer Trails.”
“I love to go outside and explore nature trails,” Lopez said. “I spend a lot of time over at Pioneer Trails. I live a mile north, so the dogs and I go out there quite often so I get to see it at different times of year.”
Lopez often brings her Nikon d40x along on her walks, just in case she sees an image she wants to focus on. Her winning entry captured a bullfrog, sitting in shallow water, surrounded by aquatic snails. The shallow depth of field puts the focus on Mr. Bullfrog, which captured the judges’ attention.
“I just do amateur photography and I mostly take wildlife,” she said. “My family has a cabin in Colorado so I take a ton of landscape images out there, too. I’m very intrigued by flowers and wildlife. Those always capture my attention.”
Congratulations from the News-Register to all of this year’s winners, and thank you to all who participated.