Entries Due June 14 - July 12, 2025
Awards Ceremony Tues., July 15, 2025 at 7 PM
Photos on display July 16 - 20, 2025
Use your creativity to capture the beauty of our world through the lens of your camera and then enter the library's "Color Our World" Photography Contest. This year's theme allows you to showcase how color shapes your experiences in unique ways, from everyday moments to grand landscapes. Submit a photo that best represents this overall theme. Photos will be judged for impact, composition, quality of lighting, and representation of the theme. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
2025 Rules
Submitting your entry
Where: At the library’s Adult/Teen or Children’s Information Desks
When: Sat., June 14 – Sat., July 12 during open library hours. No late entries will be accepted.
Maximum number of entries: 2 photos per person.
Age groups:
- Adult (18+)
- Teen (12 - 17)
- Kids (7 - 11)
- Lil’ Snapper (1 - 6), a non-judged category for young photographers to showcase their first photos
Photo Theme: “Color Our World”
- Our theme invites participants to explore what colors YOUR world — is it reading, nature, travel, your pets, your friends or family, or a favorite hobby or activity? Submit a photo that best represents this overall theme. (There are no individual subject categories.)
- Photos can be taken anywhere but must be original and suitable for public display.
- No AI images accepted. Editing should be kept to a minimum (formatting, lighting, and correction only).
- Contest is open to amateur photographers only. A professional photographer is defined as an individual who earns more than 50% of their income from photographic work.
Entry format: Photos must be 5x7” prints and matted in an 8x10” matte board only (available at hobby stores). Use a separate entry form for each photo and tape the completed form to the back of the matte board. A sample matted photo is available at the Adult/Teen and Children’s Information Desks. Entry forms will be available at the Information Desks, or click below to download and print.
Judging and Prizes
Each photo will be judged for impact, composition, quality of lighting, and representation of the contest theme. The judges are local professional photographers and instructors Gary Harwood and Jim Roetzel.
Three winners per category, per age group, will be recognized with ribbons and Certificates of Achievement. One Best in Show winner for each age group will win a cash prize.
Judges’ awards will be announced: Tues., July 15 at 7 PM at our Awards Ceremony, which all participants and their families are invited to attend.
Photos will be on display in the library: July 16 - July 20. Visitors will be able to vote for their favorite photos for the SMFPL People’s Choice Award, the Stephen Pierce Memorial Award for teens, and the Spike the Turtle Kids’ Choice Award. The Choice Awards will be announced after July 20.
Winning photographers will be contacted about submitting a digital copy of their photo for display in the library’s online albums. Photographs remain the property of the participant.
Photos may be picked up: At the Adult Information Desk, along with any awards won, beginning July 27. Any photos not picked up by August 9, 2025, unless given prior notice, will be discarded.
This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.