Great Lakes_Content Page_2025 Photo Contest

Wisconsin's Great Waters 2025 Photo Contest and Writing Project

Winners

The Office of Great Waters is pleased to present our 17th annual calendar, featuring the top submissions from the 2025 Wisconsin’s Great Waters Photo Contest and Writing Project. As these photos and writings clearly show, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River are among Wisconsin's most scenic and beloved natural resources.

Thank you to all 2025 photographers and writers for sharing your talent with us!

2025-2026 Calendar

A double rainbow shines in the middle of the background image of the cover of the Wisconsin’s Great Waters 2025-2026 Calendar. The rainbows arc through a serene pale blue sky, down to meet the mirror calm surface of Lake Michigan, just a few shades darker than the sky. Six inset photos are overlaid on both sides of the cover, with scenes of red- and orange-colored sunrises and sunsets over the water. “Rainbow Over Lake Michigan,” by Jamie Kollman. Inset photos left top to bottom by Murray Patz, Dan Fearing, Julie DeLisle. Inset photos right top and middle by Wendi Huffman. Inset photo lower right by Toni Schneider.

The calendar is a unique collection of photos from our 2025 photo contest, creative writings submitted by Wisconsin authors and descriptions of stewardship efforts. The calendar reminds us to celebrate our iconic waters throughout the seasons and inspires us to be careful stewards of these vast yet vulnerable resources. It’s typically distributed at DNR events, state parks visitor centers and DNR regional offices throughout the state.

2025 Winning Photographs

The Office of Great Waters received more than 500 beautiful photos of Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and the Mississippi River for the 2025 contest. Top photographs are featured in the 2025-2026 Wisconsin's Great Waters Calendar.

People Enjoying Our Great Waters

A surfer in a hooded wetsuit crouches with perfect balance, edging his surfboard, as he glides down the face of a rolling wave on Lake Michigan. His mittened left hand nearly touches the water in front of him as he gazes with keen focus on the arc of his path down the wave. The crest of the wave is a frothy grey and white wall splashing high above his head.

1st Place: “Dancing With The Waves” by Toni Schneider. Lake Michigan, Port Washington.

Two fisherwomen dressed for cold weather stand on the frozen water, smiling widely as they carefully hold the Northern Pike that each of them caught ice fishing. The two fish are nearly identical, with the one on the left just a bit bigger than the one on the right. The fishes’ heads are long with prominent underbites to their teeth-filled mouths. Their bodies are olive green with yellow undertones and distinct oblong light tan spots covering their sides. They have bold striping on their fins. In the background, bluffs rise steeply above the far bank of the frozen Mississippi River.

2nd Place: “Mississippi River Giants (Released)” by Leanne Hinke. Mississippi River Pool 8.

Honorable Mention: Pam Buss, Julie DeLisle, Dara Fillmore, Karen Gersonde, Wendi Huffman, Linda Olig, Dawn Omernik-Nimmer, Murry Patz, Chris Schultz, Ross Wolfe.

Cultural And Historical Features

Lightning makes jagged pink streaks across the southern sky, seeming to come out of the catwalk leading to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Pierhead Lighthouse. The station light glows red against a moody dark blue sky at the end of the catwalk. The light casts a red reflection on the eerily calm water, while a clearing patch in the northeastern sky to the left of the lighthouse shows a hint of dawn’s soft pink light.

1st Place: “Lightning at Sturgeon Bay Canal Light” by Kevin Myers. Sturgeon Bay.

The huge full moon glows brightly and is perfectly centered above the spire of the Manitowoc Lighthouse. The sky transitions from a pale pink to dark blue at the horizon line, where it merges with the icy Lake Michigan waters. A light skim of chunky ice covering the water reflects the colors of the sky above.

2nd Place: “Manitowoc Lighthouse And The Wolf Moon” by Michael Henderson. Manitowoc.

Honorable Mention: Maria Brandon, Pam Buss, Jessica Curning Kuenzi, Jeffrey Ewig, Pam Ledin, Kathy Saladin, Chris Schultz, Mark Straub, Ben Young, Mark Zawlocki.

Natural Features

A monster wave crashes over the breakwater towards the Port Washington Lighthouse. The crest of the wave looks a bit like Godzilla, mouth agape and ready to swallow the seagull flying frantically away and maybe the lighthouse too. Below the great wave, Lake Michigan churns chaotically with frothy taupe and white waves, against a misty leaden grey sky.

1st Place: “Lunch” by Jeffrey Ewig. Port Washington Lighthouse.

Golden rays of the sun attempt to burst through deep blue roiling clouds, heavy with rain. The waters reflect a strange brew of colors, tinted greenish yellow, as they crash on the rocky shore of Eagle Harbor. The Anderson Dock warehouse building is to the left of the approaching storm cloud. The red clapboard siding, strewn with colorful graffiti, makes this historical landmark stand out at the end of a long pier.

2nd Place: “Storm Brewing” by Dan Fearing. Anderson Dock, Ephraim.

Honorable Mention: Jessica Curning Kuenzi, Jeffrey Ewig, Dan Fearing, Dara Fillmore, Michael Henderson, Jamie Kollman, Kevin Myers, Tracy Opper, Mark Straub, Ben Young.

Wildlife

Four avocets with long delicate legs march in line along the sandy water’s edge at South Shore Beach. The graceful shorebirds have black and white bodies, rusty heads and necks, and cutely upturned, long, probing beaks. Their steady gazes are unfazed by the breaking waves of the Lake Michigan waters to their right.

1st Place: “Passing By— American Avocets” by Lorri Howski. South Shore Park, Milwaukee.

A male wood duck displays his brilliant plumage as he stands in the shallows of the Mississippi River among the golden autumn leaves scattered at his feet. He has a glossy green boxy, crested head, a red bill, red eyes, chestnut breast, buffy sides, dark back and wings, with white banding outlining his wings, neck and head.

2nd Place: “Wood Duck In Autumn” by Kay Christianson. Mississippi River near La Crosse.

Honorable Mention: Dan Fearing, Lorri Howski, Wendi Huffman, Carl Morrison, Linda Rappel, John Reed, Titus Seilheimer, Jeannine Warnke, Leah Zastrow, Mark Zawlocki.