You submitted more than 1,800 photos across five categories in the Kentucky Living 2020 Photo Contest. Our team of judges reviewed all of the entries and here are the best of the best—the top three photos in each category. Please give a statewide round of applause to all of the gifted photographers who participated this year.
1st place – Kentucky Travels
Taken at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, Slade, this photo captures the beauty of hiking in the fall in Kentucky. Photo by Leonard Beck, Fort Thomas.
2nd place – Kentucky Travels
Greg Grayson, Lexington, is the photographer behind this scene of Pisgah Pike in Woodford County.
3rd place – Kentucky Travels
A fall night under the stars at Lake Cumberland. Photo by Kelly Davenport, Louisville.
1st place – Aerial
A combine awaits the next day’s work in Marion County. Photo by Benjamin Harris, Lebanon, Inter-County Energy consumer-member.
2nd place – Aerial
Jesse Hurt, Louisville, used a Mavic Pro drone to get this view of Weisengberger Mills in Midway.
3rd place – Aerial
Ashland—The Henry Clay Estate in Lexington. Photo by Bob Willcutt, Lexington, consumer-member of Blue Grass Energy.
1st place – Nature
This year’s cover image comes from Barbara DeGraves, Bowling Green, consumer-member of Warren RECC. DeGraves’ image shows this praying mantis visiting her spider lily or ‘Purple Heart’ plants.
2nd place – Nature
“This water lily stood out from all the rest with its unbelievably vivid yellow and purple colors,” says photographer Isabel Wartenberg, Independence, Owen Electric consumer-member.
3rd place – Nature
Leonard Beck’s second winning photo shows Swift Camp Creek in Red River Gorge. Beck is from Fort Thomas.
1st place – Animals
Turtle time at North Central 4-H Camp in Carlisle. Photo by Mike Meyer, Cynthiana, consumer-member of Blue Grass Energy.
2nd place – Animals
“The morning sunshine hit this Carolina wren just right as he was singing,” says photographer Leslie Sluder, Florence, who took the photo at Big Bone Lick State Historic Site.
3rd place – Animals
A candid portrait of Sophie (2010-2020). Photo by Travis Leffew, Elizabethtown, a consumer-member of Nolin RECC.
1st place – People
Tyler Horn, Nicholas County High School class of 2020, was one of teacher Kelli Sparks’ first third-grade students. “I was ecstatic to take his senior pictures,” says Sparks, Hillsboro, Fleming-Mason Energy consumer-member.
2nd place – People
Best friends Avery Chaudion and Brooklynn Wood enjoy each other’s company in Buffalo. Photo by Jimmie Wood, Buffalo, Nolin RECC consumer-member.
3rd place – People
Pat Doolin took this photo of granddaughter Ella Johnson greeting horse Moses in Garrard County. Doolin is a consumer-member of Inter-County Energy.
