Southern Delaware Tourism names 2026 photo contest winners

Southern Delaware Tourism recently announced the winners of its 10th annual Southern Delaware Photography Contest.

Contest organizers are grateful to professional photographers Pam Aquilani and Tony Pratt, who served as judges again this year.

The grand prize winner was Mark Stelmack of Frankford for “Egrets at Assawoman Wildlife Area, Frankford.”

For her shot of a kayaker on Trap Pond in Laurel, Beth Baker of Greenwood won the Southern Delaware Freestyle category.

Julie Evans’ image of a pup playing on Fenwick Island beach topped the Southern Delaware Dog Days category.

For his “Scene from the Senior League Softball World Series” image, Joe Maciey of Dagsboro won the Southern Delaware Events category.

“This contest was established to celebrate Southern Delaware and to keep our destination top of mind for visitors and potential visitors year-round,” said Scott Thomas, SDT executive director. “We received entries from all over the Mid-Atlantic and beyond. The entries clearly demonstrate the variety and richness of experiences available in Sussex County, and the incredible enjoyment people get from visiting and living here.”

“Each year, the Southern Delaware Tourism photo contest sees more entrants, which makes it both more competitive and more difficult for the judges to narrow down the choices to one winner in each category and a grand prize winner,” said Aqualini.

“There were many great contenders for each of the categories, so judging was, while enjoyable to review all the great photos, hard to choose only one,” said Pratt.