First Place Winner
April 2026 Competition
Winning Photo of Horseshoe Bend Inspired by Childhood Postcards
When Shari LaMont was growing up, she collected as many postcards as she could during family vacations to scenic locations and historical sites across America.
The family carried a 110 film camera at the time, one of the first convenient, “pocket”-sized cameras on the market. But its sometimes blurry photos couldn’t compete with the glossy postcards that spun on displays in tourist shops.
By college, LaMont had saved enough postcards to cover her dorm room wall. And those crisp, perfectly composed images left an impression.
They instilled in her a keen love of photography — plus a desire to take photos of her own that could match, or exceed, the beauty of her postcard collection.
“I didn't like being in front of the camera usually. But I always loved traveling and just trying to capture memories of where I'd been,” said LaMont, who lives in Washington state. "My goal was always to see these places and try to get the ‘postcard’ photos the best I could get or better.”
Her goal, honed over a lifetime of road trips and a college photography class, carried her all the way to the top of America's Favorite Photos' April 2026 competition, where her stunning image of Horseshoe Bend in Arizona earned her first place.
A Southwest Landmark, Revisited
Horseshoe Bend — the dramatic sandstone curve in the Colorado River that has come to be featured in many books, postcards and calendars — holds a special history for LaMont.
She first discovered it decades ago while working in the hospitality industry in the Four Corners area, where the borders of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet. A hotel manager recommended a visit.
Compared to growing up in Ohio, the desert of the Southwest “was very different and fascinating to me,” LaMont said.
At Horseshoe Bend, LaMont found a secluded site with little more than a gravel parking lot and a small sign.
"You could have easily driven past it and not know it was there," she recalls.
The river’s curlicue made it into her growing collection of photos.
A Lifelong Eye for the Shot
Decades later, when LaMont and her husband took a road trip through Arizona, she wanted to go back to Horseshoe Bend.
Now incredibly popular among tourists, the destination had transformed. LaMont found paved parking, entrance fees, railings and crowds of visitors camped out with tripods at sunset.
However, one thing was unchanged: the gorgeous view.
LaMont arrived just before golden hour, navigating through the throng to find the right angles. The light and clouds shifted as the sun went down, and she took shot after shot, from the left side of the horseshoe, the right side and then stepping back for the full sweep of the bend.
In that moment, LaMont drew on lessons she had gleaned during a college photography course and experience built from thousands of photos she had shot across the U.S. and in Spain. The rule of thirds, the power of diagonals and more.
“You can have the cheapest pinhole camera and still get a really good picture, or you can have the best camera in the world and have a not-so-good picture,” LaMont said.
It was this new photo of Horseshoe Bend revisited that she entered into America’s Favorite Photos.
Three Tries to the Top
LaMont won the competition on her third try, learning the ropes with each attempt.
A couple of her tips:
✦ Tell friends and family about voting deadlines according to their time zones.
✦ Spread the word everywhere, for example, ask to put up flyers in your doctor's office or local coffee shop.
✦ Use a variety of ways to remind people to vote, from email to texts to Facebook Messenger.
✦ Take advantage of double vote days.
✦ And don’t forget to pick a photo that your family and friends will genuinely love.
"Nature is beautiful, and when you take photos of nature, you just can't go wrong," she said.
Supporting the American Cancer Society
In honor of LaMont’s win, the company that runs America’s Favorite Photos, Socialmark, has made a generous donation to the American Cancer Society.
LaMont wanted to support the charity in honor of her father who passed away from cancer when she was 13 and her mother who died from cancer years later. Recently, her niece's husband went through chemotherapy and radiation.
"I've had a lot of friends and family that have had to deal with that," she said.
As for LaMont’s prize money, it's going to pay off her car, which will offer her and her husband a little breathing room as he gets ready to retire. A trip back to Ohio to visit cousins and friends is on the horizon too.
LaMont’s experience has now inspired her mother-in-law to enter the photo competition. She encourages anyone who’s interested to try it out.
“You take a lot of photos, eventually you're going to get a good one,” LaMont said.
See more of Shari LaMont’s photos at: https://www.facebook.com/shari.arizona/
