ASMP Best of 2026

Recently, I was notified that one of my series of images won the “Commercial Series” category in the 2026 ASMP Best Of photography competition. This series of images were of Mike Shinabery in an Astronaut suit at White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico and the images were created for New Mexico Tourism. We had Mike in the suit, which was a replica copy of Neil Armstrong’s lunar space suit (but without the gaskets), for about an hour–and at high noon. Hence, the high key bright white look to the images felt right for the time of day and we made sure to create a wide variety of images to showcase Mike in the suit and the location.

I have been a member of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) for over twenty years now. The organization was started in 1944 by luminaries in photojournalism and included such photographers as Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Edward Weston in the early days. ASMP was formed to fight for photographers both interms of wages and working conditions. Getting into ASMP requires that two other professional photographers who are already members vouch for you–and that you are a true professional. Back when I joined in the early 2000s, it was a feather in the cap to get into ASMP. The organization also offered–and still does–lots of perks like a very solid business insurance designed for professional photographers and discounts on professional equipment via Apple and B&H Photo. The ASMP “Find a Photographer” search engine also got me a lot of jobs as art directors and photo editors often used that tool to find reputable photographers. If you were in ASMP that meant you were a solid, skilled and professional photographer, which is why I joined.

Of course ASMP has had a huge affect on the industry. They helped bring about the Copyright Act of 1976, which “placed ownership of a photographer’s creative work back in the photographer’s hands.” To this day the organization, along with several other photography organizations has a lobbyist in Congress who works to protect and modernize copyright law on our behalf. During the COVID pandemic our current president Thomas Maddrey held weekly Zoom meetings helping photographers to figure out how they could make it though the pandemic and gain access to the government programs here in the USA that could help them out financially. I say all of this to show how important this organization has been in the industry. I would not be where I am if it weren’t for other pro photographers here in the New Mexico chapter who have helped me out over the years.

I have entered images into the ASMP Best Of competition since 2006, when I had an image created for the first version of Adobe Lightroom that won and it was even chosen as the cover image for the ASMP Bulletin–their printed magazine that went out to all members. Since then I have submitted images to the competition every few years when ASMP ran the competition. It is an honor to be included among the winners again twenty years later. In addition to the image at the top of this blog post, below are the other images that were submitted and won the Commercial: Series category.

To see all of the winning images check out the 2026 ASMP Best Of Winner’s Gallery on the ASMP website. My sincere thanks to ASMP and the judges for picking my images to be included among the winners this year. The judges this year included Mary Virginia Swanson, Darius Himes (the Head of Photographs at Christie’s), Anna Alexander, Kat Dalager, Jennifer Perlmutter and Karen Williams. There are many amazing images shown in the winners gallery. Congratulations to Kiliii Yuyan who won Best in Show with his incredible images of indigenous peoples. Congratulations also to the other winners showcased on the ASMP website.

All of the winning images will be compiled in a print and digital Sourcebook which will be sent to hundreds of the world’s photo buyers and agencies. It also seems that ASMP will again be running this photo competition on a yearly basis going forward. Hence, it is time to start getting some new work together for the 2027 ASMP Best Of competition.