By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

Everyone loves a good vacation. And that’s why, for our most recent photo contest, we invited our readers to share their vacation experiences this summer with our Northsiders on Vacation Photo Contest.

Well the voting period has come and gone, and we have a winner. And in a Northside Chronicle Photo Contest first, it was a unanimous decision.

Claiming the win was “A girl and her dog named River in the River,” taken by Robyn Barber of Observatory Hill, and photographed in Tidioute, Pennsylvania.

Humorously enough, rivers in Pennsylvania seemed to be a theme with our entries in this contest. Then again, Pennsylvanians are known for being a people who don’t like to travel far, so perhaps that is appropriate.

There are many things to love about Barber’s photo. It’s wonderfully framed, its titular girl and her dog surrounded by the kind of scenic forested hills Pennsylvania is famous for having. It’s also a bit mysterious, with its two subjects looking away from the camera, perhaps gazing in wonder at their surroundings.

It could also be that there is a dog involved. Any pictures with pets tend to be popular in our photo contests. Heck, the Cutest Pet Photo Contest remains our most popular one, and it may be a while before a theme topples it.

Regardless, Barber has produced a truly stunning photo, and she deserves the bragging rights that come with winning the contest. So congratulations to her for getting her picture featured in the paper and on our website.

But now comes the time when we announce the next photo contest. What will be the theme this time? Well, the theme is actually there is no theme.

Our next contest is “Anything Goes.” You can send in your photo of, well, anything. A beautiful landscape? Works for us. Cute picture of your pet? Sure thing! Maybe a dramatic black and white photo? Go for it. Anything goes!

The contest is open to Northside residents or subscribers to The Northside Chronicle. Also, a new rule for our photo contests: We are not accepting AI-generated photos. All photos must be of actual objects or people, not something made up in a computer.

Entries can be submitted now and the deadline for submissions is Dec. 25, with voting to run Dec. 26 through Dec. 30.

Photos can be submitted either to editor@thenorthsidechronicle.com or to The Chronicle’s Instagram account via direct message at @nschronicle.

All entrants should include their name, their Northside neighborhood (or that they are a subscriber), an optional title of their photo and a description of what’s in the photo.

So go wild, dear readers. Take whatever photo you think looks best. Competition is sure to be tough this time around with such an open theme, so pull out all the stops and show off your photographic skills!