An apple a day put a Congressional art medal in play for North Star High School senior Ethan this spring.
 
Ethan received national recognition for his photo entitled “Apple Island” in the 2026 Congressional Art Competition. His picture of an apple floating in sunset-drenched Oak Lake will hang in the office of United States Congressman Mike Flood. Visitors to the Cannon House Office Building will have an opportunity to learn more about Ethan’s work and the scenic nature sites that are found in Lincoln.
 
Flood presented Ethan with an official certificate of special recognition from the United States Congress during a meeting at North Star. He told him he was impressed with the photograph’s intricate details.
 
“When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Is that a painting, or is that a picture?’” Flood said.

Ethan said perseverance played a major role in the development of his successful picture. He spent many early evenings at Oak Lake trying to find the right combination of sunset colors, wind speed and photo angles. Those efforts paid off this past fall when everything fell into place.
 
“I’ve just learned to keep going and overshoot,” Ethan said. “Look at everything you see, because you lose nothing by taking too many photos. You can always just skip past them.”
 
North Star art teacher Jason Codr said that the willingness to keep trying is why Ethan has become an award-winning photographer. He taught him the basics of the craft in a Photography 1 class, and those lessons jump-started his passion for photography.
 
“When he got a camera and he just started learning it, he was super excited and sold out 100 percent,” Codr said. “He put all his energy into it. He did that through Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, so he kept taking off.”

The genesis of “Apple Island” came from a project that Codr assigned students this past fall. The Navigators had to create a series of photos with the same object as the centerpiece.
 
“Everybody was choosing other things like stuffed animals and more generic stuff, and I was like, ‘What about an apple? That sounds cool,’” Ethan said.
 
Ethan took advantage of calm conditions when he arrived at the shoreline one afternoon. He placed an apple into the water and instantly knew he had a chance for a breakthrough picture.
 
“I put it in the water and it just floated there for a little bit,” Ethan said. “One of the pictures just got that perfect timing of it swaying up and down in the water to not break the surface enough. The water was really still. It wasn’t windy at all. It was just a perfect-condition type of photo.”
 
Ethan decided to submit the photo to this year’s Congressional Art Competition. A panel of professional artists selected “Apple Island” to represent Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District.
 
“Whatever you do next, you’re going to be successful, because you care and you try and you’ve got humility, and you’re also obviously very talented,” Flood said.
 
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