That is how the native of India became the first international contestant to win the Life on Lake Erie Photo Contest. He took the photo titled “The Lifeline of Lake Erie,” with a drone at sunset, Gopalakrishnan said. While the Ohio Lake Erie Commission receives a few non-local entrants almost every year, Gopalakrishnan is the first international visitor who has ever won the contest, said Sandra Kosek, an environmental specialist at the commission.