{"id":26680,"date":"2025-10-30T15:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/26680\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T15:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:38:07","slug":"ddws-presents-winners-of-annual-amateur-nature-photography-contest-sanibel-captiva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/26680\/","title":{"rendered":"DDWS presents winners of annual, amateur nature photography contest – SANIBEL-CAPTIVA"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
\n
\n \/News
\n
\n <\/a>
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

1 \/ 3<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

TONY WAGNER
\nTony Wagner, of Sandwich, New Hampshire, took first place for his portrait of two black-necked stilts titled \u201cRomance on Stilts.\u201d<\/p>\n

2 \/ 3<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

REBECCA CLEMENS
\nRebecca Clemens, of Sanibel, came in second with a photograph of a white pelican titled \u201cFly Me to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 \/ 3<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SCOTT BECQUE
\nScott Becque, of Rehoboth, Delaware, won third place with his \u201cPreening\u201d anhinga portrait.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

[expand]<\/p>\n

close
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

This month, the \u201cDing\u201d Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS) held the official judging for its 33rd annual \u201cDing\u201d Darling Amateur Nature Photography Contest. It recently announced the 2025 winners.<\/p>\n

Judges selected three winners and seven honorable mentions out of 89 entries from 19 states and two countries. All entries were shot at the J.N. \u201cDing\u201d Darling National Wildlife Refuge complex.<\/p>\n

The judges included Refuge Manager Bob Gerwig, photographer Jim Bennight, and Sanibel community member and DDWS Board Member Jo Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were absolutely inspired by the passion and talent shown in this year\u2019s contest,\u201d contest coordinator and DDWS Philanthropic Director Jeff Decker said. \u201cWith over 80 stunning submissions from more than 40 photographers, each image told a unique story about the wildlife we\u2019re working to protect.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur judges carefully evaluated every photo based on technical excellence, originality and the ability to truly captivate \u2014 and we were blown away by the creativity and heart behind each shot,\u201d he added. \u201cThank you to all who participated.\u201d<\/p>\n

First place went to Tony Wagner, of Sandwich, New Hampshire, for his shot of two black-necked stilts titled \u201cRomance on Stilts.\u201d<\/p>\n

In second place was Rebecca Clemens, of Sanibel, with a portrait of a white pelican titled \u201cFly Me to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Becque, of Rehoboth, Delaware, took third place with \u201cPreening,\u201d which captures an anhinga doing just that.<\/p>\n

The winners received cash awards from the DDWS: $500 for first place, $300 for second place and $200 for third place. In addition, each honorable mention winner received a $50 award.<\/p>\n

The honorable mentions included:<\/p>\n

\u2013 Iris Aloia, of Sanibel, for \u201cRuffled Royalty\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Frank Brinker, of Oberaegeri, Switzerland, for \u201cHelicopter Mode\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Kathleen Colligan, of Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, for \u201cThe Elusive Mangrove Cuckoo\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Harrison Larkin, of Rock Hill, New York, for \u201cOtter Yawn\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Gail Markham, of Fort Myers, for \u201cChipped but not Broken Spoonbill\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Melinda Saminski, of Manasquan, New Jersey, for \u201cSunset Reflections at Refuge\u201d<\/p>\n

n- Allen Sparks, of Cordova, Tennessee, for \u201cYellow-crowned Night Heron\u201d<\/p>\n

The winning photographs and honorable mention award entries will be on display in the refuge\u2019s Visitor & Education Center throughout the year once it reopens in the winter. It is currently closed for hurricane repairs.<\/p>\n

To view all of the top-ranking entries, visit dingdarlingsociety.org\/photo-contests<\/a>. The page also contains information on the 2026 contest, which will accept entries from June 15 to Sept. 15.<\/p>\n

The J.N. \u201cDing\u201d Darling National Wildlife Refuge is at 1 Wildlife Drive, Sanibel.<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \/News 1 \/ 3 TONY WAGNER Tony Wagner, of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-26680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}