Streets & Neighborhoods
Winner
Photographer: Bob Joy
Subject: Old Riomar
Location: Sandfly Lane
Date Taken: May 15, 2018
I recall this photo was taken on Sandfly Lane. As a retired architect, I appreciate the distinctively designed and well-maintained homes in Old Riomar. But what gives this neighborhood its unique character—and special appeal—is the dominant landscape. Even the unpaved road winds its way around the canopy of live oaks. Because of the deep shadows I used a technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography. With my camera mounted on a tripod, I took three shots in quick succession: one at a normal exposure to capture the mid-tones; one that I underexposed to preserve detail in the highlights; and one that was overexposed to reveal detail in the shadows. I then combined the three images in Lightroom to produce an image that reproduced the full tonal range.
Honorable Mentions
Photographer: Zech Browning
Subject: Theatre Plaza after a hard rain
Photographer: Bonnie Pfiester
Subject: Historic Hallstrom House on Old Dixie Highway
Winner
Architecture
Photographer: Kate May
Subject: Old-style Florida living
Location: Blue Cypress Lake
Date Taken: July 31, 2020
While I was born a Jersey girl, I have always been a Florida girl at heart. I wanted nothing more than to live near the beach, and in 2019 we became residents of this quaint little town.
I still love the beach, but I have always been that person to take the “road less traveled.” I was told if you want to experience “old” Florida, take a ride to Middleton’s Fish Camp out at Blue Cypress Lake. I stumbled upon these amazing cottages that sit entirely on the water. I just knew I had to go back and photograph them.
So began my obsession with finding the “roads less traveled” right here in our town. I spend my time on the dirt roads, exploring “old” Vero Beach and photographing as much as I can. There is so much more besides sand and palm trees to see here—it’s a photographer’s paradise!
Honorable Mentions
Photographer: Alberto Santelices
Subject: Under the Merrill P. Barber Bridge
Photographer: Cheryl Herndon
Subject: Gazebos in Riverside Park
Photographer: Richard Lane
Subject: 4th Street Forestry Tower
Land, Sea, & Skyscapes
Winner
Photographer: Tina Nickle
Subject: Live oak
Location: Sebastian
Date Taken: December 26, 2020
Live oaks, with their amazing trunks and limbs, are majestic and beautiful. The shadows they cast can be spectacular. I came across this tree with its shadows in the late afternoon. I was a bit challenged because I could not linger, and I did not have a tripod. The setting sun was creating a beautiful silhouette of the tree casting long graceful shadows. I set the ISO at 250 and aperture at f16 to achieve deep depth of field and in hopes of creating a sun flare. I took five shots quickly, and the last one successfully captured the sun flare through the tree’s branches.
Honorable Mentions
Photographer: Jerry Smietanka
Subject: Phantom Sailing
Photographer: Susan Mahoney
Subject: Early morning, Costa D’Este
Photographer: Wayne King
Subject: The lighted flagpole affixed to the boiler of the SS Breconshire
Wildlife
Winner
Photographer: Dale Erickson
Subject: Roseate spoonbill
Location: Stick Marsh
Date Taken: March 2022
I captured this photo of a roseate spoonbill at the Stick Marsh near Fellsmere. A nearby rookery provides ample opportunities to observe these birds gathering nesting material each spring.
Honorable Mentions
Photographer: Chuck Palmer
Subject: White pelican
Photographer: Tina Nickle
Subject: Great white heron with two chicks
Photographer: Rene Griffith
Subject: Barred owls perched on a cypress tree
People
Winner
Photographer: Bonnie Pfiester
Subject: Citrus pickers
Location: Schacht Grove
Date Taken: March 23, 2022
Taking this photo [which was also chosen as a winner in the Garden Club 2022 Flower Show photography contest] was like being in a 145-acre scavenger hunt. My adventure started at Schacht’s Groves, when one of the ladies there told me I had just missed the Haitian citrus pickers dropping off fruit from their big groves. She described one of them as a deaf woman.
They were gracious and let me roam all over their property, where I took photographs of everything from old tractors to orange blossoms, but I had my sites on that woman. Louis Schacht showed me the aerial map of the groves and gave me a crash course on the layout of the property. Then the real adventure began. I searched row by row, driving my big four-wheel drive Ford through what seemed to be an endless sea of citrus in search of this small group of pickers.
I had almost given up when I finally found them deep in the groves picking grapefruit. I marveled at how they leaned the ladders onto the branches and picked a tree clean in a matter of minutes. We live in such a high-paced busy world full of machinery, technology, and constant distractions, yet, just a few miles away, it was like I went back in time.
Photographer: Denise Kacavas
Subject: Veteran talks with jumpers at the Vero Beach Air Show
Photographer: Bob Joy
Subject: Bullfrog Bash Rodeo in Fellsmere
Photographer: Arlene Willnow
Subject: Taking the Wave
True Tails is a series written by Amy Robinson for Vero Beach’s dog lovers. Ask Amy about your dog’s behavior by clicking below.
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