Every year Dig the Dunes has a calendar contest. Hundreds of photos are submitted and our panel of judges carefully goes through them all and selects their favorites for each month. It's never easy to choose, there are always so many great ones. We are excited to announce this year's winners.
2024 Cover – Sharlene Livesay
Sharlene fell in love with photography thanks to her dad’s subscription to National Geographic. Her dream was to someday be a photographer for the magazine. She is actually a retired Financial Professional who LOVES to take pictures of the beauty surrounding her. Sharlene has lived in the Dunes for the last 24 years with her spouse of 34 years. Instagram @liveshark
January - Peggy Carter Peggy has lived in this area for over 50 years and is amazed with all the beauty of the Indiana Dunes surrounding her. There is so much nature to photograph in this area. She belongs to the Duneland Photography Club and as a club they are always hiking the trails and taking beautiful photos. They love the Dunes!!
February – Therese Nelson Therese moved to NWI seven years ago to be more centrally located to her four adult children. She and her husband immediately fell in love with the beauty and solitude of the shores of Lake Michigan, especially the unbelievable sunsets. They can be found on the beach year-round and enjoy meeting folks from around the country and locals alike. Therese has been amazed by the ever-changing lakefront and all of the treasures it offers! The glass pieces shown are all authentic Beverly Shores finds - even the rare, perfect “L”.
March – Chad Howell Chad was born and raised in Northwest Indiana. He works and lives in the area with his wife and two dogs. They spend as much time hiking around the Dunes as they can. Chad enjoys landscape and travel photography. Instagram @chowellphotography_in
April – Wendy Marciniak Wendy is a lifelong Chesterton resident and mixed media artist who reclaims her soul by hiking, taking photos, and walking the beaches of Lake Michigan. Her work is often inspired by the beauty in nature. Instagram @wendymarciniak
May – Terry Fairchild Terry has been photographing nature for 50 plus years. He was a young teen when he received his first SLR camera, He immediately felt connected with his subjects. Landscapes, zoo animals, and backyard insects. It is a desire to share the beauty he sees with others. Instagram @fairchild_nature_images
June – Alex Healy Alex Healy is a senior at Chesterton High School. For the last several years he has been interested in photography and has taken multiple photo classes. He is looking to pursue his passion of photography through college and eventually become a professional photographer. Recently he has created a portfolio of his work and it can be found at alexhealyphotography.com.
July – Sara Thammavong Sara lives in Valparaiso. She is very lucky to be so close to the dunes and loves to go out in the evenings to enjoy the sunsets.
August – Jerry Savel Jerry has been a duner since 6th grade. He is a self described environmental artisan...building driftwood sculptures and sharing his love of photography while hiking and paddle boarding. He also enjoys going rogue by repurposing plants and bulbs into common spaces to add color and beauty for all to enjoy throughout the seasons.
September – Rebekah Lamb Rebekah Lamb is an amateur photographer who usually uses her photos to scrapbook or enter them in the Lake County Fair. She’s recently begun the journey of taking her hobby and turning it into a business, Box K Photography. Her photos tend to focus primarily on landscape and wildlife. Instagram @boxkphotography
October – Charles Haley The dunes are a very special place to Charles. He loves to take photos of nature, wildlife, urban, portraits, aerial, and landscapes including Indiana Dunes! He’s a local photographer out of Griffith, IN.
He loves to take photos with both his camera and drone because it takes him to some beautiful places. He loves how the scenes change so quickly with the lighting at sunrises and sunsets. The sky will go from grey to an explosion of color in the matter of minutes. As fast as the color comes, it quickly goes away with the setting sun. He’s happy an organization like Dig The Dunes exists to help highlight and preserve the dunes for all to see and enjoy! Facebook: CDH3 Photography
November – Courtney Ziebarth Courtney is a pediatric oncology/hematology nurse at University of Chicago. Her family, Josh (husband) and two children (Joshua and Alexandria) moved from Illinois in 2020. She loves what Ogden Dunes has offered them with the lake, trails and community.
December – Audra Ebling Audra has been splitting her time between Beverly Shores and Chicago since 2008, but she has been a dunes enthusiast all her life, spending weekends in Beverly Shores since she was a baby. She works as the communications and marketing manager for a Chicago-area non-profit organization that supports children, teens and adults with disabilities. She always makes time for running, hiking and cycling in the dunes, stopping frequently to take photos of the irresistible landscapes.
Come on out and meet the photographers on Monday, November 27th from 5-7pm at the Chesterton Art Center (115 S. 4th Street) at our Calendar Release Party. We will be revealing all the photos and will have calendars and other Dig the Dunes merchandise for sale, in addition the Chesterton Art Center gift shop will be open. PRE-ORDER YOUR CALENDAR BEFORE NOVEMBER 10 AND SAVE $5!
Want to follow Dig the Dunes and find out about contests like this? Be sure to sign up for the Dig the Dunes weekly e-newsletter, right here.
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