Hey everyone! Guess what time it is? It’s time to announce our Dig the Dunes 2022 calendar winners. This is our sixth calendar and we couldn’t be more pleased to share with you this list of talented photographers. All of them are dunes lovers and we think they each deserve a big round of applause.
Calendars are available for pre-order NOW — online at DigtheDunes.com. They are $20 until December 2 and then will be $25 once all the photos are revealed. Please note that they are currently being printed and we expect them to arrive the first week of December. We know you will all be anxiously waiting so we will ship them out priority mail as soon as we can. ORDER NOW.
And now for our winners…
JANUARY – STEVE WICK. Steve is a radio/media producer and musician based in the Chicago area. His parents have lived in Ogden Dunes for over 35 years, so Steve has many great memories of exploring and enjoying the lakefront. Steve and his wife are currently building in the Marina Shores/Dune Harbor community and they look forward to living close to the natural beauty of the Indiana Dunes.
FEBRUARY – KEVIN FITZGERALD. Kevin is retired, having moved from Chicago to Beverly Shores three years ago with his wife Lorraine, who teaches yoga. He is an amateur photographer, and loves the lake, the sunsets, his golden retrievers, and the IN Dunes National Park.
MARCH – JAMIE HOGAN. Having enjoyed a wonderful duality spanning more than 30 years in both the Indiana Dunes and Oak Park and River Forest, Illinois, Jamie lives today in the artistic, vibrant, and notably eccentric enclave of Porter Beach, affectionately called the looney dunes. The Dunes, Jamie says, are deep in every memory, milestone and important event in her adult life and she honestly doesn’t have a recollection of life without the Dunes as a backdrop. She makes her living in real estate and makes her life as a writer, artful cook and hobby photographer. Her favored region centric themes are sunsets and beaches, rural landscapes, leaning barns and the grit and grace of our industrial heart. She’s pretty sure if we want to know what someone fears losing, watch what they photograph.
APRIL – STEVE BENSING. Since Steve was 5 years old, he has been involved in photography. Steve took formal classes in high school and was editor of his college yearbook. Today Steve is president of the Duneland Photography Club. His subject matter varies, but he loves the outdoors and the opportunities he finds in the Indiana Dunes area. He always wants to learn, and to share what he learns with others to encourage them in their photographic endeavors.
MAY – CHAD HOWELL. Chad was born and raised in Northwest Indiana. He still lives and works in the area with his wife, kids and two dogs. Photography and capturing photos of the Dunes has become a passion for him over the past few years. He can often be found hiking around the Dunes with his wife and a backpack full of camera equipment. He enjoys landscape photography, macro photography and beekeeping.
JUNE – MEGAN CLEARY. From the first time Megan saw Lake Michigan from West Beach as a relocated teenager, she knew it was a place that was good for her soul. Over the past few years, following some life changing events, she found herselff being reminded how healing this place can be. It was then that she started chasing sunsets and photographing the beauty that is the Dunes. Megan love where sheI lives and wants to share that joy with others.
JULY – TIM ARENDT. Tim is a retired IBEW electrician and electrical instructor living in Long Beach, Indiana. Photography is a hobby he enjoys along with sailing his Hobie catamaran from shore. The lake and dunes area hikes always provide inspiration for Tim. Taking photos has been an important part of his teaching work; and learning to capture the beauty of our area is a natural extension.
AUGUST – JACKLYN WOZNIAK. Jacklyn is a sophomore in high school who got into photography as a hobby a few years ago, She is currently taking a photography course to help improve her skills. Jackie collects vintage cameras and mostly shoots in film format, but she also takes digital photos too. She was born and raised running around the beaches of the Indiana Dunes and loves being in such a beautiful area that has so much natural landscape to enjoy. Currently, nature photography is one of her favorite forms of photography, and living here in the Dunes has really given her a great chance to capture their beauty and fully appreciate them for what they’re worth.
SEPTEMBER – KEN BAIR. Ken is married with four daughters and two annoying cats. His passion for photography began in 1978 with the purchase of a used Pentax Spotmatic film camera and continues to this day. Ken enjoys shooting portraiture, landscape, and architecture and learning new techniques along the way. NWI and the dunes provide great opportunities throughout the seasons to capture something unique, even if he’s photographed it many times before.”
OCTOBER – AUDRA EBLING. Audra has been a dunes enthusiast for more than 50 years. She grew up in Chicago, spending most weekends with family in Beverly Shores, where her parents met in the 1950s. She has been splitting her time between Chicago and Beverly Shores with her husband and two college student sons since 2008. She works as a communications and marketing manager for a Chicago-area nonprofit organization that supports children, teens and adults with disabilities. In her free time she can usually be found hiking, cycling and hunting for rocks and beach glass in the dunes and volunteering for the Shirley Heinze Land Trust.
NOVEMBER – TERRY FAIRCHILD. Terry has been involved with photography since he was quite young. Hisy Mom gave him a camera so he would leave hers alone Photography helps one learn to see the beauty in everything.
DECEMBER – PEGGY CARTER. Peggy got serious about photography 11 years ago. She is an active member of the Duneland Photography Club and serves as the PR Coordinator. She enjoys hiking and photographing nature and landscapes. Her work has appeared in local galleries, and she has won several awards. In 2021, Peggy had a photo published in Lake Superior Magazine. She enjoys sharing and exhibiting her photos.
COVER – LARRY BRECHNER. Our cover photographer, Larry A Brechner, has appeared in the past three Dig The Dunes calendars. Having a strong inherent and intuitive sensibility for visual elements and composition that is found both in his fine art photography as well as in his forty plus year career as a theatrical director and lighting designer (that resulted in over 300 visually stunning musical productions). His photography was an important tool to visually document his productions as well as used for publicity and actor headshots. This same visual sensibility also informs his photographic art combined with a technical mastery of the photographic tools in both his earlier film and current digital photography. Larry’s artistic photography work is mostly in scenic landscapes, nature, wildlife, still life, nostalgic structures, nautical/aviation themes, aerial, and fine art portraiture.
We invite you all to join us for our Calendar Release Open House at Dig the Dunes Trail Stop on Thursday, December 2 from 5-7 pm. We will have a sparkling wine toast as well as some holiday treats. Our merchandise will also be on display and available. Online calendar orders will also be available for pick up.
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