
Angelica Garcia sits with her guitar on the box pews in the sanctuary of St. James Church in Accomac, Va. on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016. Garcia will have her debut album “Medicine For Birds” released on Sept. 30th. Garcia wrote the majority of her songs in the church’s nearby rectory and parish house. Her single “Orange Flower” has been featured on NPR.

Nichole Credle, is photographed at her Suffolk, Va., home on Wednesday, August 31, 2016. Credle signed a contract with Sea-Thru, a Virginia Beach, Va., window company in June 2016 and has yet to receive her windows. She’s battling the company in an effort to retrieve a $2,278 deposit for preach of contract. Credle’s current windows are leaking and she’s worried about the risk of mold, which she says would result in health issues for her children, who are asthmatic. Credle is photographed with her children, Collin Credle Jr., 5, and Hailey, 6.
![multiple-1st-place-jill-nance-news-advance-1 With his jumpsuit on his bed, Taylor Rodriguez gets ready for a performance at his home in Goode. ÒThey start about $2,000 and up,Ó Donna Rodriguez says about the cost of the jumpsuits. Ò[Overall] itÕs gotta be about $50,000. É You consider the shoes, the belts, the jackets. Rings - theyÕre anywhere from $150 and up.Ó](https://vnpaphotogs.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/multiple-1st-place-jill-nance-news-advance-1.jpg?w=187&h=128)
With his jumpsuit on his bed, Taylor Rodriguez gets ready for a performance at his home in Goode. ÒThey start about $2,000 and up,Ó Donna Rodriguez says about the cost of the jumpsuits. Ò[Overall] itÕs gotta be about $50,000. É You consider the shoes, the belts, the jackets. Rings – theyÕre anywhere from $150 and up.Ó

Taylor Rodriguez performs at Carriage Hill Assisted Living. The Assisted Living facility was the first assisted living to hire Rodriguez and he still tries to go back and perform often, sometimes once a month. ÒThey mean a lot to me too,Ó he says. ÒThe people there, IÕve known since I started. They saw me improve and improve – which I hope I am improving.Ó
![multiple-1st-place-jill-nance-news-advance-6 Taylor Rodriguez records a song at Ham Bone Productions recording studio with Robbie Hiner. Rodriguez has recorded two albums, the latest one featuring two original songs. ÒI wrote ÔTribute to the King,Õ which is an Elvis tribute song,Ó he said. ÒSome people suggested that I send it to Lisa Marie and Priscilla [Presley]. ThatÕs what I plan to do. I think it would be pretty cool for them to hear it.Ó](https://vnpaphotogs.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/multiple-1st-place-jill-nance-news-advance-6.jpg?w=195&h=132)
Taylor Rodriguez records a song at Ham Bone Productions recording studio with Robbie Hiner. Rodriguez has recorded two albums, the latest one featuring two original songs. ÒI wrote ÔTribute to the King,Õ which is an Elvis tribute song,Ó he said. ÒSome people suggested that I send it to Lisa Marie and Priscilla [Presley]. ThatÕs what I plan to do. I think it would be pretty cool for them to hear it.Ó

Before the start of prom, Taylor Rodriguez and his girlfriend Ellee Evans meet with friends at to take photos together. Balancing Rodriguez’s Elvis career is not always easy. “When I am on stage, I try as much as I can to pay tribute to Elvis. When then when I come off stage, I am Taylor,” said Rodriguez.

Colored crab pot buoys hang from a line outside of the mayor’s work shanty off Tangier Island. The island is a working watermen village which draws leagues of tourists ferried in from the mainland every summer for fresh, locally caught Chesapeake blue crab and laid-back lifestyle. Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Town of Tangier mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge holds out one of the larger Chesapeake blue crabs from his catch on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016.

Seen from the ferry ride to the Tangier Island is a skyline of boats, crabbing shanties, the local church, and the iconic water tower on Wednesday, Aug. 10. Rapidly eroding shoreline, climate change and a rising sea level puts the island at risk to be completely underwater within the next 50 years forcing locals to abandon their way of life.

Church pianists and secretary Nancy Creedle stands by her piano inside Swain United Methodist Church on Tangier Island on Friday, Aug. 12, 2016.

Local Alona Charnock, 10, looks down at a fallen tombstone found on the Uppards island just north of Tangier. Uppards was once a bustling community but due to a rapidly eroding shoreline, climate change and a rising sea level the island became uninhabitable in the 1930s leaving behind gravestones, debris and other remains.

Christopher Newport student James Dennehy was born in India without arms and adopted by an American family in Ashland, Virginia. He’s adapted since birth to use his feet in place of his hands. Summary: Adopted when he was 2, James Dennehy learned to take care of himself at an orphanage in Bangalore, India. After coming to the United States 19 years ago, his mom said, he never stopped teaching himself how to do the same things as every other kid on his block — but with his feet. Dennehy was born without arms. “I forget sometimes that I am disabled, and my friends do, too, because I just do everything they do, just with my feet,” Dennehy said. “I just kind of live my life. Even with a disability, it’s not going to stop me from doing anything.” He throws a Frisbee, reaches for door handles, drives, writes, texts and even Snapchats with his feet.
Judges:
Kyle Grantham, Danial Sato, Suchat Pederson
The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal
FEATURE:
FIRST: Rob Ostermaier, The Daily Press
SECOND: Jill Nance, News & Advance
THIRD: James Diem, Eastern Shore News
HM: Austin Bachand, Daily News-Record
Strong category with some great frames. Lots of pictorials, of which the strongest rose to the top quickly. First place was well balanced and a good moment captured in silhouette. Second place another solid moment though we missed the kid’s leg. Third place another nice silhouette that needed some more room at the top of the frame to give the paddleboarder space to breath. Honorable mention to the Sunflower Bee. It needed something, we weren’t sure what – whether reframing or getting higher or lower. Just wasn’t quite there. Work that frame a little more.
SPORTS:
FIRST: Jonathan Gruenke, The Daily Press
SECOND: Rob Ostermaier, The Daily Press
THIRD: Jonathan Gruenke, The Daily Press
Surprisingly weak category that featured a LOT of routine photos. First place had nice light and was a good moment with good expression. Second place was a nice silhouette with great light but needed to give some room to breath to the subjects. Third place was a different angle on a biker and had strong graphic quality but needed a little more separation.
PORTRAIT:
FIRST: James Diem, Eastern Shore News
SECOND: Kristen Zeis, The Virginian-Pilot
THIRD: N/A
Very weak category with few entries. Was easy to knock down when looking for actual portraits to award. First place was well executed from a number of angles – framing, different viewpoint, lighting. It was very well done. Second place was well executed and framed as well but needed something in that second layer of reflection. We did not award a third place image.
NEWS:
FIRST: Austin Bachand, Daily News-Record
SECOND: Kristen Zeis, The Virginian-Pilot
THIRD: Lathan Goumas, News & Advance
Surprisingly weak category here. First place quickly rose to the top for it’s great moment and terrific execution. Well done. Second place has great light and a good moment but we cannot figure out where the focus point is. Looks like a hail mary that might have just missed. Third place was a good moment of an exhausted firefighter but we were hoping for a little more scene around him.
MULTIPLE:
FIRST: Jill Nance, News & Advance
SECOND: Aileen Devlin, Daily Press
THIRD: Rob Ostermaier, The Daily Press
HM. Lathan Goumas, News & Advance
Lots to choose from here but the winners rose to the top quickly. The Elvis tribute story was well worked, good moments and good execution. Tangier Island needed a tighter edit and a little more focus but the photographer really worked the assignment and gave us a sense of the place. The story on James was a good story to tell. Definitely needed a tighter edit, it got a little repetitive, but it was unique and executed well nonetheless. Honorable Mention to drag racing which just needed to be cut in half. Some great frames and some REALLY weak ones and unfortunately you’ll always be judged more by what you did include than what you didn’t.
