![\"Jumping](\"https:\/\/naturalsciences.org\/calendar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jumping_spider_800w.jpg\")
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RALEIGH, N.C. \u2014 Raleigh resident Dianne Stankiewicz took a chance encounter with a jumping spider and turned it into the judges\u2019 top choice in this year\u2019s Wildlife in North Carolina Photo Competition. Stankiewicz, who works at a local pharmaceutical company as a graphic artist, says she uses nature photography as a creative outlet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my passion,\u201d Stankiewicz said. \u201cPretty much every weekend, my husband, dog and I go for three-hour nature walks. We are blessed to live in a state that has so much wildlife diversity, even in the city. Nature photography is meditative and inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stankiewicz, who previously won first place in the invertebrates category in the 2018 competition, was taking a sick day at home when she learned that she had won the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour call definitely made it the best sick day ever,\u201d she said. \u201cI have enjoyed our subscription to Wildlife in North Carolina magazine for many years. I\u2019m honored and humbled to have my invertebrate category submission of a jumping spider on a zinnia flower stem selected for the cover image this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judges for this year\u2019s competition included Marsha Tillett, the magazine\u2019s art director, staff graphic designers Amy Friend and Bryant Cole, staff photographer Melissa McGaw and former social media manager and photographer Thomas Harvey. Also serving as a judge was Mike Dunn, a retired senior manager of outreach at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and a veteran nature photographer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe image of the jumping spider caught the judges\u2019 attention because of the remarkably vibrant colors and interesting composition,\u201d Tillett said. \u201cInsects make great subjects because they are often very photogenic, but that alone is usually not enough. When a photographer captures a moment that makes the viewer take notice and see something in a new and different way, then that image sets itself apart. This image was one that the entire panel of judges could agree upon as being captivating and standing out from the others in the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n