LOCAL

Through our eyes: Best images of 2018

Naples

At the end of every month, the visual staff of the Naples Daily News get together and present their favorite photos from that month’s visual coverage. The editing process to select these gallery-worthy pictures is rigorous and often provokes complicated visual discussion, because we value our sophisticated viewers’ eyes.

These are some of our best pictures from the “Best staff photos of the month” from this year. Even from these few selections, they reveal the spectrum of our community’s moments that are filled with joy and sorrow. We appreciate every opportunity you allowed us to be there to document and to share. Thank you.

— H. Léo Kim, Director of Visuals and Creative Content

 

Debbie Coe, 62, helps her great-nephew Casey Soto, 6, with his homework in the RV they share in Immokalee on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Coe has has been caring for Casey alone since her husband died in February 2017. They are staying in an RV while they wait for their home to be rebuilt by the Guadalupe Center. Coe's home will be the nonprofit's first home rebuild post-Hurricane Irma. "I have a roof over my head. My stove don't work, my refrigerator don't work, but I have a roof over my head," Coe says.
A flamingo walks in the water while people take part in a "flamingo yoga" class on Thursday, March 1, 2018, at Everglades Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs.
Juniors Sidney Ho, from left, Jordan Strauss and Kendall Edgren mourn together during a candlelight vigil at Pine Trails Park in Parkland on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday that took 17 lives.
Jose Gomez holds the mesh covering over a row of tomatoes at Oakes Organic Farm in eastern Collier County on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Growers cover some of the crops when the weather is predicted to drop overnight.
Left: Native Pride Dancer Arlan Whitebreast, from the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa, waits outside the tent before demonstrating a grass dance during the 21st annual American Indian Arts Celebration on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, on the grounds of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki museum in the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. Center: Native Pride Dancer Larry Yazzie, from the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa, poses for a portrait. Yazzie was inspired to start dancing when he was 7 after watching the dancers at the annual Meskwaki powwow, and now he travels all around the world to demonstrate his culture. "If the kids are watching you they learn, they learn by observing," he said. "If you look around you see this beautiful culture around here, why throw all that away when we can preserve it for our children, the kids can watch and keep it going." Right: Seminole rainmaker Bobby Henry poses for a portrait. Henry says that when non-indigenous people come to Florida, they often forget about the Seminole people, and he hopes that the schoolchildren who come and hear him talk about the culture will go home and share that with their families.
Lily Nagel, 9, shares a moment with Penny the pony during a summer equestrian session at Cornerstone Farm South in North Naples on Friday, June 15, 2018.
Olivia Akers, 17, leads a practice with the color guard during the game against St. Petersburg-Lakewood at Barron Collier High School in North Naples on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018.

 

John Filippakis, a lifelong Byzantine icon painter, lies on his back to get a better perspective as he adds new iconography to the sanctuary of St. Paul Orthodox Church in Naples on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018.
Vesta Warner, 100, left, and Claire Connolly, 100, toast each other during a celebration for six resident centenarians at the Lely Palms Retirement Community in East Naples on Wednesday, July 18, 2018.
Dead fish washed up along Bonita Beach due to red tide on Aug. 1, 2018. This red tide bloom has been along the Southwest Florida coast since October 2017.
Supporters gather at a President Donald Trump rally for Florida Republican candidates on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018, at Hertz Arena in Estero.