A panel of judges has determined the winners of Leader Publications’ first Summer Fun Photo Contest.

Patti Zurawski is the $500 first place winner with her photo, “Casting at Sunset.”

Zurawski, an Indiana resident who owns a second home on Stone Lake in Cassopolis, said the shot was taken from “our backyard.”

Her husband, Jay, is pictured with their niece, Lenise Ortiz, of California, casting from a dock into water reflected purple and pink from the sunset.

“My husband said, ‘Check out this sunset!’” Zurawski said.

She laughed when asked what camera she used to take the photo.

“An iPhone,” she said.

The photo holds special significance for her family because Zurawski’s mother recently passed away, and before she died, she said she wanted the whole family to gather every year. They decided to get together at Stone Lake in early August, around the time of her birthday.

The second place prize — a pair of Notre Dame football tickets — goes to Niles resident Tate Burgess for his photo, “Bumble Bee with Cat Mint.”

“I used to do a lot of landscaping,” Burgess said. “I’ve always been really into photographs.

“I actually have a big hive,” he said. “I zoomed in really close and set the camera on my knee.”

Burgess used a Kodiak camera given to him by a family member.

He said the plant the bee is sitting on — a Walker’s Low Catmint — is special to him because Walker is his mother’s maiden name.

A total of 744 photos were accepted for the contest from May 26 through Sept. 3. The winners were selected from 18 finalists in round 2.