Daily Herald wins state photojournalism awards
Daily Herald photojournalists John Starks, Christopher Hankins and Steve Lundy earned top honors in the annual Illinois Best of Photojournalism contest last weekend in Champaign.
The contest is sponsored by the Illinois Press Photographers Association.
Starks, who has been with the Daily Herald for 10 years, took first place for an action photo of a soccer game on a foggy night at Streamwood High School.
He also earned second place for a nature, environment shot for a close-up of an ice crystal, and honorable mention for a news photo of the Elgin Choral Union rehearsing below sound baffles on the ceiling of a music room at Elgin Community College. In the multimedia category, Starks earned third place for a series of audio slideshows from the McHenry County Fair.
Starks said his shot of the soccer game was taken with an extremely wide-angle lens because of the fog. "I knelt behind the goal and got lucky when they scored. The fog really made the lights stand out."
Hankins, assistant director of photography, earned a second place honor in the Individual Multimedia Project category for a project titled Hidden Homeless.
Hankins said he enjoyed the documentary-type project that came at a time when the photography staff was just learning how to use new multimedia equipment.
"Digging into a project of that size was trial by fire," said Hankins, who has been with the Daily Herald for 12 years.
Lundy earned third place for a photograph of a firefighter working to put out a building fire in Lincolnshire when lightning struck in the background. A routine fire shot turned into much more.
"I was fortunate to have the lightning strike at the time I was shooting," said Lundy, who was standing across the street when he captured the photo.
"John, Steve and Chris are very talented photojournalists and I'm very proud of not only their winning photos and multimedia, but of all their terrific work," said Jeff Knox, the Daily Herald's senior director of photography.
To view all the photographs and multimedia, go to www.dailyherald.com.