Images: Photo Contest Finalists

This is a wild chipmunk that lives in our yard. Lauren Myers of Cary

I recently purchased a Pentax X5 camera and I was hunting around the property for interesting photo opportunities to try it out. All of our summer perennials were in bloom, including this Day Lily and the Russian Sage behind it serving as a complementing and contrasting back ground. I shot several exposures, selected what I thought was the best of them, and then applied one of the digital creative filters, “Toy Camera,” to achieve this photo. Brian Van Dine, from Carol Stream

While enjoying a summer walk along Eagle Harbor in Ephraim, Wisconsin, we noticed this girl momentarily silhouetted by light from the setting sun as clouds rolled in for the evening. Michael Weimer of St. Charles

I inadvertently made a slow-motion study while attending an American Legion League baseball game in Aurora earlier this month. Elliot Rounds of Jake’s Bagels team, and a West Aurora High School student, is shown swinging. Al Benson of Aurora

The Lake County Freedom shortstop leaves her feet to make a diving stop and then successfully gets the runner at first base. Rick Rubenstein of Long Grove

Buckingham Fountain looks refreshing against the downtown Chicago skyline on one of the hottest days of the summer. Melissa Molnar of Lake Zurich

Claire Hess kisses her sisters horse, Acorn, after a riding lesson several months ago in Gilberts. Natalie Hess of Arlington Heights

Emily and Giovanni Falco share a romantic moment as the sun sets over the bay in Pensicola, Florida on July 7th. Giovanni Falco of Bartlett

We were in Wisconsin on Blue Lake, just outside of Minocqua, for the Fourth of July week, and were amazed at the diversity and abundance of wildlife in the North Woods including this Bald Eagle perched in a tree. I never thought that I would be able to see a Bald Eagle in the wild, let alone capture its image so clearly. All were taken with my new Nikon D7100 which I had just received a couple of weeks earlier and was waiting for the right opportunity to test it out for the first time. I Couldn’t have picked a better location to test out the camera. Len Baumgart of Roselle

Some daisies are a highlight in the English Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe on June 8th. Allison Cuba of Ingleside

We were in Wisconsin on Blue Lake, just outside of Minocqua, for the Fourth of July week, and were amazed at the diversity and abundance of wildlife in the North Woods. We were able to capture pictures of a number of different animals, including this Blue Heron walking along the lake shore early one morning, Len Baumgart of Roselle

The sun peers through the plants bordering a lake as it sets earlier this summer in Conover, Wisconsin. Colin Morabito of Libertyville