Haze, lighting set scene for photographer's top shot
It was a foggy night in spring when three members of the Kulak family made their way home through downtown Naperville.
Julie Kulak, her husband, Kevin, and their 10-year-old son Ben stopped for an ice cream treat, then continued east toward the North Central College campus. They had just witnessed Ben's older brother, Jacek, receive his high school diploma at the Naperville Central High School graduation ceremony.
While Jacek joined his friends to celebrate the end of their high school careers, the remaining family members walked through the haze, ambling away from the well-lit thoroughfares, shops and restaurants and into a darkness illuminated by the occasional street lamp.
Turning down Loomis Street, Kulak saw the scene through a photographer's vantage point. Reaching for her iPhone, she caught the image of her son and husband navigating a quiet street.
The photo is the June winner of the Daily Herald's Photo Finish Contest.
"Nice moody photo," said Daily Herald DuPage Photo Director Bev Horne. "The two people silhouetted make it interesting."
Kulak will receive a $50 gift certificate to PJ's Camera in Glen Ellyn for her winning entry.
She said she decided to submit this photo because of the way it conjures emotion.
"I really like the way the light was shining through the fog. I thought it was kind of an eerie feeling," she said.
As a scientific natural illustrator who creates drawings of insects, animals and plants for commercial products, magazines and websites, she said she often photographs nature for her work.
"I'm used to taking pictures for reference. I'll use my photographs to guide my drawings," she said.
Though she has a collection of cameras she uses for special purposes, on that graduation night she had only her cellphone.
"They're very convenient. And they're taking better and better photos," she said.
Kulak said she shoots photos whenever she stumbles upon a vista worth preserving.
"For me, it's finding something interesting wherever I am," she said. "Most of my pictures aren't of people. Most are of objects, buildings and places."
She said the family is planning a trip this summer to visit extended family in a heavily forested part of northeastern Pennsylvania.
"It's really swampy on our property. I grew up there and we had a family farm," she said.
There, she said, she plans to photograph summer's bountiful life.
"I like the animals - lots of salamanders, slugs and snails," she said.
About our contest
If you'd like to submit a photo, email it in .jpg format with at least 300 dpi resolution to dupagecontest@dailyherald.com. Be sure to include your name, address and a phone number, plus a description of where you took the photo and why you like it. The monthly winner will receive a $50 gift certificate from PJ's Camera, Pickwick Place Plaza, 662 Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn.