It's your turn to get behind the camera

A note to our readers:

The Daily Herald customarily sends photographers to cover the suburban teams that make the state finals. We run the photos in our paper, we compose slide shows for our Web site and we offer the photos for sale to parents, school yearbooks and others who request them.

We believe this is the best way to cover what has become a significant event in the lives of many high schoolers and their families.

We are sending photojournalists to this weekend's wrestling and gymnastics state finals as well. However, an ongoing dispute between the Illinois High School Association and some Illinois newspapers that cover its athletics and other events might result in our journalist being refused access to shoot the competition.

The dispute involves newly enforced IHSA restrictions on how media can use the images taken at state events -- specifically, whether we can sell them -- and whether the IHSA can and should limit the access photojournalists have at those events. The IHSA has contracted out exclusive rights to photograph events to one company.

To ensure we can chronicle this weekend's competition in the event that our staffer is denied access, we are asking for your help. We'd like parents and students and student journalists who are at the wrestling and gymnastics finals to e-mail us jpgs of your best photos of our suburban teams in competition Friday and Saturday for possible publication.

E-mail them to feedback@dailyherald.com anytime after noon on Friday.

Please include your name and a telephone number, as well as the name of the team in the photo and where it finished in the finals.

The IHSA's recent enforcement of these restrictions meant that at last fall's high school football finals, our photojournalist was denied access to the football field itself.

The Illinois Press Association has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the IHSA's restrictions. A Chicago legislator also has filed a proposal that attempts to ensure media access to IHSA events.