Two Antioch women win blizzard photo contest

Kelly McIlhany of Antioch just earned her degree in photography and journalism from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Now she has something new to add to her portfolio: a winning photo of her dog playing in the snow in the Daily Herald's Winter Wonderland Photo Contest. The contest was conducted on the Daily Herald's website, dailyherald.com.

The winning photo features her 11-year-old yellow lab, Abby, bounding through the high snow mounds in McIlhany's backyard with a stick in her mouth.

“We were outside cleaning up and playing a little bit, too, when I snapped it,” says McIlhany, 23. “She just loves to play in the snow.”

The photograph earned the most votes in the online contest — out of 584 photos submitted — and as consequence, McIlhany and a friend of her choice won a trip to Mexico, courtesy of FunJet.

“I've loved photography since first taking it sophomore year in high school,” McIlhany says. “I just like being able to tell stories through images.”

By contrast, Dorothy Collings of Antioch had no idea she was entering a contest when she cast her vote.

The suburban accountant thought she'd support a young woman from her church who had submitted a photo — McIlhany, as it turns out — and now Collings is planning a trip to Mexico, as well.

She was selected at random as the online voter who also won a FunJet Mexican vacation for two. More than 15,000 votes were cast.

“We're so excited; it's been a really rough year,” Collings said. “I just went on there to support her and see what the blizzard pictures were all about. I didn't even know I was in a contest.”

Collings says she and her husband, Frank, got their passports earlier this year, with their two children headed out on international mission trips.

“Now we have somewhere of our own to go,” she adds. “What a blessing.”

Bob Jacobson of Homer Glen won honorable mention in the photo contest for his image of his 3-year-old Newfoundland, Mulligan, with a snowball in his mouth.

“I was shoveling the patio and just tossed it to him,” says Jacobson, who works as a business agent with the Carpenters' Union. “I knew it was probably freezing his tongue, but he wouldn't put it down.”

This was the first photo contest for Jacobson, who says Mulligan and his littermate, Lucy, are his favorite subjects.

“They don't photograph very well,” Jacobson says. “Since they're all black, it's really hard to get good photos of them. This one worked, I think, because there was just enough light to see his features.”

Patty Pazin of Elburn also earned an honorable mention for her photo of her husband, Barry, and daughters Julia and Erin in their backyard, sitting in their bathing suits in front of what would have been their pool, had it not been covered with snow.

“It was my daughter's idea,” Pazin says. “She convinced her dad and younger sister to put on their suits.

“She thought, ‘Who knows when we're going to have our next blizzard?”