Images: Photo Contest Finalists

The saguaro cactus stand tall along the edge of a mountain in Tucson Mountain Park as the sky was ablaze in Tuscon, Arizona on November 14. Nancy Giardina of Libertyville

A mallard duck dances the Macarena dance at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. Fred Share of Arlington Heights

A gull squawks on Bowman Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida on November 4 surrounded by a group of other gulls. Lin Hartnett of Rolling Meadows

Autumn reflection on October 19 in Palm Book State Park in Manistique, Michigan. John Sanfillippo of Hoffman Estates

The sun sets across the grounds of the Fairmont Orchid Hotel along the Kailua-Kona coast of the big island of Hawaii last October. Gretchen Kati of Gurnee

At the fountain near the entrance to Navy Pier, a young girl takes a break from the August heat this past summer. Lynne Solway of Buffalo Grove

The Great Smoky Mountains live up to their name in this picture. The sky was perfect for this photo in the way it seemed to blend into the most distant peaks. Brian Wallace of West Chicago

This photo is of Devils Tower in Northeast Wyoming. The Indians considered this a holy place, which if you're standing at the foot of it, you can understand. Garth Keck of Winfield

Portland Head Light in Portland, Maine is beautiful anytime, but especially at sunrise. This photograph was taken there this year in October. Sandra Wittman of Carpentersville

This photo was taken in the early morning as snow flurries were falling. I took this snowflake macro photo on the hood of a metallic green car. I used a specialty macro lens and macro ring light setup to reach a magnification of about 3x life size. I hunted for the perfect snowflake on the car hood and located this one. The flurries are the best kind to photograph because they are scarce, easy to spot, and do not melt right away or clump to other flakes. Angela Cichosz of Carol Stream

With the recent cold temperatures in the area, the water in our rock fountain started to freeze a bit. I thought this close up picture of some of the surrounding rocks along with the fall leaves that are under the ice, made an interesting picture. Paulette Novalinski of Carpentersville

A macro lens can reveal hidden worlds. This photo shows the inside of a colorful Oriental Lily taken by soft window light in our living room. Mike Weimer of St. Charles