Daily Herald photo contest winners for November 2025
The top finishers in November’s amateur photo contest reflect the changing of the seasons, transitioning from the vivid colors of fall to the icy landscapes of winter.
Mike Nielsen of Lisle takes first place in the contest with this unique self-portrait he captured in the woods after a snowfall. He writes, “I saw this Christmas ornament on a tree in Greene Valley Forest Preserve, and I saw myself in the ornament. Very cool!”
The colors of autumn and a bright blue sky added interest to Deborah Gaden’s cityscape photo, which took second place. “This was a beautiful brisk day to take a walk at the Chicago Riverwalk,” the Mount Prospect resident writes. “I loved the touch of the fall leaves on the tree and the reflection of the clouds and other buildings in the windows. The city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs have always been a place I call home.”
In third place are David and Jill Scarpino of Pingree Grove with a stunning shot of one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe. “This photo of Mount Etna in Sicily was taken at sunrise with an iPhone 16 Pro Max,” they write. “I like the way the sunrise makes the bricks of the building in the foreground seem to glow reddish gold. Also like the way the smoke from Mount Etna trails off in the breeze.”
Chipmunks and squirrels are active in fall, but Stacey Van Zeyl of Third Lake was able to get a close-up of one sitting still at Nippersink Forest Preserve in Round Lake. “This chipmunk just stayed at the bottom of the tree for several minutes waiting to see if I was going to move, then scurried away under the leaves,” she writes of her photo, which takes fourth place in this month’s contest.
Contest rules
The Daily Herald invites readers to submit their own photos to our “Your Images” amateur photo contest.
Once a month, we showcase entries that feature one first-place winner and three runners-up. The contest is open to everyone in the Daily Herald readership area.
• To submit a photo of your own for consideration, email it in .jpg format at highest quality possible to yourimages@dailyherald.com. Please remove any date stamps on the photo.
• Include your name, mailing address and phone number, plus a detailed description of your photo. Remember to include a sentence or two on what you like about it and your hometown.
• One photo a week per photographer, but enter as many weeks as you’d like.
• First-place winners will receive prizes alternating between The Great Frame Up in Schaumburg and PJ’s Camera in Glen Ellyn.