Daily Herald photo contest winners for February 2026

Posted March 26, 2026 8:32 am

Daily Herald report

Ascending to the top spot this month is Randy Chapman’s delightful photo, taken during a trip to the Immaculate Conception sanctuary in Santiago, Chile. The South Elgin resident writes, “My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this interaction with school kids in Santiago, Chile. ... Even though we didn’t speak the same language, we continued to ‘communicate’ with peace signs, thumbs up, ‘six/seven,’ and taking pictures of each other.”

FIRST PLACE: While taking a funicular to the top of San Cristóbal Hill in Santiago, Chile, local students communicate with two South Elgin tourists using universal hand gestures. Randy Chapman of South Elgin

Mike Krzywosz captures second place with his photo of the exhaust plume of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launching Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Tempe, Arizona, at sunset on Monday, Feb. 14. The Lisle resident writes, “It looked more like a comet tail than an airplane contrail.”

SECOND PLACE: A photo of an expanding exhaust plume trailing through the sky, visible from Papago Park in Tempe, Arizona, at sunset on Feb. 14, 2026. Mike Krzywosz of Lisle

Len Laughland’s photo of Chinstrap penguins traversing a stony and icy landscape takes third place. The rocky outcrops along the Danco Coast on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula are home to colonies of Chinstrap penguins. The Arlington Heights resident writes, “The penguins are somehow prominent despite the backdrop’s vastness, eliciting a sense of otherworldliness.”

THIRD PLACE: Two Chinstrap penguins climb a rocky outcrop located in Orne Harbor, Antarctica, on Jan. 13, 2026. Len Laughland of Arlington Heights

Robert Warren iced the fourth spot with this serene photo of a Tundra swan making a stop at Lake Zurich in January. The Lake Zurich resident writes, “Tundra swans nest in the arctic and winter on the East Coast. It is unusual to sight these swans at this time of year in the Midwest.”

FOURTH PLACE: A Tundra swan, also known as whistling swan, swims by two drake mallards on the ice at Lake Zurich in January. Robert Warren of Lake Zurich

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.