Images: Photo Contest Finalists
A giraffe reaches down to sneak a bite of romaine lettuce at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona.
Joan Farrell of Island Lake
Two newly hatched birds lay next to their mother last week in a hanging plant basket in Grayslake.
Luke Nozicka of Grayslake
A young lady walks past the large painted-mouth artwork at Oak Street Beach in Chicago.
Deb Marak of Arlington Heights
Goalkeeper Trevor Share focuses on the ball as it heads his way during a recent soccer game.
Fred Share of Arlington Heights
Wild horses run over a ridge at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, South Dakota on May 8.
Roy Lobenhofer of Mount Prospect
While driving through the Yorktown Battlefield site in Virginia, we passed a shallow creek. These swans were preening their feathers while standing in that creek. Their reflected image makes this picture interesting to me.
Nancy Hoskins of Hampshire
We were trying to do a creative photo for Father's Day and I caught my kids (Ryan, Haley and Eddie) just at the right moment. Just a tender sweet moment looking over the pond at Burnidge Forest Preserve.
Ashley Kowalczyk of Gilberts
This was taken last Saturday at Jelkie Creek. I found this fisherman casting one last line and seeming to enjoy the golden sunset.
Allison M. Kramer of Carpentersville
This shot was taken at 1:30 in the morning in London, as my daughter and I were walking back from Piccadilly Circus. The backlit alleyway and leading lines caught my attention. Without a tripod, I snapped this image. I really like how the eye is drawn into the alley with very moody light.
Larry Pearlman of Naperville
A damselfly captured a flying insect and sat on a leaf devouring it. I used a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to photograph it as it chomped on its meal. The wings and legs of the other insect can be seen dangling from the damselfly's mouth.
Angela Cichosz of Carol Stream
I took this photo yesterday on a trip to Aurora University, my graduate school. I brought my camera and used a wide-angle lens to capture the sun peering through the branches of a campus tree after a rainstorm. I zoomed the lens while taking the photo to capture a blur motion. I also added edge blur effects in post processing to give it a "dreamlike" quality.
Angela Cichosz of Carol Stream
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