Winning images of our weekly photo contest

While sitting on the porch of the Game Lodge in Custer State Park in South Dakota this bison walked onto the lawn and used the hydrant to scratch his head. He then went next door to check out park personal setting up an outdoor wedding. Must not have been interesting because he just continued walking up the road. Milton Hoskins of Hampshire

A bee covered in pollen approaches another flower. Matt Dempsey of Mount Prospect

An interesting alignment of lights and traffic cones accentuate the rise of a bridge in Connecticut in October, 2015. Fred Gruber of Streamwood

A St. Louis Cardinal's baserunner slides home ahead of the tag of Chicago Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras during the game at Wrigley Field on June 22. John Wysocki of Mount Prospect

When my wife and I were at The St. Charles Fine Art Show this past spring, I could not help but notice the Municipal Center Building with "Old Glory" flying in the breeze. Built 76 years ago, the Streamline Moderne, (aka Art Moderne), architecture design type was just a beautiful site to behold. I was fortunate to have the clouds in the background for this shot. "Tone mapping" the image brought out more detail of the historic building. (FYI: per Wikipedia, it was the first permanent building to exclusively use Fluorescent tube lighting!) Randy Link of Winfield

A bee lands on a sunflower in Lake Zurich last month. Joan Farrell of Island Lake

This photo was taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The water lilies were in full bloom when I went there. I love the variety of colors the water lilies have. I am especially partial to the purple water lilies, as they are more striking in color. I made the green brown leaves next to the flower in B/W, so the flower would not compete with the color the leaves were. Emil Schiavo of Itasca

A view of the mountain range in Glacier Bay, Alaska as cruise ships pass by. Laurel Karolczak of Mundelein

A friend and I attended the Cantigny Car Show in Wheaton, Illinois, this past September. One of the many cars that caught our attention, was this large 1958 Lincoln Continental, aptly nicknamed the "TITANIC" on its license plate. A low viewpoint, using a wide-angle lens, helped accentuate the car's big lights, grill, and bumper. Mike Weimer of St. Charles

A road travels through Hastings Lake Forest Preserve near the west end of the lake on September 13th. John Knol of Lindenhurst

Photograph from Garnish Island, Ireland on August 2016. Maggie Newlin of Naperville

When arriving home late Sunday, September 25, we were hit by a heavy pop-up rainstorm while the sun was shining. The conditions created a reflection of the barn in the puddles of rain and created a glorious rainbow above the barn on our farm. Pat Hartmann of Elgin