As another high school sports season comes to a close it begins another round of the semi-annual Players of Year stories. I love getting a chance to meet these kids to who I have often shot killing it on their respective fields of play for the past few months in person.
Most are incredibly humble and a lot of fun to work with and Jill D'Amico of Naperville Central was no exception.
This is the first of many that I will share with you all here so stay tuned!
Another reason these shoots are so fun is seeing the entourage that comes with these kids. Jill's parents came out to watch the shoot and thankfully they did because her dad was the one tossing the ball for her to "save". As we switched gears for the head shot he seized the chance to snap his own frame despite the, "...sigh...really Dad," I heard from Jill.
Steve Buyansky is the photo editor for the Sun-Times Media West Group which includes The Beacon-News, The Courier-News and the Naperville Sun. He started as a photographer for the Beacon-News in 1983, became photo editor for The Herald-News in Joliet in 2000 and moved to the Sun-Times Media West office in 2009. He has a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Columbia College in Chicago.
A native of the western suburbs, Brian Powers attended both the College of
DuPage and Western Kentucky University for Photography and is continuing his
education at the University of The Aurora Beacon News. His professors
continue to push him (See Marianne Mather), but he considers himself one of
the lucky few who loves going to work everyday....well, ok, most days.
Michael Smart has been a photographer at The Courier-News/Sun-Times Media for over ten years. Smart grew up in Elgin before heading West to pursue adventures in photography and zoology, earning a bachelor’s degree in both fields. Upon returning to Elgin, he decided to pursue his true passion of photojournalism.
Two thumbs up.