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.