Amateur Photo Challenge winners

Diana Porter, of Houston, TX and Nate Shron of Sudbury, MA have been named the winners of the Adult and Teen Divisions of the Canon and Pro Football Hall of Fame “Why Do You Love Football?” Amateur Photo Challenge. Each won a trip for four to attend Super Bowl XLII in Arizona where their photos were displayed at the NFL Experience. Additionally, both have won a trip for four to the 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Celebration in August.  Their winning photos will also be on display in the museum. This marks the second straight year that Porter won the contest.

"A Shoulder Pad to Cry On"

The nationwide contest featured two entry categories, allowing football and photography fans the opportunity to capture the passion and excitement of youth football by submitting photos of everything from a playful catch in the backyard to any youth, school, or organized football games in both “Action” and “Feature” categories. Photo submissions were accepted online from August 31, 2007 to December 2, 2007.

Porter’s photo, titled, “A Shoulder Pad to Cry On,” was taken just prior to a Katy Youth Football League game in the Pee Wee Patriot division, and depicts Daniel Brents resting his head on the shoulder of fellow second grader Chandler Baskerville after their team lost the coin toss.

With two titles in two years, Canon has retired Porter from the competition but will be using her distinguished eye to help judge next year’s finalists.

“Diana has been entering this contest since we started three years ago and we have seen the improvement in her photos each year,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Consumer Imaging Group for Canon. “As a football parent and amateur photography enthusiast we believe she will add an interesting perspective to next year’s judging panel.”

"Cruising Attitude"

This was the first year that a teen division, for photographers ages 13-18, was part of the contest. Shron’s winning photo, “Cruising Altitude,” was taken during a Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School game, where the 16-year-old is currently a junior, and features Lincoln-Sudbury’s Ryan Sanford going up for a catch. Shron was able to capture Sanford in mid-air catching the football.

“The big surprise this year was in the Teen Division,” Ishizuka continued. “Last year we had many requests from students to allow them to enter and we are glad that we did. The entries were on whole as good as in the adult division and in some cases even better.”

The judging panel included former NFL quarterback Archie Manning along with some of the world’s top sports photographers including Peter Read Miller from Sports Illustrated, Craig Melvin of US Presswire, John Reid III Cleveland Browns Team Photographer, Scott Heckel of The Repository, Canton, Ohio’s daily newspaper and Tony Tomsic, a freelance sports photographer who has shot every Super Bowl to-date. The panel reviewed more than 4,100 entries using the Canon REALiS SX7 projector which comes equipped with the patented optical technology, “AISYS,” to achieve high resolution and a smooth 'film-like' effect.

See the winners of the "Why Do You Love Football?" Amateur Photo Challenge

Winning Adult Photo Gallery  |   Winning Teen Photo Gallery