Sports Category Winner

Andrew Weber fell in love with the setting of his winning photograph while shooting a latesummer football game at Lakota High school in Kansas, Ohio. “The light is gorgeous,” says Weber, who regularly returns to the spot for its unobstructed horizons. “I go back for one reason, and that’s to be able to get that sunset in the background of pictures.” The photographer shot this image handheld, lying on the ground to place the players’ full silhouettes against the sky. “I spent probably a good forty minutes trying to get that picture, and I got lucky.”

Luck seems to have little to do with it. A largely self-taught photographer who plans to graduate with a marketing degree, Weber regularly solicits critiques from fellow sports photographers online—and applies the discipline of an athlete to the task of honing his craft. That’s not surprising, since he’s also a kicker for his university’s football team, the Toledo rockets. “I make a game of the photography,” he explains. “The players are on the field trying to make their plays. my game is to try to capture the plays they’re making.”