teen Adan Silva knows all about the beauty in planting. His family has a garden in their backyard and one of the plants in the garden is featured in his award-winning photo, “The Beauty in Planting,” on display at the Illinois State Fair. “The Beauty in Planting” won first place in the 15-18 age bracket in the state treasurer’s Cream of the Crop photo contest, an annual photography competition that showcases Illinois agriculture.
The winning photographs are on display during the Illinois State Fair in the treasurer’s tent. The fair runs through Aug. 18.
Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs invited the first-place winners to an Aug. 9 reception on Agriculture Day at the State Fair. “The students showed amazing creativity and talent with these photos,” Frerichs said in announcing the winners.
“The images beautifully capture the wonderful diversity of Illinois agriculture.” The winning photos can be found on the . The 16-year-old Silva, who is entering his junior year at Plano High School, was happy with the photo he took.
But he wasn’t thinking about taking the top prize. “I was pretty confident that I took a great photo,” he said. “I didn’t go in with the expectation that I was going to win first place.
” The hands that are around the plant in the photo are those of his younger sister, Loreli. “It was her idea to get her hands dirty,” said their mother, Elisa. She is proud of her son’s efforts and that he decided to enter the contest i.