Plano teen wins first place award in state photo contest, on display at Illinois State Fair

Plano 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 state treasurer’s website.

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 in the first place.

“I always tell him that you never know unless you try,” Elisa Silva said.

This was the first time the family had been to the Illinois State Fair.

“I fell in love with the people,” Elisa Silva said. “The people were very friendly.”

Students were allowed to submit up to two photos in the contest and a panel of judges selected the winning entries. The judges were Mary Morgan, principal asset quality & assurance officer at Compeer Financial; Scott Rhoads, regional president of Carrollton Bank; Gary Mueller, vice president of Havana National Bank and Riley Wells, associate director of Illinois Foundation FFA.

The contest consisted of three age groups – ages 8-10, 11-14 and 15-18. Top winners were awarded Bright Start scholarships, with first-place winners in each age category receiving $1,000, second-place winners receiving $500 and third-place winners receiving $250.

Frerichs administers the Bright Start college savings plan, which helps families save and invest for college, a vocational program, a trade school or an apprenticeship. The winning entries are also featured in the 2024-2025 Ag Invest calendar.

Photography has become a hobby for Silva. He saved up enough money to buy a Canon camera with a telephoto zoom lens.

When he is not taking photos, Silva is on the high school soccer team and plays the saxophone in the school band.

Silva plans to enter the contest again next year.

“I have a few ideas as far as what I could do,” he said.