First Place, Portrait/Personality - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerWindows and walls separate Dontez Taylor from the sun as often as is practical. Taylor, 27, has xeroderma pigmentosum, a very rare genetic disorder that makes even the slightest exposure to the sun deadly.
Second Place, Portrait/Personality - Eric Albrecht / The Columbus DispatchDespite his age Herb Penic 88 of Herb's Happy Hens still rises each day to collect eggs for sale on the honor system at his farm.
Third Place, Portrait/Personality - Scott Shaw / The Plain DealerLarry Leckrone preaches at the Sharon Center Holiness Camp Meeting on a Sunday night in late June. Leckrone, a Church of the Nazarene evangelist, spends 44 weeks a year on the road, usually traveling in a bus with his wife, Tamla.
Award of Excellence, Portrait/Personality - Jeremy Wadsworth / The BladePretzel Koliner, of Westland, Mich, prepares to celebrate the New Year by jumping into the Maumee River, Jan, 1, 2008 in Waterville, Ohio.
Award of Excellence, Portrait/Personality - Abigail Bobrow / Sandusky RegisterJackson Junior High School eighth-grader Keegan Russell adjusts his tie in the mirror. He is part of the Gentlemen's Club, which works with boys on etiquette, grooming and positive behavior. Russell, like the other boys in the group, had never tied a tie before.
