Photographer of the Year
Christopher Tomlinson / Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Christopher Tomlinson's favorite photograph is of a sunset. But it's not his favorite because of the glowing-ember color, backlit shreds of clouds or anything else that's in the picture.

He was 12 or 13 when he snapped the sunset photo after a disappointing earlier attempt.

"I heard about these things called filters," said Tomlinson. "So I punched out the lenses of sunglasses and taped one on the front. It worked."

Resourcefulness has been the hallmark of Tomlinson's 15-year photography career with the Daily Sentinel. He worked his way out of the advertising department and into the newsroom, and has been chief photographer for nine years.

He had tried other lines of work, but he found himself pulled back to photography, which had been an early success in contrast to the frustrations of school. Years later he would find out he is dyslexic and has attention deficit disorder.

"The normal school routine I just never got," Tomlinson said. "But the one thing I seemed to have a knack for as a little kid was photography. I picked a profession that couldn't be any better. I kind of educated myself in photography."

The Baltimore native moved to Grand Junction 20 years ago because of the lure of the "Western lifestyle and the beautiful photographic opportunities that the Rocky Mountains and the desert areas provided."

Photographs of his weekend hikes, camp-outs and rock-climbing expeditions often end up in the pages of the newspaper.

And it's not just the outdoors that Tomlinson finds conducive to his career. "I just like working for a little bit smaller paper," he said. "I like the fact that you're not just pitched into one thing. I can cover a little bit of everything, and we cover such a large area.

"It's given me a chance to do things. I've been blessed by the pope, covered a couple of Super Bowls, went skiing with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.

"I just really enjoy this job. As chief photographer, I've fought to keep this a shooting position where I'm still out chasing pictures.

"I'm by nature just a nosy person, a curious person. It's a legitimate excuse to stop and say 'What's going on here?'"