Illinois’ Casey Berner And Texas’ Justin Tijerina Win The Canon U.S.A. And Pro Football Hall Of Fame’s "Why Do You Love Football?" Photo Challenge

NFL Youth Education Town Initiative (NFL YETs) Receive $150,000 Product Donation in Honor of All Photos Submitted

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., After reviewing more than 10,000 entries, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today announced that Casey Berner, 19, of Illinois and Justin Tijerina, 15, of Texas have been named the winners of the Adult and Teen Divisions of the Canon U.S.A. and Pro Football Hall of Fame “Why Do You Love Football?” photo challenge, respectively. Each has won a trip for four to attend Super Bowl XLIV in South Florida along with a trip for four to the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival n August, where their winning photos will be on display in the Hall of Fame.

The winning photo submitted by Berner, called “Impact,” was taken just as two high school football players collided in mid-air. When Berner took the photo, he knew it was a good one and immediately e-mailed it to his dad. Berner is currently a freshman at the University of Missouri, studying photojournalism.

To capture the photo entitled “Luke Catch,” Tijerina recalled focusing on #3 as he ran down the field. “It was hard to hold my shutter button finger back from taking the shot because I was afraid I would miss him catching the ball,” said Tijerina. “Once I took it, I knew it had to be good.”

“This photo contest continues to be an important part of Canon’s association with the National Football League,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. “The quality of photographs we receive year after year continues to impress. We’re proud that in honor of this year’s submissions, Canon is supporting the NFL YETs and their after school programs as part of our continued efforts toward educating young people by exposing them to photography.”

Located in Super Bowl host cities as lasting legacies of the game, NFL Youth Education Towns (NFL YETs) are education and recreation centers committed to making a positive, lasting difference in the lives of children. This year, in honor of all photos submitted into the contest, Canon donated $150,000 worth of products, including EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Cameras, PIXMA MP560 Wireless Photo All-In-One Printers and VIXIA High Definition Camcorders*, while also educating and inspiring NFL YET staff and students in the art of photography and digital imaging.

In its fifth year, the nationwide photo contest awards one Grand Prize winner from each division, Adult and Teen. Football and photography fans had the opportunity to capture the passion and excitement of youth football and submit photos in two categories, “Action” and “Feature.”

The judging panel for this year’s contest included former NFL quarterback Archie Manning along with some of the world’s top sports photographers and editors including Peter Read Miller from Sports Illustrated, freelance photographer Dave Drapkin, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo editor Stella Kramer, New York Times sports photo editor Brad Smith and Tony Tomsic, a freelance sports photographer who has shot every Super Bowl to-date.

The other finalists in the 2009 adult division included: Glen Brown, Md. Erik Brummerstedt, Ohio; James Haskins, Va.; Eric Smith, Texas; Steve Patterson, Texas; Mark Synowiec, Ill.; Jason Elledge, Vt.; Lacey Bruso, Colo.; Rob Johnson, Iowa; John Walthier, Colo.; Debbie Beiter, N.Y.; Bryce Smith, N.Y.; Cindy Kennedy, Mississippi.

The other finalists in the 2009 teen division included Alexis Hill, Ohio; Austin Phillips, Kansas; Elijah Kihlstadius, Minn.; Chadd Cady, Calif.; Nam-my Le, Texas; Emily de Santos, Texas; Matt Brown, Tenn.; Sofia Jaramillo, Idaho; Jessica Brown, Ga.; Thomas Peres, Texas; Daniel Monzon-Kahze, Texas; Peter Mounteer, Calif.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked fourth overall in the U.S. in 2009†, with global revenues of US $35 billion, is listed as number four in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2009 list, and is on the 2009 BusinessWeek list of “100 Best Global Brands.” Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

# # #

† Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office

*Based on estimated retail value of products donated.

(© 2010 NFL Properties LLC. All NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League.)