CHARLOTTE — For photographers, just like football players and coaches, the goal is to push yourself to be the best, to bring it at all the right times.
And two of the Panthers' team photographers just received one of the highest awards in their industry from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in their annual photo contest on Tuesday.
Manager of photography Andrew Stein earned a third place in the feature category for his pregame shot of defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and corner Jaycee Horn, "locked in" during the moments before kickoff.
Zach Tarrant, the team's new art director, picked up a second place in the feature category for a shot he took during last year's Texans-Seahawks game. That gives the Panthers two of the six winners in the nationwide contest, and only one of the others to place worked for a team (the others worked as freelancers or for national services).
Stein's shot of Evero and Horn came from a moment right after the national anthem, when the defensive coordinator and Pro Bowl cornerback were going over last-minute cues.
"I mean, it's right before the game," Horn said Tuesday. "It's an honorable moment. You've got to lock in and get ready, get ready to go to work."
Evero said that in those moments, they're going through "last-second adjustments," when he and Horn are fine-tuning a week's worth of preparation.
"He's got a good way about him in those moments," the veteran coordinator said of Horn. "Even when he comes off the field to the sideline in between series or even before the game, he's able to emotionally detach and get back to like, all right, calm down, let me take in information. What do I need to do? And then you can go turn back up, right?"
Having a moment like that on the sidelines is rare in an emotional sport, and Horn is unique in his ability to shift gears. Evero joked that when he was with the Rams, he often let defensive pass game coordinator Jonathan Cooley do the talking to star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who burned hot.
Horn also has a way of turning up in great photos, such as one of Stein's other entries in the contest, a one-handed snag of an interception in Jacksonville.
"I had no idea what it looked like at the time; it happened so fast," Horn said. "When I see the picture of it now, the actual play, I'm thinking it's pretty cool.
"When I saw this one, I was thinking about the Fatheads they used to have back in the day. I thought that would be the perfect picture to put on the wall."
We know a guy Jaycee. We can make that happen.
"That's what's up," Horn said. "Tell Stein I said congrats."
For his part, Stein's far more used to the picture rather than the thousand words, and shrugged when he was asked about the craft of taking an award-winning shot like the one of of Evero and Horn.
"Try not to get in the way," he said of the key in those moments. "You want to be a fly on the wall, you want to pay the correct amount of respect to what's happening."
When asked if he realized he had taken one of the photos of the year in that moment, he said the job requires you to keep moving forward and hope for the best when you edit later.
"You're saying, I hope I got that," Stein said. "You don't want to spend too much time trying to figure out whether you got it or not, because you can do that later. And you don't want to miss the next thing that's happening.
"So it's like, I hope I got that, and make a mental note. And then move on to the next thing that's hopefully happening."
And there's always something happening, whether it's game action, practice, all the other shoots that come with the job — or the after-hours decision to shoot a rare appearance of an aurora over Bank of America Stadium last fall (we don't get the Northern Lights this far South very often, so he and senior director/head of creative Alex Herko raced to the stadium at 9 p.m. on a regular season weeknight, and stayed past 1 a.m. in their effort to get the shot).
Tarrant has either placed or been named honorable mention seven times in the Hall of Fame contest during his time with the Texans, before he joined our staff in February.
And that kind of commitment to adding talent (along with new team photographer Sarah Boeke and photo intern Cassie Baker) and bringing those kinds of moments to our fans is the point. By bringing Stein and Tarrant here since joining the team, Herko has emphasized raising the level of talent on the roster the same way the team has.
And awards like Tuesday's validate that effort.
"The fact is, we're not shy about being competitive," Herko said. "We work in sports because we are competitive and don't mince words about trying to produce our best work, work that not only outdoes the work we did the week before, but outdoes our counterparts at other teams. There's a clear expectation for every creative role we have to be relentlessly competitive and aim to outdo their comparable positions on other teams to help contribute to being best-in-class.
"We take the work seriously and want to highlight the team on the field and the organization in a championship-caliber fashion, and that doesn't happen without each member of our staff being intrinsically motivated to be great. Work like this that is being honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a reflection of that mentality."
Take a look at some of the best shots of Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.
The Carolina Panthers take on the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 12, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by Helen McGinnis/Carolina Panthers)
The Carolina Panthers take on the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 12, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by Laura Wolff/Carolina Panthers)
The Carolina Panthers face the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
The Carolina Panthers face the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
The Carolina Panthers face the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI.
The Carolina Panthers face the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI.
The Carolina Panthers face the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI.
The Carolina Panthers face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025 at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers take on the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 9, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in New Orleans, LA.
The Carolina Panthers face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in New Orleans, LA.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers take on the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by Helen McGinnis/Carolina Panthers)
The Carolina Panthers take on the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 28, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. (Photo by Helen McGinnis/Carolina Panthers)
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL
The Carolina Panthers face the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
The Carolina Panthers face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
