FOLEY, Ala. — For Pensacola native John Hill, searching for a number in the phonebook will soon take on new meaning, as the upcoming edition will feature his photograph of a walkway to the beach on the cover for everyone in Baldwin County to see.

No stranger to photography competitions, Hill has won 48 awards in the Kodak International Snapshot competition, but this award holds special meaning.

“I’ve entered this contest the last three years,” Hill said. “I’ve always made it to the finals or the top five, but never won. So it’s great to finally win. It’s great to be on the cover of such a major publication.”

Having grown up in the area, and favoring nature landscapes, the photo of the walkway to the jetties was a natural choice.

“I enjoy going to the jetties,” he said. “The state park is so beautiful. Beach access is so difficult now with all the development. I liked the composition of the jetty photo. Also it was a sunny day and the clouds added a nice touch, plus there were no people in the shot, which I think made this photo work better.”

According to Sheila O’Leary, Director of Yellow Pages, Hill’s photo was selected out of the 75 entrants, not only for its composition, but also for how well it fit with the area and the book itself.

“We took a look at composition, focal point and how busy the photo was,” she said. “We had a template of the cover made up and plugged the different photos into it to see how they fit. We looked at how the colors fit with the template and how his photo typified the area. We felt like his photo is what you would think of or imagine if you were thinking about the greater Baldwin area.”

Hill’s interest in photography began in college when he realized that the only thing that actually did interest him was photography; causing him “to get lost in the darkroom for hours,” despite his other course obligations.

Years later, still practicing photography as a sometime hobby, Hill suffered a neck injury that would limit him physically in his future career.

“[The injury] was a blessing in a way. I woke up one day and just decided to do it,” Hill said. “I’d do photography, not as a hobby, but as my career.”

And he did.

Hill began taking family portraits to get by and submitting photos to local media outlets. Later, he entered the area’s biggest photography competition the "Wide Angle Photo Club, The Power of Photography Show,” just to see how he might stack up next to other photographers. Much to his surprise, he took best in show.

Seeing his skill met his passion, he returned to college to take photography classes and was published in several major publications including Gulf Coast Newspapers’ Onlooker and Ledger.

Hill got the news of win in an e-mail from Gulf Publishing’s Phil Colquette. The subject line: “Where should I send the check?”

What does Hill plan to do with the winnings?

“New camera equipment of course,” he said.