Photographer and steelworker Tim Huff of Butler holds his photograph, "Heat at Night," which won a recent contest sponsored by United Steel Workers @ Work Magazine.

Tim Huff, a steelworker for more than 30 years, has always carried a camera around with him.

Steelworking is his career.

Photography, he says, is a gift.

The two activities collide in an explosion of orange and yellow sparks, forever captured on a dark background he titled "Heat at Night."

The photograph, which was recently selected as the grand prize winner of a contest sponsored by United Steel Workers @ Work Magazine, was taken more than a decade ago.

"It was dramatic,"Jim McKay, the magazine's editor said about the photograph. "It shows what we are."

The photograph not only pictures a new beginning for the steel, which was undergoing a process called lancing by one of Huff's co-workers at Mult-Serve in Natrona Heights, but also a new beginning for Huff, of Butler.

Having had meningitis as a child, Huff was plagued throughout his life by epilepsy and seizures. Then, doctors performed brain surgery to remove scar tissue from his brain. The seizures stopped, and Huff's life changed.

At 45, he got married.

Now 51, he has a 2½-year-old son named Adam, and another child is expected in December.

And, like his lifestyle, Huff said his photography also has blossomed postsurgery.

Three years ago, he built a photography studio in his home.

"The gift was always there," he said. "But the epilepsy held me back."

Most of Huff's photography is inspired by nature, flora and fauna. But his portfolio is not without a grinning shot of Adam, a blushing bridal party and the aforementioned co-worker at work.

Huff said "Heat at Night," which also has been honored at a show in Saxonburg,was taken before his surgery.

But, he said, he would not have had the courage to enter it in a national competition until after the surgery.

"So many people were praying for me at that time that it changed my life," he said. " Igave my life up to God.