Today we celebrate our female photographers for International Women’s Day

For International Women’s Day, we here in the photo department would like to recognize two of the most exceptional photographers to ever grace the front pages of the Knoxville News Sentinel. Caitie McMekin and Brianna Paciorka excel in an industry that is both predominately male and extremely competitive, yet they achieve success with a casual ease that is the envy and consternation to the rest of us in the photo department.

Caitie is a New Jersey native. She graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA and majored in Neuroscience and Communication Arts. Let that be repeated, NEUROSCIENCE! Caitie also competes in triathlons and eats a lot of salads at the office.

Brianna Paciorka is an LSU alum and veteran photojournalist and has worked at the Advocate and Times-Picayune in Louisiana. Thankfully, we convinced her to join us in East Tennessee. Aside from being a heckuva good photographer, she has this uncanny luck of getting extra nuggets at Chick-fil-a.

To showcase some of their great work, the all-male panel of fellow photographers spent an afternoon choosing our favorite photographs. It was a very demoralizing experience.

More:Best staff photos of February

More:News Sentinel photographers share their favorite 2017 photos

Follow the News Sentinel photographers on Facebook and Instagram.