With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, Renée C. Byer is an award-winning photographer, designer and picture editor.

She has taken honors from the National Press Photographers Association, Society of News Design, Associated Press, and the Best of the West photo and design contest. She has twice been featured in Photo District News magazine for photo stories while working as a staff photographer at The Sacramento Bee. Most recently in the September 2006 Photojournalism issue for her yearlong story "A Mother's Journey." Her series of photographs on biotechnology titled "Seeds of Doubt" won the Harry Chapin Media Award for World Hunger in Photojournalism in 2005. The series also won first place in the Best of Photojournalism contest sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association. In 2005 she was awarded the McClatchy President's Award for her photographs in the "Women at War" series. This was the first time that a Sacramento Bee photojournalist was the sole recipient of the award. Byer has been a staff photographer at The Sacramento Bee since 2003.

Previously she worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where her photography was a finalist for a Dart Award for excellence in reporting on victims of violence. Byer is a long-time newspaper photographer who has worked around the country at a number of top dailies. She recently served on the faculty of the Mountain Workshop for photojournalism sponsored by Western Kentucky University.