Smithsonian has just announced the 60 finalists for their 11th Annual Photo Contest.
The winning entries were selected by Smithsonian editors from over 50,000 submissions by photographers from 132 countries around the world.
Ten finalists were selected from the following six categories: The Natural World, Travel, People, Americana, Altered Images and Mobile, a new category this year.
Voting for the Readers’ Choice Winner will be open until May 6, 2014 at 6:00 PM ET, and you can cast your vote once every 24 hours for your favorite. Smithsonian will announce the Readers’ Choice, Grand Prize and six Category winners on May 15, 2014.
To cast your vote and see more, visit Smithsonian.com
Daniel D’Auria
Finalist – Natural World
A coastal brown bear hunts for salmon on Silver Salmon Creek in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. According to D’Auria, “she epitomizes the raw beauty and awesome power of the Alaskan wilderness.” (Lake Clark National Park, Alaska, August 2012, Canon 1D Mark IV)
Kenneth DiLuigi
Finalist – Americana
A wall cloud. “This cell grew exponentially over the next 16 minutes, split twice and spawned three EF4 tornadoes with $67.4 million in damage to residences and crops,” says DiLuigi. (Omaha, Nebraska, July 2, 2012, Canon EOS Rebel T1i)
Vo Anh Kiet
Finalist – Travel
Terraced fields during harvest season. (Mu Cang Chay, Vietnam, September 2012, Canon 5D Mark II)
Aung Pyae Soe
Finalist – Travel
A fisherman on Inle Lake. (Inle Lake, Myanmar, November 2013, Canon EOS 1DX)
Michael Frank
Finalist – Altered Images
Frank says what strikes him most about this image of the abandoned Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church is, “the sense of stillness. A stillness marked by anticipation, not unlike the stillness felt in a theater between acts.” (Detroit, Michigan, October 2013, Canon 7D)
Simon Morris
Finalist – People
An eagle hunter on a steppe in Mongolia rests with his Golden Eagle. (Mongolia, February 2013, Nikon D700)
Yasir Nisar
Finalist – People
A devotee at Mela Chiraghan, an annual Festival of Lights in Pakistan. He was standing in front of a huge fire, casting the orange glow in the background. (Lahore, Pakistan, March 2011, Canon 40D)
Graham McGeorge
Finalist – Natural World
McGeorge spent a quiet 6 hours trying to get the perfect image of this eastern screech owl out of its nest. (Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, April 2013, Canon 1D Mark III)
Stefano Coltelli
Finalist – Travel
Neist Point Lighthouse at dusk. (Isle of Skye, United Kingdom, October 2011, Nikon D600)
Mark Kaplan
Finalist – Americana
Dust swirls around citizens of Black Rock City as they peek into the “Black Rock Bijou Theatre,” an art installation at the 2013 Burning Man festival. (Black Rock City, Nevada, August 2013, Nikon D7100)
Karen Lunney
Finalist – Natural World
During their annual migration, wildebeests are forced to find new river crossings in the Serengeti-Mara region. “The animals were being taken by the unfamiliar currents of deep water and had to struggle to get close to the far bank. There were few rocks on which to land and the initial orderly progression soon became a desperate struggle of clambering,” says Lunney. (Mara River, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, September 2013, Leica M240typ)
Porus Khareghat
Finalist – Travel
Sun painting a monastery and the surrounding Ladakh landscape. (Ladakh, India, July 2013, Canon 5D Mark II)
Matthew Zheng
Finalist – Travel
“Navajo Bridge” is an image overlooking the Colorado River’s Marble Canyon. (Page, Arizona, August 2012, Canon 5D Mark II)
Richard Masters
Finalist – Natural World
“Absolute Head Scratcher” is an image of a blue macaw. (Quebec City, Canada, July 2012, Canon EOS 60D)
Peter Zajfrid
Finalist – Altered Images
Coming Over, shows a cold morning sunrise on Pohorje Hills. (Šmartno, Slovenia, December 2012)
Nguyễn Bảo Sơn
Finalist – People
While taking this image in rural Vietnam, the wind was so strong it knocked over Bảo Sơn. After quickly standing up, Bảo Sơn made this image.
(Phan Rang-Thap Cham, Ninh Thuận, Vietnam, November 2011, Canon 4000D)
Cammie Cooley
Finalist – Mobile
The fog slowly lifts while tour guides in traditional antebellum dress get ready for their tours at Oak Alley Plantation. (Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana, October 27, 2013, iPhone 5)
Michael Faist
Finalist – Americana
Sunrise at Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park. “The barn in the photo is the John Moulton Barn, built by Mormon settlers who arrived in the area in the 1890s. Behind the barn is the Teton mountain range,” says Faist. (Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, June 27, 2013, Nikon D5100)