The Smithsonian have announced the photo contest finalists for 2014 and the entries are nothing short of breathtaking. Take a look and tell us who you think deserves to take 1st place.
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.
1. 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)
2. 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)
3. Vo Anh Kiet – Finalist – Travel
Terraced fields during harvest season. (Mu Cang Chay, Vietnam, September 2012, Canon 5D Mark II)
4. Aung Pyae Soe – Finalist – Travel
A fisherman on Inle Lake. (Inle Lake, Myanmar, November 2013, Canon EOS 1DX)
5. Nicolas Reusens – Finalist – Altered Images
A red-eyed tree frog underwater. (El Arenal, Costa Rica, March 2013, Canon 5D Mark III)
6. 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)
7. Simon Morris – Finalist – People
An eagle hunter on a steppe in Mongolia rests with his Golden Eagle. (Mongolia, February 2013, Nikon D700)
8. 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)
9. Aspen Wang – Finalist – Natural World
Penguins on Ice. “Although my photo hardly does justice to describing the tenuous balance in Antarctica’s ecosystem, it has served to crystallize in my memory one of the last stretches of untamed and inarticulate lands on earth,” says Wang. (Antarctica, December 29, 2010, Canon PowerShot SX1 IS)
10. Stefano Coltelli – Finalist – Travel
Neist Point Lighthouse at dusk. (Isle of Skye, United Kingdom, October 2011, Nikon D600)
11. 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)
12. 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)
13. Porus Khareghat – Finalist – Travel
Sun painting a monastery and the surrounding Ladakh landscape. (Ladakh, India, July 2013, Canon 5D Mark II)
14. José De Rocco – Finalist – Natural World
Snails in Argentina. (Pinamar, Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 2012, Canon EOS 5D)
15. Matthew Zheng – Finalist – Travel
“Navajo Bridge” is an image overlooking the Colorado River’s Marble Canyon. (Page, Arizona, August 2012, Canon 5D Mark II)
16. Richard Masters – Finalist – Natural World
“Absolute Head Scratcher” is an image of a blue macaw. (Quebec City, Canada, July 2012, Canon EOS 60D)
17. Peter Zajfrid – Finalist – Altered Images
Coming Over, shows a cold morning sunrise on Pohorje Hills. (Smartno, Slovenia, December 2012)
18. Nguyen Bao Son – Finalist – People
While taking this image in rural Vietnam, the wind was so strong it knocked over Bao Son. After quickly standing up, Bao Son made this image.
(Phan Rang-Thap Cham, Ninh Thuan, Vietnam, November 2011, Canon 4000D)
19. 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)
20. 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)
21. John Gamble – Finalist – Mobile
Meeting face to face with a snow monkey, Gamble says he was able to get within a foot of this Japanese macaque at the Jigokudani Monkey Park. (Nagano, Japan, December 2012, iPhone 5)
If you wish to vote for one of these photo contest finalists then pop over to the Smithsonian site here or you can just tell us who your favorite is in the comments below.
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