Smithsonian Magazine’s 2013 Photo Contest

Finalist, Americana category. 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. (Photo by Mark Kaplan/Smithsonian.com)


Snails in Argentina. (Photo by Jose De Rocco/Smithsonian.com)

A champion bronco bucks a champion rider at the Helmville Rodeo in Montana. (Photo by Carol Lynne Fowler/Smithsonian.com)

Feeding time on Hettie Belle Farm in Warwick, Massachusetts. (Photo by Abigail Friel/Smithsonian.com)

Finalist, People category. A group of locals playing billiards by Namtso Lake, Tibet. (Photo by Vincent Cheng/Smithsonian.com)

A red-eyed tree frog underwater near El Arenal, Costa Rica. (Photo by Nicolas Reusens/Smithsonian.com)

Overlooking the Colorado River’s Marble Canyon. (Photo by Matthew Zheng/Smithsonian.com)

This is at the “Lienzo El Dorado”, a local Charreria tournament in Tepic, Mexico. “The Charreria is a way of life, not just a sport and the Charros practice all their life in order to be one of the best in the whole nation”. (Photo by Cesar Rodriguez/Smithsonian.com)

After having finished off a springbok, these two cheetah cubs were chasing each other, each wanting to hold on to the “prize”, a piece of skin left over from a kill. Knowing the cubs would follow their mother, Brugger moved his car and was shocked that, “the cubs not only walked straight towards my vehicle, but decided that they would chase each while playing with a piece of Springbok skin”. Photographed in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa. (Photo by Seyms Brugger/Smithsonian.com)

Feng’s son is dwarfed by the looming majesty of a glacier at Fjallsárlón. “I stood there for a while, contemplating and admiring. I wanted to remember that moment forever”, says Feng. Fjallsárlón Glacier, Iceland. (Photo by Candy Feng/Smithsonian.com)

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. (Photo by John Gamble/Smithsonian.com)

The image of a blue arch of a mosque, “was taken in my birthplace which I visited after ten years”, says Khodadadian. Esfahan, Iran. (Photo by Tandis Khodadadian/Smithsonian.com)

To capture a wasp standing on grass, Adiyanto discovered the best time to photograph the insects was around 6 in the morning, just after they woke. Kāʻanapali, Hawaii. (Photo by Eko Adiyanto/Smithsonian.com)

A seagull shortly after takeoff from an unusually placid Bering Sea. Adak Island, Alaska. (Photo by John Matzick/Smithsonian.com)

Sun painting a monastery and the surrounding Ladakh landscape. Ladakh, India. (Photo by Porus Khareghat/Smithsonian.com)

A young monk. Innwa, Myanmar. (Photo by Pyiet Oo Aung/Smithsonian.com)

“Absolute Head Scratcher” is an image of a blue macaw. Quebec City, Canada. (Photo by Richard Masters/Smithsonian.com)

Portrait of a young Suri boy going with his father to take care of the cattle. Ethiopia. (Photo by Sergio Carbajo Rodriguez/Smithsonian.com)

Ricardo Breceda’s sculpture garden. Lee waited for a moonless night to capture the Milky Way, and he light painted the sculptures to “conjure up a sort of 1950s sci-fi movie feel, with two atomic creatures doing battle under the stars”. Borrego Springs, California. (Photo by Ken Lee/Smithsonian.com)

McGeorge spent a quiet 6 hours trying to get the perfect image of this eastern screech owl out of its nest. Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia. (Photo by Graham McGeorge/Smithsonian.com)

Action Hero. As part of a show called “Well of Death”, a biker performs a stunt at a village fair to celebrate Rath Jatra, a Hindu festival. Dhamrai, Bangladesh. (Photo by Nidal Adnan Kibria/Smithsonian.com)

Terraced fields during harvest season. Mu Cang Chay, Vietnam. (Photo by Vo Anh Kiet/Smithsonian.com)

High in the mountains, a group of children play with a homemade soccer ball. Quthing, Lesotho. (Photo by David Lazar/Smithsonian.com)

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. (Photo by Yasir Nisar/Smithsonian.com)

Portrait of a Mentawai, the native people of the Mentawai Islands. They live a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in coastal and rainforest environments. Pulau Siberut, Mentawai Islands, Indonesia. (Photo by Mohd Irman Ismail/Smithsonian.com)

Mourners cover themselves in mud while beating their chests and standing around a fire for warmth during Ashura, a religious commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussein. Khorramabad, Iran. (Photo by Soheil Zandazar/Smithsonian.com)

A beautiful sunrise forms over an amazing set of ancient petroglyphs facing the heavens with the Eastern Sierras in the backdrop. “I have always been fascinated seeing ancient ruins and artwork that tell a story of America’s past”, says Huang. Eastern Sierras, California. (Photo by Willie Huang/Smithsonian.com)

A portrait of my friend, Tasha. Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Michael Hill/Smithsonian.com)

A day in the Japanese Gardens. Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Craig Bill/Smithsonian.com)

“I risked life and phone”, says Wilke of his image of Leeloo at Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach, Oregon. (Photo by Chaz Wilke/Smithsonian.com)