7th Annual Photo Contest Winners and Finalists
See the winning photos from our 2009 contest
In red in Old Havana
Havana, Cuba • Photographed October 2008 Horia Popan
A magical moment at the Haystack Rock
Cannon Beach, Oregon • Photographed May 2009 Andy Bokanev
Traditional pottery making
Mumbai, India • Photographed March 2009 Joshi Daniel
Beekeeper at work
Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada • Photographed April 2009 Julien Robitaille
Post Alley under Pike Place Market in Seattle
Seattle, Washington • Photographed October 2009 Andrew Ellis
Tulum ruins
Tulum, Mexico • Photographed February 2009 Thomas Sikora
Dance
Pozega, Croatia • Photographed June 2009 Zeljko Milakovic
Cloister aisles
Salamanca, Spain • Photographed November 2009 Peter Reitze
Sheep
Salto, Uruguay • Photographed September 2008
Bordagaray was coming home from a photography excursion in Salto, Uruguay, when he spotted a sheep on a hill. “I stopped my car,” he recalls, “grabbed my camera and silently moved toward it, trying not to scare it.” The animal stood in the sunset light long enough for him to take this image, to which he added clouds and contrast. Martin Alejandro Bordagaray
Beachfront casino
Asbury Park, New Jersey • Photographed December 2008 Brian Stern
Cowboy atop his mule in the auction barn
Enterprise, Oregon • Photographed September 2009 Peter Murphy
Tree in wheat fields
Palouse, Washington • Photographed July 2009 Jia Han Dong
Alpine cabin at night
Alpine County, California • Photographed August 2009 Robert Petithomme
Flock of birds taking off as the sun sets
New Orleans, Louisiana • Photographed September 2009 Skip Hunt
Wildfires at Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina • Photographed April 2009 Shawn Birmingham
Lonely coffee break
Needles, California • Photographed September 2008 Tobias Puetzer
A group of young Mennonite women at the scenic overlook
Smoky Mountains National Park • Photographed June 2009
Even though she owns a more sophisticated camera, Vanderlaan had only a point-and-shoot model on hand when she came upon this scene. Fortunately. “If I had to attach a camera lens or manually focus a more complex camera,” she says, “I would have missed this shot completely.” Debra Vanderlaan
Window shopping in Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico • Photographed March 2009 Zachary Bell
Virginia snow
West-Central Virginia • Photographed January 2009 Tom Gillespie
Blue oasis
Hveravellir, Iceland • Photographed July 2008 Ben Hattenbach
Spider in the light of daybreak
Sukoro, Hungary • Photographed July 2008 Csaba Meszaros
Chorus of mackerel
Red Sea, Egypt • Photographed September 2009 Alex Tattersall
A restful moment for a white pelican
Miami, Florida • Photographed March 2007 Jackie Arias
A coconut floats in the shallows
Republic of Palau • Photographed April 2007 Ethan Daniels
An alarmed female praying mantis
Santa Clarita, California • Photographed September 2007 Phil Althouse
Baby orangutan hanging around
Tampa, Florida • Photographed September 2009 Ray Cella
Streaming
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming • Photographed January 2008 Stephen Mayeux
Hidden frog
Mendocino, California • Photographed September 2009
King was experimenting with a new camera in a local Mendocino County garden when a frog paused for a moment on the leaves of a nearby plant. She snapped; it hopped. “I’ve gone halfway around the world looking for new experiences,” she says. “This photo will always remind me of the beauty in my own backyard.” Laurie McAndish King
Lake with flax and red gum trees
South Island, New Zealand • Photographed January 2007 Rex Naden
Workers on a refinery tank
Roswell, New Mexico • Photographed February 2007 Garret Suhrie
Masai people
Masai Mara National Park, Kenya • Photographed January 2007 Luis Davilla
Akhar women
Myanmar • Photographed August 2009 Kyaw Kyaw Winn
Fun time
Bali, Indonesia • Photographed August 2008 Piow Kan Boh
At the Indian village pond
West Bengal, India • Photographed November 2009 Prasanta Biswas
Girl in school uniform
Saint Louis, Missouri • Photographed November 2009 Sarah-Marie Land
The nomads of Tagong
Kham, Tibet • Photographed June 2009
“I spent two days with the nomads of Tagong in Sichuan Province, China,” Liao recalls. “There was no running water, and we ate wild greens and fungi gathered from the fields. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had, and this photograph reminds me of how simple and happy life can be.” Conway Liao
Newsstand salesman
Budapest, Hungary • Photographed February 2009
Meszaros remembers when people would line up at newsstands, and for him this photograph, sadly, is a sign of the times. “Nowadays,” he says, “electronic media is more important and interest in print media is falling. The news agent has enough free time to read what he is offering. Twenty years ago, this was unthinkable.” Csaba Meszaros
Fight to win
Kolkata, India • Photographed October 2009 Partha Pratim Saha
Decaying trailer
Bombay Beach, California • Photographed March 2008 Garret Suhrie
Young monks from Myanmar
Bagan, Myanmar • Photographed April 2007
Winn traveled north from his home in Yangon to the countryside of old Bagan to capture this image of young Buddhist monks in the Shwesandaw Temple. “I found them lighting candles and praying,” Winn says. “You can see monks everywhere in Myanmar.” Kyaw Kyaw Winn
Motorbike drive-by
Cambodia • Photographed August 2009 Julius Pirklbauer
Early morning Bagan
Bagan, Myanmar • Photographed January 2008 Joquim Dias
The little house that fought demolition
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • Photographed September 2009 Amyn Nasser
A woman takes a boat ride to a Paduang village
Mae Hong Son, Thailand • Photographed June 2008 Kevin Connelly
Cormoran fisherman
Yangshu, China • Photographed April 2007 Matty Karp
A camel owner waiting for a customer
Dwarka, Gujarat, India • Photographed March 2008 Prasanta Biswas
A great migration
Kenya • Photographed January 2009 Romeo Starcevic
Yulong river
China • Photographed October 2007
“The Karst hills of the Guangzi Province in China filled my head with wonder,” says Medina. “I stood there lost in the atmosphere, looking upon a primitive landscape with uncommon beauty while quiet words repeated endlessly in my mind: we are just passing travelers on this old earth.” Bernardo Medina