8th Annual Photo Contest Winners and Finalists
See the winning photos from our 2010 contest
Día de los Muertos
Las Vegas, Nevada • Photographed August 2010 Elizabeth Parker
A chair found in an abandoned building
Roanoke, Virginia • Photographed June 2010 Chris Jones
A foggy morning
Sausalito, California • Photographed February 2010 Jim Patterson
After sunset
Davenport, California • Photographed April 2009 Jim Patterson
Boys playing near Arenal Volcano
Arenal, Costa Rica • Photographed November 2008 Ashley Cunningham
Fountain
Rome • Photographed April 2009 Massimo Strazzeri
Decomposition
Vinadio, Italy • Photographed October 2009 Karolos Trivizas
Creepy crawler
Esbjerg, Denmark • Photographed August 2010
Lotte Pedersen finds photographic inspiration in nature. “I’m fascinated by the ‘big’ small world right outside in my backyard,” she says. “I can go on an adventure just by stepping outside.” Starting with her photo of a red beetle, she overlaid a shot of a concrete wall to create the textured surface of the final image. Lotte Pedersen
Storing hay the old-fashioned way
Andover, Connecticut • Photographed June 2010 Philip Cardamone
Great White Egret
South Florida • Photographed March 2009
A simple modification such as blacking out a background can yield dramatic results—as is the case with this photo of an egret. “These birds are magnificent animals,” Soto says, “and I have been photographing them since I was 18 years old.” This is the first Altered Images entry to win the Readers’ Choice award. Antonio Soto
A sign of the times
Chicago, Illinois • Photographed October 2010 Ernest Wright
Cape Royal on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona • Photographed October 2010 Jeffrey Johnson
A red building in downtown Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia • Photographed June 2010 Julia Purcell
A student miner
Idaho Springs, Colorado • Photographed April 2010 Kelly Morrill
The Twisselman family moves over 400 calves to get branded
McKittrick, California • Photographed March 2008 Micah Albert
Ocean Beach as the fog creeps in
Ocean Beach, San Francisco • Photographed November 2009 Navid Baraty
Mardi Gras on South Street with the Wild Bohemians
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Photographed February 2010 Michele Frentrop
Lonely schoolhouse
Schafferstown, Pennsylvania • Photographed July 2010 Tammi Knorr
Bronx teenager playing baseball
New York City, New York • Photographed March 2010
“It was dusk and the shadows were long and elongated, and I was captivated by the shadows of the players,” Lucka recalls of the fenced-in Bronx sports court where several teenagers were playing baseball. “There was enough light to get the ball in mid-motion. It’s one of my favorite photographs, to this day.” Christopher Lucka
Morning sun illuminating history
Sebastapol, California • Photographed April 2008 Tahoe Butler
A fishing pier seal awaiting scraps from the day's catch
Bodega Bay, California • Photographed October 2010 Ananda Fierro
The last prayer
Micanopy, Florida • Photographed June 2009 Charles Littlewood
Polar bear walking on a snowy day
Fugle Fjord in Svalbard, Norway • Photographed August 2010 Alessandra Meniconzi
King of the hill
Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles • Photographed May 2008 James Kashner
Mother's love
Banting, Malaysia • Photographed May 2010 Ho Sung Wee
Sun sets over Bonsai Rock
Lake Tahoe, Nevada • Photographed November 2009 Jim Patterson
Asian elephants in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai, Thailand • Photographed January 2010 Miles Tuttle
A red fox trying to take a nap
Clear Spring, Maryland • Photographed October 2009 Jennifer Dundus
Horseshoe crabs spawning in the bay
Delaware Bay, Delaware • Photographed May 2009 Nick Tucey
Amber firefly
Fairfield, Iowa • Photographed July 2010
“In the Czech Republic where I grew up, I only saw fireflies a couple of times, deep in the forest,” Schreiber recalls. “When I came to the United States, I was shocked and thrilled to see the abundance of fireflies and their amazing glow. I was happy to encounter this firefly and photograph its magical bioluminescence.” Radim Schreiber
Dancer and musician
Budapest, Hungary • Photographed April 2010 Csaba Meszaros
Trying to get into the Oslo Opera House
Oslo, Norway • Photographed September 2009 Christian Wakolbinger
Indonesian artists make a few final touches before performing
Bhopal, India • Photographed June 2008
Hatvalne, who has worked as a photojournalist for the past two decades, was taken by the dancers’ fastidious preparations before a performance. “I love photographing people,” he says. “I also sometimes photograph landscapes as well, but there is no better landscape than a human face.” Prakash Hatvalne
Lost in the grasslands
Inner Mongolia, China • Photographed June 2009 Hai Yang
Racing bulls
Padang, Indonesia • Photographed January 2010 Ho Sung Wee
Village woman cleaning outside her house
Indore, India • Photographed March 2009 Nitin Khatri
Morning commute
Orvieto, Italy • Photographed October 2010 Lance Burch
A competitor takes part in the Youth Olympic Games
Singapore • Photographed August 2010 Stefen Chow
Kenyan students in school
Ahero, Kenya • Photographed May 2010 Ryan Duncan
Shyness
Sylhet, Bangladesh • Photographed October 2008
Islam, who is president of his hometown photographic society, encountered this young girl in a tea garden. “It was evening when I saw her waiting for her mother to bring back fresh drinking water,” he recalls. “The eyes, the solemn look, the shyness of the girl compelled me to take this photo.” Fakrul Islam
Beauty of Mrauk Oo City
Mrauk Oo, Myanmar • Photographed January 2009 Kyaw Kyaw Winn
Prayer flags in the Himalayas
Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal • Photographed May 2008 João Paulo Barbosa
Dali villagers using cormorants to help them catch fish
Yunnan, China • Photographed October 2009 HaiYang
Women coming home at sunset
Phan Rang City, Vietnam • Photographed October 2009 Le Thai Son
Returning home from the field
Mandalay, Myanmar • Photographed July 2010 Myint Aung
Muslim women entering a museum
Alexandria, Egypt • Photographed December 2009 Peggy Abrams
Before a serious rain shower
New Delhi, India • Photographed April 2008 Olivier Boëls
Decisive moment
Florence, Italy • Photographed March 2009 Regina Orlando
People taking a bath during a local religious fair
Kurukshetra, India • Photographed August 2008
“The whole atmosphere was very lively,” Chaudhary says of the solar eclipse festival where he took this image. “There was so much to shoot: water, reflections, pilgrims, sadhus. I couldn’t resist. As a travel photographer I am able to capture a whole story in one frame, making the viewer feel the place.” Poras Chaudhary
Winter morning
Mandalay, Myanmar • Photographed November 2008 Kyaw Kyaw Winn