25 Finalists From 12th Annual Smithsonian Photo Competition
Time for another contest! The finalists of the 12th Annual Smithsonian Photo Competition have been announced. The editors have selected ten photos from each of the following categories – Natural World, Travel, People, Americana, Altered Images and Mobile. Those will now compete in the arena of internet attention and gather votes up until March 30th. Then, winner of the Reader’s Choice will get a $500 cash prize, and will be announced alongside Grand Prize and Category winners. Then wheel will turn again and the 13th Annual Photo Competition will be opened.
The Smithsonian magazine is was founded by former Life editors in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., so it naturally has this sort of National Geographic vibe. All the better for us: we get the chance to see more quality photography on display – and hear their stories, too! While some of the pictures were taken after some purposeful seeking, others reached us through sheer chance. Take, for example, the frog-eating snake. “I could only get around five pictures before the frog was swallowed and the snake disappeared into the deep forest,” recounts Nicolas Reusens, who was hiking in the jungle between Monteverde and La Fortuna, Costa Rica, “Not until I arrived home did I realize I had taken one of my favorite shots of the whole trip.”
And there you have it, nature in all its frog eating glory.
More info: smithsonianmag.com (h/t: boredpanda )
Snake, Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica
A wave strikes an elephant seal pup, South Georgia Island
Light refracts through the curves of a breaking wave, New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
A green iguana surfaces for air, Bonaire, Netherlands
The caracolera is a common, but restless snake, Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica
Mobula rays gather to feed on plankton attracted by dive lights, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Women of a small village near Vinh Hy Bay, Vietnam, sew a fishing net while their husbands fish, Vinh Hy Bay, Ninh Thuan, Vietnam
A woman and her child place dyed threads out to dry, Santipure, Nadia, India
A fisherman checks his net in the early morning, Lam Dong, Dalat, Vietnam
Fog creeps under the Manhattan Bridge, New York, New York
A girl with albinism, Valencia, Spain
A vicuña, Chimborazo Volcano, Ecuador
Fireworks shower onlookers in sparks during Holy Week celebrations, Acobamba, Tarma, Peru
A girl stares in wonder at an aquarium tank, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California
A brown bear walks across an estuary, (Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
A young Mursi man holds an AK-47, Marenke, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Young Buddhist novices play in Hsinbyume Pagoda, Mingun, Mandalay, Myanmar
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Ely, Minnesota
While firemen were putting out a fire in Chicago, the water froze and coated everything in ice, Chicago, Illinois
Spring in Palouse, Palouse, Washington
Fog weaves through forest trees, New Forest, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Muslims walk along a retaining wall towards a mosque to pray, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Onno is a teenage girl from the Arbore tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
A woman collects water lilies, Chau Doc, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
President Barack Obama stands in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, D.C.
Martynas Klimas
Writes like a mad dervish, rolls to dodge responsibility, might have bitten the Moon once.
