Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest: 50 Finalists

The Smithsonian magazine's 9th annual photo contest finalists have been chosen. The contest attracted over 14 thousand photographers from all 50 states and over 100 countries. Fifty finalists from 67,059 images were selected by Smithsonian editors. Those editors will also choose the Grand Prize Winner and the winners in each of the five categories which include The Natural World, Americana, People, Travel and Altered Images. Photos were selected based on technical quality, clarity and composition, a flair for the unexpected and the ability to capture a picture-perfect moment. (Smithsonian invites everyone to select an additional "Readers' Choice" winner by voting through March for their favorite image on line.) -- Paula Nelson (25 photos total)

BEHIND THE BLUE Lilongwe, Malawi, May 2011 (Paolo Patruno/Bologna, Italy)

25 TOES West Bengal, India, November 2009 (Nimai Ghosh/Kolkata, India) #

TEALA ABOVE AND BELOW WATER Redding, California, July 2010 (Bridget Bailey/Redding, California) #

A HOMELESS BOY SLEEPING INSIDE THE TRAIN Jakarta, Indonesia, August 2009 (Budi Prakasa/Jakarta, Indonesia) #

DISGUISED FUN Kolkata, India, April 2009 (Somnath Mukherjee/Kolkata, India) #

THE FLOWER GIRL Boston, Massachusetts, June 2011 (Joseph Richard/Altomonte Springs, Florida) #

A WATERFOWL HUNTER AND HIS DOG CALL IT A DAY Monte Vista, Colorado, March 2010 (Mallory Olenius/Denver, Colorado) #

WANTING TO SEE HER BIG BROTHER DURING HIS BASEBALL GAME Mobile, Alabama, March 2011 (Stephanie Fox/Mobile, Alabama) #

99 CENT DREAMS New York City, New York, December 2010 (Nancy Breslin/Newark, Delaware) #

RANCH DOG TAKING A BREAK FROM WORK Ellsworth, Nebraska, April 2010 (Jamie Illian/Dallas, Texas) #

SAMANTHA ON HER FARM Connorsville, Wisconsin, May 2011 (Bernadette Pollard/St. Paul, Minnesota) #

OLD MINE ON RED MOUNTAIN PASS Ouray, Colorado, October 2009 (Robert Castellino/Lafayette, Colorado) #

BROOKLYN BRIDGE New York City, New York, February 2011 (Wayne Bennett/Bronx, New York) #

BLUE ICE CAVE Antarctica, December 2011 (Jamie Scarrow/Bruce, Canberra, Australia) #

STEAM FROM MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, October 2009 (Steve Ross/Nixa, Missouri) #

AN ANHINGA EMERGES TO SWALLOW HIS DINNER Jacksonville, Florida, June 2011 (Savannah Whitwam/Jacksonville, Florida) #

KING PENGUINS South Georgia, November 2010 (Jamie Scarrow/Bruce, Canberra, Australia) #

A PRAYING MANTIS AS THE SUN RISES OVER THE EVERGLADES Everglades National Park, Florida (Paul Marcellini/Miami, Florida) #

MOONRISE OVER NORTHERN LIGHTS Northern Alaska, March 2011 (Ben Hattenbach/Los Angeles, California) #

CLAMMING AT THE OREGON COAST Garibaldi, Oregon, June 2010 (Lucy Chien/Alexandria, Virginia) #

WOMEN MAKING TRADITIONAL ART Rajasthan, India, November 2010 (Chetan Soni/MadhyaPradesh, India) #

SUNSET CLAMMING Xiapu, Fujian, China, January 2009 (Jia Han Dong/Parsippany, New Jersey) #

THREE FISHERMAN ON INLE LAKE Inle Lake, Myanmar, January 2011 (David Lazar/Brisbane, Australia) #

HOUSE COLLAGE Sikkim, West Bengal, October 2010 (Shyamal Das/Kolkata, India) #

PACKED IN THE CABIN OF A TRAIN TO JODPHUR Jaipur, India, January 2011 (Ho Lee/Hong Kong, China) #