Week 6 (06/23/11-06/30/11) Gallery

Come back weekly to browse our editors' favorite submissions to the photo contest.

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Fired Up

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Fired Up

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This was shot at the 2011 Traverse City Balloon Festival. I was standing nearby taking some pictures of this particular balloon, when the pilot asked me (frantically) to come help hold the balloon down. While leaning/holding onto the balloon with one hand, I shot a series of these freehand with the other while the pilot continued to fill the balloon. It was quite intense as they were short on ground crew that day.

Photo and caption by Clint Douthitt

Category: Action/Energy
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Penobscot Fog

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Penobscot Fog

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The spring and fall mornings cause the fog to roll into Penobscot Bay. This picture was taken early in the morning as the sun rose above the tree line. I was positioned on a nearby hill as I caught the shadows growing through the fog

Photo and caption by Jason bishop

Category: Nature/Weather
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The Rhino

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The Rhino

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This endangered rhino came close enough to allow me to use my wide angle lens.

Photo and caption by Parent

Category: Animals/Wildlife
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Call the Ball

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Call the Ball

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A honeybee closes in on its nectar hoard--a beautiful Dahlia.

Photo and caption by Parent

Category: Nature/Weather
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Mustang

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Mustang

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A flawless blast from the past driving through the streets of NYC.

Photo and caption by Elizabeth Cisco

Category: Action/Energy
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Grizzly Chillin' at the Spa

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Grizzly Chillin' at the Spa

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While photographing brown bears around Brooks Falls (Katmai, Alaska), this particular large grizzly seemed very content to just sit in the churning water, just below the falls, and watch his peers catching salmon.

Photo and caption by Stu Davidson

Category: Animals/Wildlife
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Step Well--Off the Beaten Path in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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Step Well--Off the Beaten Path in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

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While discussing my desire to explore more of Jaipur, a colleague of mine took me to a place where he spent time as a child and that holds fond memories for him. Long ago, in the deserts of Rajasthan, the local maharajahs would typically commission the building of a step well to ensure that the villagers surrounding his palace had adequate water to survive. Steps were incorporated due to the fluctuation of the water level at various times of the year. This step well today no longer provides water to the villagers but still remains for all to admire the architectural marvel that it is.

Photo and caption by Lloyd Lauland

Category: Travel/Culture
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Natural High

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Natural High

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A young boy flies his kite at a family picnic as a storm breaks over the horizon.

Photo and caption by Parent

Category: Family/Community
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At the Edge of the World

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At the Edge of the World

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Taken on Lake Mendota, Madison, Wisconsin, on May 26, 2010 at 5:19 AM, five minutes before sunrise. Weather conditions were perfect for a great reflection on the lake. The clouds formed what looks like a view of Earth from space. A small amount of fog on the horizon blended the sky with the lake.

Photo and caption by Cassius Callender

Category: Nature/Weather
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Big Wheel Keep on Turning

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Big Wheel Keep on Turning

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The big Ferris wheel delights nighttime riders with a view of the midway at the Washington County Fair in Easton/Greenwich, NY.

Photo and caption by Deborah Austin

Category: Action/Energy

Category 1Animals / Wildlife

Whether it's our family pet in the living room or magnificent wildlife in Africa, the animals and wildlife of our world bring us delight, affection and wonder. Winning pictures in this category will bring back all the personality, devotion, excitement, and shared experience we feel with our fellow beings on this planet.

Prizes
Category 2Nature / Weather

The natural world has always made great pictures. And the weather that shapes our environment can be a subject unto itself. Either way, pictures in Nature/Weather will focus on wilderness, landscapes (and seascapes), nature's incredible variety of flowers and plants , and the wonders of geology and geography. Weather, always part of our daily world, brings with it every emotion from awe to tranquility. Strong emotion in these scenes will set winning pictures apart. Note: Animal pictures belong in the Animals/Wildlife category. But a beautiful, grand landscape of Africa with the inevitable zebras. in the distance belongs in Nature/Weather.

Prizes
Category 3Travel / Cultures

Our travels around the world bring us in contact with the incredible variety of human cultures. These pictures -- whether of native dress, festivals, food, celebrations, history or architecture -- will celebrate the vast and colorful variety of how people express their human nature and what they value, from one side of the planet to the other. Note: Interesting people and characters you meet while traveling belong in this category. Pictures of your family and their antics, even while traveling on vacation belong in the Family/Community category.

Prizes
Category 4Family / Community

Family/Community is about the people we know in our daily lives and the places where we live everyday. This could be halfway around the world, but it's more likely in your hometown -- or in your kitchen. Family, friends, children, grandparents, neighbors and complete strangers fill lives with humor, love, emotion and meaning. These pictures don't have to be close to home, but they should be close to our hearts.

Prizes
Category 5Arts / Music

New for this year, the Arts/Music category will feature pictures that celebrate how music and the arts enrich our lives. Concerts and art galleries would certainly qualify for this category, but so would intimate jazz sessions, pub music in Ireland, and high school marching bands. The arts are everywhere around us, from art fairs to Halloween pumpkin carving, from grand public art and murals to children's fanciful sidewalk chalk drawings. It's all welcome in Arts/Music.

Prizes
Category 6Action / Energy

When things move into high gear, when the picture is all about the energy and beauty of things in motion, when you can just feel the electricity of the action, that's Action/Energy. Sports action pictures are a natural for this category, but so are pictures of animals galloping at high speed, and the dogged efforts of the long distance runners. Pictures here will almost always show things happening. Keep it lively.

Prizes

Jim and Energizer Batteries

The Galaway Inn was alive with Irish music, packed wall to wall with people and like all Irish pubs, very dark. My Energizer-powered flash units lit up the scene--the musicians kept playing, the energy was fantastic, the action never let up and my camera outlasted us all.