Our photo contest has become an annual highlight here at The Washington Post, giving us the chance to travel vicariously through your extraordinary images. This year’s submissions took us to Utah, Mexico, Indonesia and Siberia.
We had the joy of combing through nearly 700 submissions, which reinforced our connection to our readers and their connection to the world. This year’s selections were a reminder that sometimes all you need is your phone to capture a memorable shot.
Here are the three winners and 10 honorable mentions, along with the photographers in their own words.
Captions have been edited for length and clarity.
Honorable mentions
Dominic Rios, San Diego
Camera: iPhone 14 Pro Max
I captured this photo during the final few hours of a recent visit to Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. The vibrant contrast of the blue and yellow building facades — along with the lucha libre advertisements lining the boarded-up doorway — immediately captured my gaze. While framing my camera to photograph the building itself, I happened to notice a man slowly approaching in the left-hand corner of my eye. Luckily for me, he stopped to check his phone at a perfect moment and in a perfect spot. It was not until examining the photo afterward that I noticed that his dark blue jeans, robin egg blue bag, and brown cowboy hat and boots perfectly mirrored the surroundings.
Liwen Tao, Safety Harbor, Florida
Camera: Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-70mm lens
This tropical landscape in East Java, Indonesia, is illuminated by the beautiful golden morning light as a farmer walks through a rice field under a canopy of coconut palm trees. The moisture in the air makes those sun rays almost tangible. The farmer provides human presence and a sense of scale. When this fleeting moment appeared in front of me, I felt wonder, peace and a sense of discovery. The mist, golden beam, palms and solitary figure were dreamlike.
Brian Stenger, Fairfax, Virginia
Camera: iPhone 16 Pro
In February, I completed my goal of visiting all seven continents when I took a trip to Antarctica. One morning was spent cruising around the waters of Beer Island, and we were lucky to have found this one iceberg with a lovely blue hue. We spent a lot of time around this iceberg, watching the different shades of blue come out as the sunlight changed. Every angle we maneuvered provided a different magnificent shade.
Ryan Mull, Washington, D.C.
Camera: Olympus OM-1 with OM 12-100mm lens
The sight of Peruvian pelicans convening in a Lima port, as a young girl out of frame tossed food scraps to the flock, made for an amusing scene. The birds’ ability to hold still and maintain order as they fixated on the food before them — unblinking with otherwise blank expressions — captivated the human onlookers and drew several cameras.
Michael Ballard, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Camera: iPhone 17 Pro Max
I captured this image of Daniel Riley, who lost his legs while serving in Afghanistan but has not been deterred in his drive to excel in extreme sports and travel. He aims to be the first amputee to visit all 193 U.N. countries. With 133 countries explored so far, he’s well on his way, and is seen here climbing the dunes in Brazil’s Lencóis Maranhenses National Park.
Ken Weinberg, Fairfax, Virginia
Camera: Sony a7R V with Tamron 70-200mm lens
In February, I had an opportunity to photograph cowboys at a working ranch in Gold Canyon, Arizona, and witnessed them plying their skills: riding, roping, herding, feeding and driving animals from one location to another. At end of the day, with the sun setting and their chores done, a group of cowhands headed toward me on a dusty road. One fellow, twirling his lariat, rode squarely in front of the setting sun. The real star, however, almost hidden in the horse and rider’s dusty wake, was the equestrian’s little dog, who dutifully and gingerly trotted along.
Jassen Todorov, San Francisco
Camera: Nikon D810 with 70-200mm lens
This shot was taken during a late-afternoon flight over Stansbury Island, Utah, where hypersaline waters host halophilic microorganisms that paint the lake in shifting hues of red and copper. From above, the Great Salt Lake reveals mineral lines, engineered evaporation ponds and the geometry of extraction. Here, potash, magnesium and salt are drawn from vast basins by sun and wind.
Erin Murtha, New York City
Camera: iPhone 17 Pro
I was so grateful to have shared this moment of stillness and grace with my mom during a trip to Ninh Binh, Vietnam. What struck us was the simple beauty of the lone woman rowing silently against the backdrop of misty peaks — a picture of serenity and peace that was probably a typical day for her. To me, the beauty of travel is the experience of moments like this: to leave my ordinary day of business and noise and embrace the stillness. The bonus gift? Being able to share it with my mom.
Eric Wassyng, Ashburn, Virginia
Camera: Samsung Galaxy S24 phone
In late September 2025, I was walking around Bordeaux, France’s Place de la Bourse when I heard music. When the plaza came into view, I could see several costumed performers suspended above the crowd on slender poles, each performer holding another pole. I thought the parallels between the performers and the other vertical elements — poles, fountain and spires — made a scene that begged to be captured. A little research revealed that this was part of the annual Festival International des Arts de Bordeaux Métropole.
Eduardo Kneler, Redondo Beach, California
Camera: Nikon Z9 with Nikkor Z 24-120mm lens
As I was visiting the Som Rong Pagoda in Soc Trang, Vietnam, I noticed two very young Buddhist monks climbing the stairs, each carrying a bright yellow umbrella. I was immediately drawn to the symmetry of the scene and to the way their orange robes and yellow umbrellas stood out against the ornate Khmer architecture. They seemed small within the grand staircase as they quietly made their way up together.
Deb Greenberger, Fulton, Maryland
Camera: Nikon D5600
It was quiet as we drove through Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, the last stop on my dream trip. We encountered a large herd of elephants and stopped to watch the families interact. I had been shooting for nearly two weeks already, including a lot of elephants, so I wasn’t shooting much at that moment. However, at one point, they started throwing sand in the air to clear the ticks from their backs. This one was backlit as the sun got lower, and I couldn’t resist shooting it.
Third place
Paul Laurenza, Fairfax, Virginia
Camera: Sony a7R V with 20-200mm lens
The initial plan of our small group to photograph the Milky Way late at night in southern Namibia was thwarted by a bright half-moon. When we ventured out instead at 4 a.m., well after moonset, the clear sky revealed the Milky Way stretching low across the sky. The abandoned house, illuminated inside by flashlight, provided a well-positioned foreground element on the hill, and a 20-second exposure brought out the brilliance of the starry arc.
Second place
David Swerdlow, Rose Valley, Pennsylvania
Camera: Canon EOS R5 Mark II with Canon RF 100-500mm lens
This photo, shot on Vigur, a small, remote island in the Westfjords of Iceland, shows an Atlantic puffin carrying back sand lances to its hungry chicks. While I have been enthralled with nature travel and photography for many years, I have only recently become an avid birdwatcher and bird-photographer. I had been looking for an opportunity to shoot Atlantic puffins for the past couple of years in Maine and Scotland but couldn’t get close enough. So, when we walked to the far side of the island and saw puffins feeding and nesting among the rocks, I was thrilled to be able to capture this image.
First place
Behram Dacosta, San Jose
Camera: Leica Q3
I spent a few days living in a chum, a traditional dwelling used by reindeer herders, with families in a nomadic Nenets group in the frozen Siberian tundra, and this little guy was the only kid around. While the adults were busy with daily chores during the few hours of daylight, he seemed happy to have a rare visitor for company. On this day, I came across him dressed in reindeer skins and staring out into the empty landscape, which could almost have been a distant planet, holding on to a cosmonaut doll. In a culture where you constantly move camp, you don’t keep things unless they really matter, making that toy obviously precious. Unfortunately, the Nenets way of life is under threat from climate change, industrialization and other issues.
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