Adélie Penguin on an Iceberg. Finalist, Natural World. Ice-dependent animals are in perilous danger of losing their habitats. This photo shows an Adélie penguin standing on an iceberg off Devil Island, Antarctica. I like how the half-lit, sea-eroded iceberg gives the scene a sense of dichotomy. Perhaps the penguin's indecision on which way to go, or perhaps ours. #

Me and Myself. Finalist, Altered Image. We all experience an inner dialogue. We have a mental image of ourselves that we are talking to almost every moment of our life. We discuss just about anything: hopes, troubles, Sunday shopping, memories from the past, what the person standing next to us thinks about us. Every person’s identity is split into two parts, “me” and “myself." The project is exploring the interactions of these two different sides of the same person and the idea of the duality of a human mind and self-discovery. #

Train Through the Mountains. Finalist, Travel. Photographers will wait for hours for a train to go through the popular Morant's Curve in Banff National Park. My friend and I were lucky enough to catch a train within about 20 minutes. Once the train had gone by, we did some long exposures to capture and blur the train as it went through the curve. #

Harvesting Water Lilies. Finalist, Travel. Harvesting water lilies in Mộc Hóa, Long An, Vietnam. The water lilies were washed before being sold at the market. #

Dungan Wedding. Finalist, People. Madina, 20, an ethnic Dungan, is covered by a red veil before she leaves for the groom’s house during a wedding ceremony in Milyanfan, Kyrgyzstan. Dungans wear traditional Chinese-influenced wedding gowns, follow traditional Hui Chinese wedding ceremonies from the 19th century, and practice endogamy, but due to shrinking population size, they have stopped the practice and allowed Dungans to marry other ethnicities. #

One for the Road. Finalist, Natural World. A spot-billed pelican, caught in the moment when its head snapped back from the force of the water rushing into its gular sac. #

Skimboarding at the Wedge, Orange County, CA. Finalist, Travel. The Wedge is a spot located at the extreme east end of the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California, known for its large, wedge-shaped waves that make it a popular spot for surfers and skimboarding. Skimboarding is a sport in which a skimboard (much like a surfboard, but smaller and without fins) is used to glide across the water's surface to meet an incoming breaking wave and ride it back to shore. #

Nueva Venecia. Finalist, Travel. New Venice is a palafito town with an air of magic realism located between the Colombian cities of Cartagena and Santa Marta. Its 3,000 inhabitants live isolated from tourism and travel by boat, so the school buses are canoes and each house is an island. The town of Nueva Venecia has been resurrected in the two decades since a paramilitary slaughter. #

Laundry Room Gymnastics. Finalist, Mobile. A little girl climbs onto the window in her laundry room. She is always finding gymnastic opportunities in the most ordinary of spaces. #

Home Survives Direct Hit From Tornado. Finalist, American Experience. This home was in the direct line of a tornado that hit Ellerslie, Georgia. Most of the trees on the property had fallen, but the house stood with minimal damage. #

Death of Well. Finalist, People. The "wall of death" or "well of death" is a common game at fairs and carnivals in India, though it first originated in America. Motorcyclists circle the well again and again. #

Border Hug. Finalist, People. At a "Hugs Not Walls" event, a daughter gets the opportunity to be reunited with her mother and hug her for three minutes after not being able to see each other for years because of their migratory status. Hugs Not Walls is an event that reunites families from Mexico and the United States that have not seen each other in many years due to the immigration system. For several brief minutes at the Mexico-U.S. border, they have the opportunity to see and embrace their loved ones. #