Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.

July Photo-Contest Finalists

Here are the top photos from our “Send Us Your Best Photos” photo contest.

NOTE: Voting in this contest is now closed; scroll down to see the winner. The theme for next month's contest will be announced on August 3. Stay tuned!

When we decided to cast the net a little wider with this month’s “Send Us Your Best Photos” photo contest, we knew we were going to get flooded with great submissions. Readers, you didn’t disappoint. Our judges sifted through hundreds of submissions and picked their favorites.

Now it’s your turn to weigh in. Scroll down to see the finalists then take the poll at the bottom of the page to vote for your favorite. The photo with the most votes at noon on July 31 will be declared the winner and it’ll run in the September issue of The Washingtonian.

Don’t forget to vote in our Best of the Best contest, too. To celebrate the one-year birthday of our photo contest, we’ve compiled all the winners from past contests in a slide show here, and we’re asking you to choose a favorite. The photo with the most votes at the end of the month will be the winner, and the photographer will win a $100 gift certificate to the Fourth Estate, courtesy of our friends at the National Press Club.

Remember that for both contests, it’s one vote per person. If we notice voting irregularities with any one photograph, The Washingtonian reserves the right to disqualify it from the contest.

Don’t forget to check out the runners-up in this month’s contest, and go to our winners’ gallery to see all the past photo-contest winners. Check back on Monday, August 3, for next month's theme and how to enter.

Good luck to our finalists, and happy voting, readers!

"Wired" by Ryan S. Gregor of DC

"This mess of wires behind Union Station reminds me of a musical score," writes the photographer.

"Belfry" by Whitney Claire McKim of Lovettsville, Virginia

This church in Brunswick, Maryland, has been converted to a coffeehouse called Belfry at Beans. The photographer, it seems, is a regular.

"Old Waffle Shop" by Amanda McLean of DC

The Waffle Shop might be shuttered, but the facade is still a Penn Quarter destination.

"Daysahead" by Brian Oh of Vienna

The photographer caught this shot of Atlanta-based jazz ensemble, Daysahead, at the Jazz in the Garden series earlier this month.

Vote here!

*To help keep this contest fair, we've elected to use an IP address-based poll. This means that if you are voting from an office or network setting, not everybody will be able to vote. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we hope you'll encourage coworkers to vote from their home computers. And as always, we reserve the right to disqualify a photo if we see any voting irregularities.

More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Society Photos

Category Tags: Photo Contest, Photos

Comments

I have to agree with the majority of the posters, except for the arrogant one who talks about shooting photos for a living, nobody cares...your not special....but i digress. None of these photos really pop and make me say WOW. Yea one may have been composed perfectly or one may have great lighting, but none of these are perfectly exposed, perfectly composed, and have that perfect lighting all at once. Lets try and pick some GREAT photos next time and stop looking for things that are not there in the good ones.

Posted by: really?, Aug 01, 2009 05:43:41 AM

love you shot Brian

Posted by: angelic, Jul 29, 2009 07:49:04 PM

"Daysahead" photo is a timely, DC-esque photo, considering it’s from the recent Jazz festival in D.C.! I feel like I could almost hear the woman’s soulful voice...

Posted by: connie, Jul 28, 2009 04:59:40 AM

Um, sorry, I shoot photos for a living. These aren’t good. Thanks!

Posted by: Excuses, Jul 27, 2009 01:14:25 PM

all of you work is beautiful...beauty is in the eye of the beholder for those who appreciate and understand the true details of art. digital photographer has most of society confused and everyone now "think" they can do better at being an "instant" photographer... keep up the positive images and keep the negative people and thoughts at a distant. opinions are still free. wishing you all the best!

Posted by: Mrs. Mitchell, Jul 27, 2009 10:57:18 AM

Daysahead, captures human emotion so well in one photograph.

Posted by: Joanne, Jul 27, 2009 06:45:49 AM

I hate to nitpick, but Lovettsville is practically on the West Virginia border. Can you really say it’s part of the DC Metro area?

I have to agree with some of the other commenters-- while these photos are well-composed, they lack the technical skill that differentiates a good photo from an amazing one.

Posted by: Caroline, Jul 24, 2009 12:24:46 PM

You guys are so negative.

Posted by: Why So Serious?, Jul 24, 2009 08:27:09 AM

It would be nice if the editors who selected the photos could chime in here and explain their selections. If you’re going to award poor photography with a feature in your rag, it would be nice to know why!

Posted by: Excuses, Jul 24, 2009 06:21:41 AM

Th Belfry is quit delightful.Beautiful image.
Well done Whitney.

Posted by: Ian Lade, Jul 22, 2009 07:30:18 PM

I completely agree with "Who are the Judges?" comment. Seriously, this is the best you can find?

Some of your finalists have good shots but they are hardly anything to boast about, let alone publish in a magazine that’s trying to credible.

Wired is interesting, but hardly a fantastic photo. Belfry is also interesting but again, hardly something spectacular. Daysahead is cool and composed well, but again rather boring.

The best of your selections is Waffle Shop, which has nice composition but is doomed with the dreaded white sky. And your runners-up looks like a collection of family photos from a day-trip to the city.

This is very disappointing!

Posted by: What in the???, Jul 22, 2009 07:46:54 AM

THESE are the best of DC? I really wonder what the judges look for in these monthly contests. Every month I look and every month, with very few exceptions, I think... WHAT? Looking back on the past year’s winnners evokes the same "Huh?". Some are interesting, sure, but BEST photo?

Posted by: Who are the judges?, Jul 22, 2009 07:18:05 AM

Belfy is full of emotion! What a beautiful shot!

Posted by: Kara, Jul 21, 2009 07:16:26 PM

Good to see the best of the best are the most generic photos imaginable. If only I’d taken a photo of a Giant and then screwed up all the colors in Photoshop.

Posted by: Falldog, Jul 21, 2009 01:50:24 PM

In my opinion both "Wired" and "Old Waffle Shop" are by far the most striking photos. Both present a unique point of view on everyday things. Personally, I find the composition of "Old Waffle Shop" photo to be stronger, with greater nuance - it’s a work that could keep my interest even after multiple viewings. For that reason "Old Waffle Shop" gets my vote, but "Wired" is a solid second.

Posted by: Mike Myles, Jul 21, 2009 01:01:07 PM

THis contest took a bit to decide my choice~ but after considering the options I thought that wired was the print that may have been missed by many.
Obviously the church coffee shop is a sight to behold and the Jazz singer is cool and something most would agree with and capture on film; the mural is cool too, and yet the wires are so awesome, especially when we consider that most people fail to read betweeen the lines. I believe "wired" causes one to think bigger thoughts and practice the art of thinking; as a teacher perhaps we should all think a little deeper? GOOD JOB!

Posted by: Mary Wood, Jul 21, 2009 11:09:32 AM

not much of a choice

Posted by: sad, Jul 21, 2009 10:27:04 AM