First Place
Castle on the Bay
By Madeline Dickerson
Long Beach, Washington
I spent three months in Ireland working on organic farms through the WWOOF program (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). On one weekend trip, I snapped this photo of a gorgeous castle on a bay. It was an untypically sunny October day, and the clouds were doing just the right things.
Second Place
L’Accordéoniste, Notre Dame
By Carolyn Carter
Eagle, Idaho
Backpacking in Europe was more musical than I expected: the melodies of each city’s street performers composed a hodge-podge soundtrack in my memory. While under the Paris summer sun, I came across this man—l’accordéoniste (the accordion player)—busking on the bridge behind Notre Dame Cathedral.
Third Place
Gethsemane
By Lindsay Dewey
Sterling, Virginia
Gethsemane, a garden on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, is a thought-provoking destination known as the site of Christ’s suffering. The gnarled bark of the garden’s olive trees reflects a beauty found only in old age.
Honorable Mentions
The Capitol
By Greg Williams
Washington, DC
On one of our first days in DC, my wife and I arrived at the capitol building for the first time. I couldn’t stop looking at it and nearly tripped a few times. The Capitol is an amazing structure, and the fact that it can still inspire when under construction impressed me: even though our nation is not perfect, it is still a pretty awesome place to be.
Lost but Found
By Hilary Schwendiman
Sandy, UT
Living in poverty can take its toll on any human. In Ecuador I saw plenty of poverty, but this young boy surprised me with his sense of happiness in the middle of all the chaos. This boy gives us hope in knowing that there is always peace to be found—even in the worst situations.