TRAVEL/PLACES RUNNER UP: James Lee, 32, Software Developer, Atlanta, GA

“I had planned to take photos of the Milky Way while camping in White Sands National Monument, NM. After setting up my camera one evening, the sun had already set and there was only a sliver of light left, but that residual sunlight painted the clouds brilliantly. I thought it would be perfect if I could capture this and the white sand dune too, but the sand was dark already. So during a 30-sec exposure I turned my LED headlamp on and used it to light-paint the dune. It was exciting to capture the white sands, black silhouetted mountains, red residual sunset and Milky Way, all in one exposure! To top it off, when I reviewed the image later, I saw there was a shooting star. This photo inspires me to push my creativity beyond just clicking the shutter.”

flickr.com/photos/albertgt

Tech Specs: Tripod-mounted Nikon D700 with 35mm f/1.8G Nikkor lens; 30 sec at f/1.8, ISO 1600.