Photo Contest: Hot Pics for July

Paul writes: "The clouds are the main reason I took the photo. They almost look like they were painted onto the background, making the bridge look 3D." Paul used a Nikon D300.

Anatoly writes: "I took this picture of a California poppy with my Sony DSC-R1 in my backyard. I cropped the original image to focus almost exclusively on the orange color."

Richard writes: "The weather here has been very dry, and insects and wild animals have been getting moisture from wherever they can. I had the sprinkler on for my zinnias, and I captured this photo when a few bees and wasps came to enjoy the water."

Arnold writes: "I took this photo at the Viera Wetlands in Florida early in the morning. I mounted my Nikon D200 on a tripod and used a 500mm lens and a 1.4X teleconverter."

Mary writes: "I took this photo of Texas Red Oak leaves in my backyard. The leaves were green, so I fiddled with the color and texture in Photoshop." Mary used a Nikon D80, with an 18-200mm lens.

Brad writes: "'Maine Fog' is a three-frame high-dynamic range composite shot that I captured in the fog, before just before sunrise, in Rockland Harbor Maine....There was such a lack of color that I decided to transform the image into black and white."

Christine says she captured this sunset from a beach in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, with her Nikon D80.

Cavanaugh took this photo on the grounds of Franciscan University: "Our campus landscaper has a flower bed in a back field where I took a photo of a beautiful purple iris, and just to the right of it I noticed this interesting flower glistening with the morning dew."

Whitney writes: "I pass by this spot almost every day. Most people hate dandelions and call them weeds, but I love them. I feel that they are miniature reflections of the sun."