The editors of Smithsonian magazine have just announced the 60 finalists in their 17th annual photo contest, selected from 36,000 entries sent in from 145 countries and territories. They have once more allowed me to make a selection of these images to share here from the competition’s six categories: The Natural World, The American Experience, Travel, People, Altered Images, and Mobile. Captions were written by the photographers. Be sure to visit the contest page at Smithsonian.com to see all the finalists and vote for your favorites.