Smithsonian Magazine just announced the fifty finalists in their annual photo competition. You can see the finalists, and the winners from their previous nine years, here. You can also see a related photo gallery created by the Boston Globe’s Big Picture.

That got me thinking that it might be useful for me to compile a list of “The Best…” lists related to photo award winners. Here they are:

The Best Sites To See “Photos That Changed The World”

The Best “World Press Photo” Winners

The Best Of The Sony World Photography Awards

The Best Photos From The White House News Photographers Association

The Best Travel Photographs Of The Year

The Best Year-End Collections Of Images — 2011 also has links to similar lists from previous years.

The Best Wildlife Photographs Of The Year

The Best Of Military Photography

The Best Nature Photographs Of The Year

These lists might help you with your own photography:

The Best Sites For Learning Beginning Photography Tips

The Best Sites For Online Photo-Editing & Photo Effects

And here are ideas on how to use these photos in class:

The Best Ways To Use Photos In Lessons

Also, you might want to check out The Best Displays Of Just-Released New York City Historical Photos.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at the 860 other “The Best…” lists and consider subscribing to this blog for free.