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Beauty is often in the eye of the beholder. For this assignment, we asked Shutterbug readers to seek out what others might turn their heads away from: abandoned or discarded things.

To say that the Panasonic Lumix GH5 is versatile is an understatement. The long-awaited follow-up to the GH4, which was beloved by photographers and videographers alike, the GH5 takes the roots of its predecessor and expands on them.

Outdoor photography is a favorite with Shutterbug readers so this was a very competitive assignment. But we were looking for more than just your summer vacation photos at Yosemite: we were seeking something both beautiful and different. We also asked you to keep your mind open for what’s considered “The Great Outdoors.” We were looking for everything from images of the majestic wonder in Denali National Park in Alaska, to the delicate pink-hued skies of Key West, to a stunning vista as seen right from your backyard. Most importantly, we asked you to remember to keep the “great” in the Great Outdoors with your photography submissions for this assignment.

Today’s camera gear is faster than ever and much of it is tailor-made for capturing any sort of motion or movement. So then why do so many photographers struggle to shoot compelling images of action? Part of it has to do with timing and part of it has to do with composition. Your camera and lens can only do so much and there’s more to a great action shot than simply capturing the moment and making sure it’s in focus. For this assignment, we were looking for images of anything from basketball to dance to wildlife, just as long as there was some kind of action in the scene. For the winning images, we were looking for great composition, effective use of backgrounds and scenery, and powerful emotion: human, animal, or otherwise. Here are our six favorites.

While it’s true that black-and-white photography presents a classic look that will likely never go out of style, if you want to create an immediate impression with an image, some stunning color certainly doesn’t hurt. This Dazzling Color assignment proved just that. We wanted Shutterbug readers to show us images of a variety of subjects as long as they included a stunning use of color. Photos could include everything from landscapes to still lifes to portraits or action shots.

We’re a little surprised—but maybe we shouldn’t be—that Fine Art Photography was one of our most popular and most competitive assignments yet. Maybe it’s because fine art photography, as a category, can encompass so many different subjects, including landscapes, cityscapes, macros, wide angles, long exposures, abstracts, portraits, nudes, semi-nudes, black and whites, color photos, surreal photos, hyperreal photos, nature photos, and on and on and on.

This assignment was simple but it was also highly competitive. Yes, we received many lovely landscape photos in our Picture This! gallery on Shutterbug.com, but we were looking for something extra special. And we got it, with these 10 images from readers offering incredible and unique vistas.