Recently, we asked you—our incredible community—to shoot and enter your best photos taken in July for our Best of July Photo Quest. And you guys really rose to the challenge! Thousands of amazing image submissions later convinced us more than ever that the 500px community is the most dedicated, talented, and creative group of photographers out there.

Our staff here at 500px HQ had the task of choosing only two submissions to win a coveted, hard-to-find official 500px swag pack. To find out which photos won the Photo Quest, scroll down to end of the page.

But first…here’s an inspiring collection of finalists—the striking photos that caught our eye, and made us wish summer could last longer.

Cat Walk by Heather Balmain on 500px

HongKong density by Heather Balmain on 500px

Sheep at sunset by Heather Balmain on 500px

Gust of Wind by Heather Balmain on 500px

Fly by Heather Balmain on 500px

Santa Monica Beach by Heather Balmain on 500px

Pierrika au parc by Heather Balmain on 500px

Girl playing with cat by Heather Balmain on 500px

Maasai Woman by Heather Balmain on 500px

happy self by Heather Balmain on 500px

orange tube by Heather Balmain on 500px

Greetings from Eilean Donan by Heather Balmain on 500px

Sand Fire by Heather Balmain on 500px

Eldorado by Heather Balmain on 500px

Lonely Planet-lavender at valensole by Heather Balmain on 500px

And the winners are…

Winning Photo #1:

Dance and Sing Jagannath Chariot Festival in Nepal by Skanda Gautam

Dance and Sing Jagannath Chariot Festival in Nepal by Skanda Gautam on 500px.com

Winning photo #2:

Beautiful Woman on a Cornfield by Natalia

Beautiful woman on a cornfield by Natalia on 500px.com

Thank you to everyone in our community who participated in this Photo Quest, and congratulations to our winners! We’ll be in touch soon to get your prizes to you.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out our latest Photo Quests for a chance to win more incredible prizes!