Photo contest winners capture America the beautiful

— -- Can a single image capture the essence of America?

That's a tall order in a nation so vast and diverse. Still, more than a thousand USA TODAY readers gave it their best shot as part of our Picture America Contest. The contest was co-sponsored with the U.S. Travel Association, whose Discover America campaign is aimed at attracting foreign visitors to the USA. The 10 finalists' photos will appear on DiscoverAmerica.com, the first official website to promote tourism to the USA.

Subjects that drew the most entries: St. Louis' Gateway Arch, followed by Mount Rushmore and various Washington, D.C., landmarks. None of those scenes made it into the top 10, selected by the judges: USA TODAY director of photography Mick Cochran; National Geographic magazine's director of photography, David Griffin; and award-winning travel photographer Bob Krist. Plenty of other iconic images did make it, and readers voted for the top three.

Winners: first place, Joanne Panizzera of Sebastopol, Calif.; second, Rajesh Srinivasan of Troy, Mich.; and third, Cameron Wenzel of Aspen, Colo.