DAY OF YOUTH: Muslim girls at the day of the youth on the 11th of February. The girls are walking in a procession to the mayor of the village and are singing about the power of Cameroon. Lagdo, Cameroon.
There's still time! The deadline for entries for this year's National Geographic Photo Contest is November 30. Photographers of all skill levels (last year more than 16,000 images submitted by photographers from 130 countries) enter photographs in three categories: Nature, People and Places. The photographs are judged on creativity and photographic quality by a panel of experts. There is one first place winner in each category and a grand prize winner as well.
LONE TREE YELLOWSTONE: A solitary tree surviving another harsh winter in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
LANDSCAPE IN THE RAIN: It was raining heavily when I took the photo, but the sun illuminated the landscape parochially. Bergueda, Catalonia, Spain.
NONI NECTAR FOR GREEN GECKO: Madagascar Gold Dust Day Gecko licking nectar from a young noni fruit in Kailua, Hawaii. These geckos were living all around the hale' we were staying in, enjoying the noni and basking on the railing and sunny steps to our place. They were very shy mostly, except this one must have enjoyed the nectar so much as to let me get a shot of their favorite activity. They seemed to tend the noni very attentively throughout the day. August 2010, Chandra S Sherin. Kona Village Resort, Kailua - Kona, Hawaii.
MOSAIC: Patterns of sea stars as exquisite mosaics, attractive, and each time is different. Cambodia
DUNBAR: Two elements. Water and rock. Motion and tranquility. Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland
IS HE STILL THERE?!: One morning while on the Big Island of Hawaii, i exploring my surroundings to see if i could find something to photograph. I almost went back inside when something on this huge palm tree leaf caught my eye. I stayed around and it was this little gecko, startled by my presence he was hidden between the ridges of the leaf. He would pop his head up periodically to check his surroundings, as soon as he saw i was still there he would hide again. We played this game for a while until i got the shot. Holualoa big Island, Hawaii
CONFRONTING: Cage divers confront a great white shark on the Isla de Guadalupe.
THE CLOUD: At safari not only animals can attract attention. South Africa, Western Cape, Aquila Safari park.
FLESH AND BONES: In a world where no one understands the importance of nature, all that is left of our nature is just these flesh & bones. Toronto, Canada.
ATACAMA SUNSET: Setting sun lights up clouds over Salar de Atacama in north Chile. I took this photo in July 2011 and at that time clouds like this were worrying sign of more unusual snow fall which already blocked roads to Bolivia and Argentina. Thankfully this time it just served as spectacular canvas to a sunset and reminder how beautiful is the world we live in. Salar de Atacama, Chile
FLIGHT OF AN EAGLE OWL: A large adult eagle owl in flight. Lingfield, Surrey, UK.
LOVE OF PARENTS: The emperor penguins fight for survival and to protect their only baby in the frozen Antarctic ice desert. Antarctica: Atka Bay, Weddell Sea.
WINTER LOLLIPOPS: Winter is extremely beautiful in Lithuania. It was an early morning and minus 25 degrees Celsius outside. This landscape feels out of this world, but in fact it's in the outskirts of my home city, Kaunas—just a mile away from my house. Oftentimes beauty lies just a step away from our door. Kaunas,
OXPECKER'S PUZZLE: I've always been intrigued by the markings of giraffes--how they vary between individuals and how they look like pieces of a puzzle, cracked mud or even tectonic plates in my scientific mind. I've tried many times to capture them but it was never right. Here, this oxpecker in a tight crop, lost on the abstract surface and framed by the legs of the larger animal finally seems to work. South Africa.
NIGHT TIME HAMMERHEAD: Curious hammerhead at dusk. Cat Key, Bahamas.
STINGRAY: This image was captured to Sandbar, Grand Cayman during my last trip.This beautiful creature turn around you very close and you can touch it.This is a really amazing experience, you are surrounded by dozen of this friendly animal. Sandbar-Grand Cayman-Caribean
WILDEBEEST CROSSING: Beautiful mayhem. Masai Mara, Kenya
SAND SPHERES: The food filtered 2-3mm sand ball creations of a tiny Sand Bubbler Crap. Done so that it knows which sand has been filtered for food. Daintree Rainforest region, Cairns, Austrailia.
SUMMER AT GRANNY'S: This is a heart-shaped stawberry in the hand of my grandmother. Love is the message. Gyula, Hungary
GOOD MORNING: Jabulani the elephant greeting his caretaker, Stavros Chakoma, before heading out on safari. Kapama Game Reserve, Kruger region of South Africa.
RHEA'S PORTRAIT: A different angle from an American Rhea (Rhea americana) seen in Pantanal, Brazil, on a cloudy day. Pantanal, Miranda, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
SUNBATHING UNDERWATER: The sun gives us energy even underwater. This image was captured during freediving (diving on a single breath without scuba gear) in the Red Sea. Eel Garden, Dahab, Sinai, Egypt.
WEATHERED HANDS: The Kara women collect the water, cook for family, harvest the fields, make the clothing, and are the backbone of the tribe. This elderly woman was the only white-haired person I came in contact with. I tried desperately to get a pleasing portrait and caught her hands in my peripheries; the perfect symbol of the woman's role in tribal society in the Omo River Valley. Her bracelets are made from salvaged AK-47 shell casings, a symbol in itself for the cyclic theme of war and revenge between the Kara and the neighboring tribe, the Nyangatom. Omo River Valley, Ethiopia
THE UNTOLD STORY: A young Afghan refugee girl living, with her family, in a village named Bhaun near district Chakwal in Punjab, Pakistan. Village Bhaun, Punjab, Pakistan.
DUSK IN THE BALE MOUNTAINS: A kitten and an elderly woman stand outside their hut deep in the subalpine Bale Mountains of southeastern Ethiopia. Bale Mountains, Ethiopia.
PAPA: This a portrait that I took of my Grandfather. He was a photographer and I wanted to show all his wonderful old cameras and his life in an editorial styled portrait. He just turned 95 years old and still remembers how all his old camera's work. I really love this picture and hope you like it as well. Hillside,
SALOME RAMOS: Salome Ramos is 64 years old and lives in Quibdo, a town with a 95 percent Black population derived from African slaves imported to Pacific coast of Colombia by the conquistadors. She is presently out of work, but her previous Jobs include everything from maid to miner. The economics of Quibdo are almost entirely supported by the wages of mining or fishing and the towns atmosphere has a raw vibrance, I felt like an alien as everyone stared at me- in a curious rather than un-welcoming way. Quibdo, Colombia
NEW ORLEANS STREETCAR: This is a streetcar in New Orleans traveling back towards The Quarter on St. Charles Ave. I held the camera against the window sill, making sure to divide the image equally between the inside and the outside. New Orleans, Louisiana.
PRAYING ON THE LAND OF BLACK JERUSALEM - I: Black Jerusalem is the name given to Lalibela, the ancient capital of Abyssinia and monastic city of northern Ethiopian mountains. Its 11 rocky churches hidden in the volcanic rock are still venerated as the Mecca of the Ethiopian Coptic Christianity. Every believer is required to make at least once in his or her life a pilgrimage. Inside the rock-carved church Debra Sina, a female pilgrim draped in her robe is reading the bible. In the background a corridor communicates with the church Golgotha whose access is denied to women. Lalibela
TERENCE STAMP: The actor at my home in Ojai, California, during a casual photoshoot in my living room. Ojai, CA.
LIGHT'S TRYST WITH DARKNESS IN SEMI-URBAN INDIA: Image shot at 11:45pm, where a windstorm caused complete blackout on a newly constructed bridge in Lucknow,India. The pic is taken in a newly urbanized area, however cheaper modes of transport-autorickshaws and 2 wheelers still rule the streets at any hour. The pic shows various contrasting features - Some folks sitting, some walking, some driving without lights (autorickshaw), some navigating with 'high beam lights' to also give the missing illumination of installed street lights. The contrasting movements/features are depicted by the contrast of lightness and darkness, in the semi-urban city. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
THE PIGEON FEEDERS: Photographs taken at the entrance to the New Mosque in Eminonu districkt of Istanbul. After strolling through the streets of this ancient city, I have stopped there to relax watching the hordes flying from one feeder to the other. Istanbul, Turkey.
FALLING LEAVES: This photo was taken in Bruges, Belgium in September in 2011. Bruges, Belgium
NATURAL LANDSCAPE PAINTING: The Landmannalaugar is probably one of the most impressive place in Iceland, a popular tourist destination. Located near the volcano Hekla in southern section of Iceland's highlands. The area displays a number of unusual geological elements, like the multicolored rhyolite mountains. When I took this picture, it was raining and it became worse after. I waited a bit for have people into my composition, in such a landscape to have a notion of scale is important, hence you will find a group of people at the bottom left. Iceland, Landmannalaugar. (Photo and caption by Romain
FLAT OCEAN: Just before a huge monsoon downpour, the ocean became flat as I have never seen before. It was drizzling a bit, people were on their way to their house, when I walked up this pier. The light rain made the pier mirror-like, and the ocean was so calm. On the horizon are the islands just in front of Makassar, part of that special islands of Sulawesi. Makassar, Indonesia.
BLOW'N IN THE WIND: A warm blustery Labor Day 2011, Chicago. Oak Street Beach, Chicago,
THE GOLDEN GATE: A very different perspective of the Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco, CA, USA
FISHING ON THE CLOUD: Anglers fishing in the mist rising from the reservoir by dawn look like fishing on cloud. Gosam reservoir, Anseong, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
TIME: An image with beautiful natural colours i was surveying for work when i found this moment and only got the one single shot due to the meeting with my client, the car and the climber was removed one week after the image was taken.
BY THE WIND OF CHANCE: I was doing my touristic duties to photograph the Pyramids, and I hear my professor shouting. Next thing you know my entire class and some police officers were running to catch my professors hat. It actually wasn't until later that night when scrolling through my photos that I realized I captured this gem. Great Pyramid of Giza.
