2014 National Geographic Photo Contest, Week 1

The 26th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest is now accepting submissions. Official categories include: “Travel Portraits”, “Outdoor Scenes”, “Sense of Place” and “Spontaneous Moments”. The contest is accepting entries until June 30.

“The Monk”. Mount Athos is not just one thing – it is many things combined; and each monk with his own personal history. They chant along with the sounds of nature, uniquely tuned to a divine frequency. Peaceful, calm, restful. You can hear about all the miracles that have occurred and changed the lives of people within and without the place. A feeling of isolation engulfs you from the moment you board the little boat, giving you a sense that you are suspended between the sea and sky… Photo location: Holly Mount Athos, Greece. (Photo and caption by Dimitris Vlaikos/National Geographic Photo Contest)


“Typical red rorbu huts Reine – Lofoten ”. Typical red rorbu huts with sod roof in town of Reine on Lofoten. Photo location: Reine, Lofoten Islands, Norway. (Photo and caption by Sausse David/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Joy – love the swings ”. Its essential to see how life is normal for kids even in slums near railway tracks – unauthorized construction and home. Children never go to school here but the joy of childhood remains unaffected and is depicted in the photograph. Photo location: India, New Delhi, Patel Nagar. (Photo and caption by Pushkar Raj Sharma/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Climber”. Climbers are creatures that climb high up toward the heavens, and their hands are tools for grabbing hold of the summit. Photo location: Argentiere, France. (Photo and caption by Yosuke Kashiwakura/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Iceberg Gallery”. Like a scene from a different time on earth, or a completely different planet altogether. Passed down through Jökulsárlón lagoon through an outlet of the Vatnajökull Glacier, Icebergs enter into the North Atlantic. Shaped and polished by the ocean, the tide leaves a magnificent gallery of huge iceberg sculptures on the volcanic black beaches of Iceland. Photographed here at sunset, just after a rain storm. For scale, this Iceberg is about the size of a Jeep. Photo location: Jökulsárlón, South Coast, Iceland. (Photo and caption by Sam Morris/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Himalayan Dog”. This dog just appeared out of nowhere and followed us for an entire week during our trekking trip in the Himalayan outback. He always used to sleep in front of our tent and guarded us in the nights. When I decided to get up at 4 a.m. to climb the next 5000 m peak for sunrise he accompanied me as well. On the top he was sitting for the entire 30 minutes on this place looking straight into the countryside. Photo location: Ladakh, India. (Photo and caption by Sebastian Wahlhuetter/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Peek a Boo”. Photographing wildlife in Florida is never the easiest task. One of the differences from photographing wildlife in other states has to be the abundance of biting bugs, ticks, deadly snakes and extreme heat and humidity. After bushwhacking my way through the brush, mud and water I was able to set up my gear, and still giving a good safe distance between myself and the nest. The nest appeared empty at first, but after a few minutes I started to see some movement. A pair of beautiful white miniature horns were the first to rise above the twigs before I seen this pair of beautiful Owlet eyes. Photo location: Jacksonville Beach, Florida, USA. (Photo and caption by Graham McGeorge/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Sometimes Its Not About the Sunset”. Taken with Samsung Galaxy Note3 while watching the Sunset at Boracay Island Philippines. The beachfront was so crowded with sunset watchers and photo enthusiast so i decided to include them in the frame rather than taking a classic sunset photos which for me makes it more interesting. I used Samsung Note instead of slr asmy camera was so heavy to move around the beach and the samsung note was more reasonable to carry around. I believe that its not on the equipment but the eye of the photographer that matters. Photo location: Boracay Island, Philippines. (Photo and caption by Claro Madayag Jr/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Like Mother Like Son”. I met the mother and her son at Burning Man 2013, on morning after the man was burnt. Burning Man is an out of the world experience and of the things you must do before you die. Photo location: Burning Man, Black Rock City, Nevada. (Photo and caption by Pooja Gulati/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Light Source”. Young Monk finds a perfect light source to read his book inside of his pagoda – Old Bagan, Burma. Photo location: Old Bagan. (Photo and caption by Marcelo Castro/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“The Meeting”. When two personalities take a closer look at one another eye to eye – that moment comes and goes but is never entirely forgotten. Photo location: Karesuando, Lapland, Finland. (Photo and caption by Helen Errington/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Winter Cave”. One of the local ice guide guys arriving at a remote ice cave in southeast Iceland. Photo location: Southeast, Iceland. (Photo and caption by Marcelo Castro/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Epiphany”. One of my dreams was it to shoot the night sky when I went on holiday to New Zealand this February. Unfortunately the time was not perfect because of the moon, which was at the beginning nearly the whole night at the sky and also the weather made me change plans. At the end of my trip I had luck an get a clear sky after the sunset although the whole day was very cloudy. I decided to drive to the famous little church in Tekapo and took some shots of the night sky before the moon rose. Photo location: Lake Tekapo, South Island of New Zealand. (Photo and caption by Sebastian Warneke/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Mirrow Wave ”. The Wave after a heavy thunderstorm with a small pond granting a perfect mirror for the reflection of the hiker. A calm and solemn place at a perfect day. Photo location: The Wave at the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona/Utah. (Photo and caption by Nicholas Roemmelt/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Salt Raker’s Endless Task”. A Salt Raker in Aveiro, Portugal. The Ria de Aveiro lagoon system on the northwest Atlantic coast of Portugal has been a site of salt production since at least 929 A.D. Although salt-making is no longer a dominant player in the regional economy, several salinas that produce salt in the same ancient way – by hand – remain in operation. This man labours under the scorching sun, heading into another of the seemingly endless evaporation flats to rake the sludgy brine. Photo location: Aveiro, Portugal. (Photo and caption by Kris Heshka/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Trillium Falls”. This was taken at Trillium Falls in Redwood National and State Park in Humboldt County California. Photo location: Redwood National and State Park, Humboldt County, California. (Photo and caption by Christiopher Wolven/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Explosion”. Japanese feel the coming of spring I feel by plum blossoms. There is a culture of the cherry blossoms in spring in Japan. It is said was said implication to appreciate the cherry tree is strong now, but to mean plum Speaking of flowers in the Nara period of approximately 1300 before. This was a plum grove sight sight light goes pointing gradually early in the morning is beautiful too, such as that explosion is like spring. Photo location: Takao,Tokyo, Japan. (Photo and caption by Hideyuki Katagiri/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Intimacy In Bodeguita Cafe”. The first time visiting La Bodeguita Del Media Cafe in Havana where Ernest Hemingway used to spend his days, walking down after having lunch and a rest I noticed this couple just having such a quiet moment and the yellow light coming from their corner contrasted with all the blue and writings that made me feel I need to capture it in this way. Photo location: Havana, Cuba. (Photo and caption by Bashar Nabil Alaeddin/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Living on the Tundra…” Young Nenet boy in Siberia Yamal plays in –30 degrees. Photo location: Siberia, Russia. (Photo and caption by Simon Morris/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“A node glows in the dark…” In the last 10 years, mobile data, smart phones and social networks have forever changed our existence. Although this woman stood at the center of a jam packed train, but the warm glow from her phone tells the strangers around her that she’s not really here. She manged to slip away from here, for a short moment, she’s a node flickering on the social web, roaming the earth, free as a butterfly. Our existence is no longer stuck to the physical here, we’re free to run away, and run we will. Photo location: Ocean Park, Hong Kong. (Photo and caption by Brian Yen/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Climbing Kilimanjaro, Day 2”. Just recently returned from a 7 day climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Using the Lemosho route via the Western Breach. This picture was taken during the second day when the landscape was slowly changing. This lonely tree got my attention – being so proud up there… Photo location: Kilimanjaro, Lemosho Route. (Photo and caption by Gaby Israel/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“A Guides Eye View”. Two mountain guides direct a helicopter into land high in the Swiss Alps on top of Mt. Gond. I took this shot whilst shooting an extreme ski and snowboard competition – the Nendaz Freeride FWQ. I had been dropped just before on the peak and with the permission of the guides cowered down behind them to capture this shot when the remaining supplies were delivered. My lens took a bit of a battering and I could only hold myself in position properly for a few seconds as the rush of snow debris was insane at this point. Photo location: Mt. Gond, Haute-Nendaz, Switzerland. (Photo and caption by Philip Field/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Fire show at Kho Phi Phi”. Main attraction on Kho Phi Phi island during the night on the beach. A lot of bars hire young people to realize fire shows and attract tourists in their bars. Photo location: Kho Phi Phi, Thailand. (Photo and caption by William Kerdoncuff/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Big and Small”. Elephant and bird. Photo location: Serengeti, Tanzania. (Photo and caption by James Kobacker/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“El Salto del Angel Azul”. Imagen de Martin pescador en pleno lance, imagen con 4 flases, trabajo de alta velocidad. Photo location: Alicante. (Photo and caption by Cesareo Pastor Quesada/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Taxi Cholo”. The tricycle or Taxi Cholo, the working tool of thousands of Peruvians. Photo location: Urubamba, Cusco, Peru. (Photo and caption by Johnny Mas-Bagá/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“U Bien Bridge Crossing”. Locals, Monks, Kids, Tourist walking on U Bien bridge made out of teakwood. Photo location: Amarapura, South of Mandalay, Myanmar. (Photo and caption by April Badilles/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Girl in a mosque”. Photo made in Pink Mosque from Shiraz, Iran. The girl is wearing traditional persian outfit. Photo location: Shiraz, Iran. (Photo and caption by Mihaela Noroc/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Balloon vendor on the Hanoi old quarter street”. Balloon vendor wandered through the street maze of Hanoi old quarter at night. Photo location: Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo and caption by Sai Kit Leung/National Geographic Photo Contest)