2014 National Geographic Photo Contest, Week 8

“Sorrow”. How many times must a child cries before he is comforted? How many times must a man be cruel before he sees the light? The answer is making me so angry my friend and there is no wind today. Photo location: Aneby, Sweden. (Photo and caption by Cletus Nelson Nwadike/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“A shepherd”. The wide fields around our excavation site in Iraqi Kurdistan invited us to enjoy sunsets on a daily basis. When contemplating the setting sun again, I saw a shepherd with his flock from afar. Photo location: Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq. (Photo and caption by Juan Aguilar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Through the looking glass”. “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” – Martin Luther King Jr. Photo location: Kathmandu, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. (Photo and caption by Michele Gapp/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Barber Shop”. The beauty of a noble job merging with the deep steady and imperturbable look of a man being shaved at the corner of an indian street. Photo location: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. (Photo and caption by Sabrina Dattrino/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Traditional Mostar jumps from Old bridge”. Lorens Listo is a eight-time champion of traditional Mostar rebounds from the Old Bridge. In the minds of most sane people, jumping off tall bridges is a way to die – but in Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina, it’s a way of life. Photo location: Mostar, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo and caption by Haris Begić/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Patience”. A Kurdish tailor. Photo location: Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq. (Photo and caption by Juan Aguilar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Last round out”. After more than twenty years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces, Sergeant AG fires his traditional last round in the field before retirement. Photo location: Yakima, WA. (Photo and caption by Albert Law/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Aahir”. Aahir peoples celebrating the Krishna festival. The baby which just born a week before the festival is considered the Krishna reincarnation. Photo location: Gujarat, India. (Photo and caption by Mattia Passarini/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“A moment in time…” Sunset silhouette of San hunters in the Kalahari desert. Photo location: South Africa. (Photo and caption by Ferdinand Veer/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Memories”. The person in this photograph i met beside a lonely road in Meghalaya, India. I spent one and a half hours with him,and we talked about so many things, and basically I was just a listener. He used to work in some illegal coal mine, he show me his hands which were not in very good shape due to the poor working conditions. Due to environmental reasons the government shut down the illegal mines and people like him lost their job & their livlihood. in these remote corners of india, work is not readily available, so he is now unemployed and spends his time smoking and drinking all day. Photo location: Meghalaya, India. (Photo and caption by Jayanta Roy/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Last Light on Mt. Cook”. Sometimes after watching the sunset it pays to wait for the last light, setting shards of light make for amazing images and I was fortunate to be presented with this moment. Photo location: Mt. Cook National Park, New Zealand. (Photo and caption by John Forsyth/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Elliott and His Hen”. A young farm boy gently cradles his favorite hen. Photo location: Kingman, Arizona. (Photo and caption by Lisa Holloway/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Girl and her Bike”. We did not know how to communicate with each other. Everything called me to this photo. The sky. The grass. Her. Her bike. It was the perfect setting and I made a friend who gave me a photograph I will never forget taking. From my 2 week trip in Ghana. Photo location: Tamale, Ghana, Africa. (Photo and caption by Aaron Thomas/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Magical Hot Springs”. In a remote village of Gui De, China, People believe these hot springs are magical and they can cure many ailments and diseases. They walked hundreds of miles to sock in these magical hot springs of Gui De. Photo location: Gui De, Qing Hai Province, China. (Photo and caption by Adam Wong/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Spring breeze”. It is a steam locomotive which runs feel full the breeze of spring. Order to express the dash feeling, I got off the shutter to match the speed of the railway running. Photo location: Oigawa railway, Shizuoka, Japan. (Photo and caption by Hideyuki Katagiri/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Fuji of dusk”. The stars shined most at dusk of Mount Fuji. Photo location: Fumotoppara. (Photo and caption by Kenichi Sunata/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Great Ocean Sunset”. Sunset at the 12 apostles on the Great Ocean Road capped off an amazing trip with friends from Melbourne I had met just a few months ago in Malaysia. Photo location: Great Ocean Road, Australia. (Photo and caption by Walter Chang/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Dead Vlei Trees at Sunset”. The dead trees at Dead Vlei, in Sossusvlei, Namibia, create stark silhouettes against the intense orange color of the sand. A dune towering 1,000 feet creates a backdrop as the shadow cast by a nearby dune moves across the wall of sand and shades the ground and trees of the dry mud flat. Photo location: Dead Vlei, Sossusvlei, Namibia. (Photo and caption by Beverly Houwing/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Crooked Door in a Sand-filled Room”. The nearby dunes blow sand into Kolmanskop, a long-abadoned village for diamond mine workers. It’s slowing being consumed by the surrounding landscape. Photo location: Kolmanskop; Namibia. (Photo and caption by Beverly Houwing/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Tuscan Lightning”. I captured this lightning near Pienza in Tuscany. Photo location: Italy. (Photo and caption by Oliver Hartmann/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Flame Trees”. While vacationing in Banff this summer, we rounded a sharp turn in the road on our way to Jasper only to be confronted by a raging wildfire. I had never seen a fire of this magnitude before. Photo location: Alberta, Canada. (Photo and caption by Chris Garner/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Rainier Snow Cave”. Being inside a large snow cave feels almost like a different world – perhaps akin to someplace that humans aren’t supposed to venture. I found this snow cave while hiking around Mt Rainier. Since I didn’t have alternate footwear, I decided to go in barefoot with my camera. The water was freezing cold and there was a good breeze blowing through the cave. I took my shots as quickly as I could. Once I got out, I had to sun myself on some nearby rocks for almost an hour to warm back up. When I went back and looked at what I got, it was definitely worth it! Photo location: Mt Rainier National Park, Washington. (Photo and caption by David Swindler/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Horse and Cart”. There is nothing more awe inspiring as watching the sunrise and set from the top of one of the temples in the central plain in Bagan. Back in the day, the Kings of Bagan commissioned the construction of some 4000 Buddhist Temples, but only around half remain standing today… but what a sight they are. What’s more is the balloons are now an accepted sight as they drift silently across the orange glows of dawn. Easily the most memorable experience in Asia to date. Stunning. Photo location: Bagan, Myanmar. (Photo and caption by Andy Ferrington/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Autumn of the quietness”. The daybreak approaches, and a lake buried among late-night fog regains a color. Colored leaves of the opposite bank added color to the blue world. Photo location: Tobestu Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo and caption by Hiroshi Tanita/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“End of the Day”. Looking back on Mt Hood after after Timberline has closed for the day. The mountain and incoming weather dwarf the chairlift while hinting at more powder days to come. Photo location: Mt. Hood Timberline. (Photo and caption by Jonathan Shaw/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Nun and temple”. The perfect combination of historical temple and modern statue Buddha in Cambodia Preah Khan temple, the most of the statue are destroyed in the war of Khmer Rouge. The nuns have taken over these responsibilities because almost all the monks were wiped out when Khmer Rouge. The old nun was still in her trust; had never left it. Photo location: Cambodia. (Photo and caption by Rex Wong/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“The houses of believers”. In Sertar Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, countless number of small red houses were awash on the lush green mountain sides, they are houses of thousands of Buddhist students who live in the institute. Photo location: China. (Photo and caption by Sai kit Leung/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“At the window”. Damselfly watching in my camera through the hole of a leaf. Photo location: Luzzara, Reggio Emilia, Italy. (Photo and caption by Alberto Ghizzi Panizza/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Night life”. The night snorkel with silky sharks is a special experience, where even the coolest types of pulse goes up. Photo location: Punta Tosca, Socorro Island, Revillagigedo Archipelago. (Photo and caption by Michael Weberberger/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Mother’s care”. Humans or animals – mothers stay mothers. You can nearly hear: “But mu-u-u-m!!!” from this baby in Monkeys’ Sanctuary. Photo location: Bali, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Julia Wimmerlin/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Giraffe Spray”. I have dreamed of capturing this image of a giraffe at sunset, drinking with the resultant spray as it lifts its head to check for predators. On my last night in Botswana I finally got the opportunity. Photo location: Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana. (Photo and caption by Donald Gutoski/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Show Time”. It’s a normal behavior of mantis. They’re doing defence.When they’re afraid of ; raising their arms and spreading their wings.They looks like smiling dancer. Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Third Tree”. Sunset in South Luangwa national Park is always fascinating and looks more beautiful every time. We stopped on a plane ground in a park for sundowner. October is driest and hottest moth of the year. We can found most of the trees without leaves as they shaded the leaves. I stared taking landscapes with silhouette of trees on sunset. Suddenly a flock of birds came into the picture and started moving from one tree to another. There movement created a shape of a tree in between two trees. It seems to be addition of third tree in between two trees. Photo location: South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. (Photo and caption by Sanjeev Bhor/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Tale of two foxes”. I was in Cape Churchill to photograph polar bears as they were waiting for the ice to form on Hudson Bay. There seemed to be an abundance of arctic foxes this year. Unexpectedly we saw this red fox, which attacked and killed the smaller arctic fox. After feeding for a while it took the remains and ran about trying to find a suitable hiding place for the remains. This was just one image in a series I took of the event! Photo location: Cape Churchill, Manitoba Canada. (Photo and caption by Donald Gutoski/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Smoke snakes”. At end of summer, farmers burn their crops to provide nutrients to the soil for the next season. At night, this agricultural procedure became an impressive spectacle as these fires could spread over dozens of meters and produce a lot of smoke. As there is just minor light pollution, I waited until the stars could be seen again. Photo location: Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq. (Photo and caption by Juan Aguilar/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Encounters in Serengeti”. A big elephant stright in front of me. Photo location: Serengeti, Tanzania. (Photo and caption by Alberto Ghizzi Panizza/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Fennec, the soul of the desert”. El fénnec es el alma del desierto, un alma salvaje y libre cuya amenaza principal es el tráfico ilegal por parte de desalmados sin escrúpulos que no dudan lo más mínimo en arrebatarle la vida de entre las majestuosas dunas para cambiarla por los fríos barrotes de una jaula cárcel. Si algún día el fénnec desaparece también abra desaparecido la parte más genuina y salvaje de estas extensas dunas rojas, su sello de identidad, el alma en los desiertos. Photo location: Sahara Desert. (Photo and caption by José Mingorance/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Before The Strike”. In Albany, Texas, snake hunting is a sport composed of flashlights, mirrors, gas, and smoke. While shooting for a group of men snake hunting in West Texas, I came 18 inches from this rattle snakes face and captured this shot before the strike. Photo location: Albany, Texas. (Photo and caption by Ford Yates/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Tired After A Great Lunch”. The lions killed a wildebeest in the morning. This male had his lunch just five minutes ago and was looking for a place were he can rest. I love the detail with the flying flies around his mouth. Photo location: Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa. (Photo and caption by Klaus Mayer/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Smashing”. The Warrnambool Breakwater was smashed by wild wind and even wilder swells on the 24th of July 2014. Photo location: Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia. (Photo and caption by Dan Atkinson/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Shoulder Check”. A wild short eared owl completes a shoulder check in case something was missed. Northern harriers were also hunting in the field and these raptors will often steal a kill from the owls. Photo location: Boundary Bay, BC, Canada. (Photo and caption by Henrik Nilsson/National Geographic Photo Contest)