2010 National Geographic Photography Contest Galleries

Law of Survival

Photo and caption by Dung Ma

A heron caught a squirrel at Huntington Library Park in California

Dolphin's Dinner

Photo and caption by paul Cowell

This was taken during the annual sardine migration 2010. just off the Mboyti coast in South Africa. Taken in June 2010.

Remembering Faith

Photo and caption by Simon Pidcock

This photograph was taken in the Canadian Gulf Islands. It was the first super pod of the year. There are three resident pods or families of Orcas that grace our waters for 6 months of the year. A super pod is when all three pods totaling 87 whales come together to socialize and mate.

This particular Orca is L57 "Faith" who was 31 years old and from L Pods' family. He went missing two months after this photo was taken and is presumed dead. He had a great affinity for inter-species interactions and loved to sneak up on unsuspecting boats for surprise visits.

Newborn

Photo and caption by Rocco Sette

After a big fight, a young lion male scared the leader of a lion praid away. He killed next to this two of three newborn babys they just was born a few hours before. The last one tried the Mother to safe, she walked with the baby in the mauth it and walked with the baby in the mouth far away.

Splashing polar bear

Photo and caption by Vitaliy Matveev

Polar bear splashing in an attempt to escape the summer heat in Kaliningrad Zoo, Russia.

Goliath Grouper in Bait Ball

Photo and caption by james Abernethy

Goliath Grouper in Bait Ball

The Last of His Kind

Photo and caption by Jody MacDonald

Rajan is the last ocean swimming elephant on earth. Initially trained using very cruel methods to log the Andaman Islands, he was forced to swim hauling massive loads. At 60 years he is the last of the group to survive. Now retired, he spends his time with his caretaker and enjoys swimming and walking through the forests he once logged. He is truly the last of his kind.

Serendipity

Photo and caption by donna rosser

A garter makes its way into my garage.

Contemplation

Photo and caption by Lawrence Smith

We were in the Bwindi National Forest in Uganda, in search of the endangered Mountain Gorilla. After 3 hours of heavy hiking, through dense jungle, we spotted a group of gorillas. This gorilla looked as if he was pondering the world and everything which was happening. Though they are wild, and you need to keep your distance, sometimes they let you approach.

Playing Cheetah

Photo and caption by Rocco Sette

A young unexperienced Cheetah male played more than 20 minutes with a baby Gazelle. During the play time, it looked like the Cheetah found a companion, before he killed the Gazelle.

Mantas and Schooling Fish

Photo and caption by gina sanfilippo

Here, two mantas have just left the cleaning station in Hanifaru Bay, Maldives, and the schooling fish have parted to allow them through.

Microburst and Duststorm

Photo and caption by Nick Moir

In the days leading up to the devastating bushfires in 2009 in SE Australia , fast moving thunderstorms created havoc by dropping lightning and creating "microbursts" powerful downdraft winds which wipped up fires and duststorms. Here a storm creates and duststorm near the town of Temora

Frost

Photo and caption by Nick Moir

Steam from a coal fired power station is highlighted by dawn light during a record breaking cold snap in the Australian inland , temperatures of -9c very low for the region created widespread and damaging frosts. Crops throughout the region suffered from the unexpected cold temperatures.

Foxpotret

Photo and caption by Kai Fagerström

Potret of fox

Colibri (Hummingbird)

Photo and caption by marcos furer

A beautiful hummingbird sticking its tong out would come every morning to my kitchen window to have breakfast.
I photographed it using a 300 mm 2.8 lens and a strobe.
The background is the sky.

Controlled Chaos

Photo and caption by Jonatha Eger

My family and I were feeding the ducks in Collingwood, Ontario. Once in a while, if we got too close, the ducks would get scared and fly about 20 feet away, before slowly making their way back to the shore. This specific photograph was taken on the 2nd day of feeding. I took more than 250 photographs, and this was my favorite of the bunch. Taken from the waters edge, about 5 feet above water level.Taken with a Canon EOS-5D and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS. Camera settings: ISO 800, f/8.0, 1/800, manual focus

Little Mushroom

Photo and caption by Yang Yi

This is a pot of cactus near my bed, Maybe the wind brings the spore and grows up a small mushroom. I picked up my camera to record this special moment, in order to achieve fantastic photo, I used a flashlight on this mushroom, so comes this picture.