2010 National Geographic Photography Contest Galleries

Kina and Noppe

Photo and caption by Dick Eriksson

My daughter Kina is playing with her dog Noppe on a beautiful spring day. The big oak tree shades the mid-day sun in the Natural Reserve of Sandemar, a place outside Stockholm next to the Baltic sea.

Salvation

Photo and caption by hongsik kim

Appreciate life to save the world

let's go home

Photo and caption by wahyudi Andriono

there are several ducks in rice fields which are running, I immediately take a photo

A glimps of Northern Light

Photo and caption by Otto Motzke

A glimps of Northern light was captured the night of 5. of august at a public bath here in Oslo. It is very seldom the Northern light shows up as south as Oslo during summertime, I have never experienced that before, but reading up front of the extraordinary solar storm that acured some days up front, I went out late in the night hoping to get a glimps of the Aurora borealis which is the right name for this fenomena at the Northern Hemisphere.

Gushing In

Photo and caption by joseph raymond sy

I wanted to capture the details of the shells and the waves at the same time. I waited patiently for the waves and this was the strongest that I was able to grab.

My Friend the Giraffe

Photo and caption by Ashleigh Haworth

A friendly giraffe in Glen Rose, Texas.

The lone tree

Photo and caption by Luc Quelin

This photograph has been taken on the road between Bangor and Calais (Maine) on august 6th 2010. It is part of a personnal project to reach Robert Frank's house in Mabou Mines (Nova Scotia) from Montreal. Using for this photo trip a 4x5 Inches Speedgraphic camera loaded with the last Polaroïd PN55 films. The whole story ends with 31 black and white Photoshop free pictures.

After the Storm

Photo and caption by Jim Larkin

After a strong cold front moved through the area, my daughter yelled to me that their was a rainbow outside. I looked, expecting your run of the mill normal rainbow. What I saw was the most stunning double rainbow that I may have ever seen. The sky was clearing from west to east, the storm clouds still in half the sky, the sun setting at the perfect angle behind me. It just all came together on that day.

Snow Weasel

Photo and caption by Kellen Witschen

This is a picture of a weasel I found in Northern Minnesota.

Polar Bears get Snow treat

Photo and caption by Johan Wouters

Polar bears in Dutch Zoo "Dierenrijk" near the city of Eindhoven get a snow treat; artificial snow from a machine used in indoor skiing halls is blown into their outdoor cage, to the bears obvious delight.

Emerging

Photo and caption by Jon Bowie

I happened along this photo op purely by chance! I was fencing 3 miles from our ranch headquarters in the middle of the Saskatchewan Sandhills when I came upon the butterfly emerging from it's cocoon. It's wings hadn't even dried yet. I got out my Nikon D90 and took 3 pictures. This is one of them!

Cheetah in the Masai Mara, Kenya

Photo and caption by Rebecca Yale

A male cheetah lifts his head to look at me in the Masai Mara, Kenya. This male was laying on his side with his head down for over an hour turning over from side to side, but never lifting his head or opening his eyes. Then suddenly he caught a smell on the air and lifted his head so the sun caught his eyes and slightly parted his mouth while looking right at me creating an amazing intimate moment with one of the world's deadliest cats.

The Birth Of Earth

Photo and caption by Terje Sorgjerd

Getting close or getting too close? Photo taken of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption that would grind most of europe air traffic. This is the scariest moment in my life, and also the most beautiful and frightening display of raw force I have ever seen.

Sunrise on the Dunes and Crabs at Ar Har, Socotra

Photo and caption by Don Whitebread

Socotra is an island off the southern coast of Yemen. It is known as "the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean", because much of its life is found nowhere else on Earth. The white dunes at Ar Har, on the northern coast are blown against the limestone cliffs by the fierce spring monsoon winds. The small pyramids on the beach sand are made by burrowing crabs each night.

Nocturnal Beauty

Photo and caption by Richard Brown

These Night Blooming Cactus were shot in my back yard in Dunedin, Florida, using a 5mp (pocket camera). The blossums last only one night, then wilt and fall off. Occasionally, they will bear "dragon fruit" which some use to make Boat drinks".

Black Sea Split

Photo and caption by Ivan Bakardjiev

Black sea Rhizostoma pulmo lazying in the September sun.

Field of Cotton Grass -Landmannalaugar

Photo and caption by Jennifer Jesse

This photograph was taken in July of 2010 while hiking in a region of Iceland called Landmannalaugar. People come to this area in order to see the colorful rhyolite mountains. During our trip we had come across small amounts of cotton grass along the roads, but I never expected to see such a huge field of it. This image represents what Iceland is all about. Just when you think the landscape can't surprise you anymore, something else even more amazing comes along.