Tag: hq galleries

4 Cities on 4 Continents Around the World at Night

Photographer Jakob Wagner takes us on a night time trip around the world

 

Jakob Wagner is a German photographer currently based in Düsseldorf specialising in landscape, aerial, cityscape, industrial and fine art photography. In a series on Behance entitled Nightscapes, Wagner features select night time photos from various personal projects shot between 2009 and 2014.

Below are some of my personal cityscape favourites, but be sure to check out the entire series on Behance. You can also see more from Wagner at the links below.

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

 

Shanghai

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

 

Cape Town

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

 

Düsseldorf

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

 

New York City

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

JAKOB WAGNER
Website | Behance | Instagram

 

 

A National Geographic Tour of Interesting Bridges Around the World (8 Photos)

From traditional stepping stone bridges in China to living tree root bridges in India

 

Our friends at National Geographic have just published “The World’s Most Spectacular Bridges“, a list that features 12 picturesque bridges from around the world that are sure to have adventure-seekers, engineers, bikers and romantics checking these bridges off their bucket lists.

Nat Geo has kindly let us share some of the interesting bridges from the gallery, but be sure to check out the full article for complete information and travel tips.

 

 

Rakotzbrücke
Gablenz, Germany

 

Photograph by Peter Hirth / Redux

 

Commissioned by Friedrich Hermann Rötschke in 1860, Rakotzbrücke’s perfect parabola and basalt spires make it a legendary “devil’s bridge.”

 

 

Q’eswachaka Rope Bridge
Quehue, Peru

 

Photograph by Wigbert Röth / Getty Images

 

Q’eswachaka, one of the last surviving Inca rope bridges, has spanned 124 feet across the Akpurimac canyon for more than 500 years.

 

 

Traditional Dingbu Bridge
Fenghuang, China

 

Photograph by Paul Rushton / Alamy Stock Photo

 

A traditional dingbu bridge, made of cut and sunken stones, stretches across the Tuojiang River in China’s Phoenix Ancient Town.

 

 

Heatherwick Studio’s Rolling Bridge
London, England

 

Photograph by Steve Speller / Alamy Stock Photo

 

Completed in 2004, Heatherwick Studio’s Rolling Bridge provides access to the Grand Union Canal in London’s Paddington Basin.

 

 

Bridge of Sighs
Venice, Italy

 

Photograph by Buena Vista Images / Getty Images

 

Visitors can take a gondola ride underneath the romantic Bridge of Sighs, or explore the palace inside.

 

 

Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco, USA

 

Photograph by Spondylolithesis / Getty Images

 

Over three million vehicles cross San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge every month.

 

 

Living Root Bridge
Nongriat, India

 

Photograph by Alex Treadway / National Geographic Creative

 

The name gives it all away. The Living Root Bridge is made from living, grounded tree roots so that it is not washed away by floods.

 

 

Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge
Zermatt, Switzerland

 

Photograph by GFC Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

 

At 1,620 feet long, the Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge in Zermatt is the longest suspension footbridge in the world.

 

 

The 2017 Nat Geo Nature Photographer of the Year Winners are Here and Amazing

The grand-prize winner was selected from over 11,000 entries

 

Selected from over 11,000 entries, a wildlife photo of an orangutan crossing a river in Indonesia’s Tanjung Puting National Park has been selected as the grand-prize winner of the 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year contest. The photo, titled “Face to face in a river in Borneo,” was captured by Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan of Singapore. He has won $10,000 and will have his winning image published in an upcoming issue of National Geographic magazine and featured on the @NatGeo Instagram account.

Bojan took the winning photo after waiting patiently in the Sekoyner River in Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo, Indonesia. After spending several days on a houseboat photographing orangutans in the park, Bojan learned of a location where a male orangutan had crossed the river –­ unusual behavior that he knew he had to capture. After waiting a day and night near the suspected location, a ranger spotted the orangutan the next morning at a spot a few minutes up the river. As they drew near, Bojan decided to get into the water so the boat did not scare the primate. About five feet deep in a river supposedly home to freshwater crocodiles, Bojan captured the photo when the orangutan peeked out from behind a tree to see if the photographer was still there.

On capturing the photo, Bojan said, “Honestly, sometimes you just go blind when things like this happen. You’re so caught up. You really don’t know what’s happening. You don’t feel the pain, you don’t feel the mosquito bites, you don’t feel the cold, because your mind is completely lost in what’s happening in front of you.”

Karim Iliya of Haiku, Hawaii, won first place in the Landscapes category for a photo from Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park; Jim Obester of Vancouver, Wash., won first place in the Underwater category for a photo of an anemone; and Todd Kennedy of New South Wales, Australia, won first place in the Aerials category for a photo of a rock pool in Sydney at high tide.

The judges for the contest were National Geographic magazine’s senior photo editor of natural history assignments, Kathy Moran, National Geographic photographer Anand Varma, and photographer Michaela Skovranova.

Contestants submitted photographs in four categories – Wildlife, Landscape, Aerials and Underwater – through National Geographic’s photography community, Your Shot. All of the winning photos, along with the honorable mentions, may be viewed at natgeo.com/photocontest.

 

 

WILDLIFE

 

1st Place/Grand Prize:

 

 

A male orangutan peers from behind a tree while crossing a river in Borneo, Indonesia.

 

 

2nd Place:

 

 

An adult Caribbean pink flamingo feeds a chick in Yucatán, Mexico. Both parents alternate feeding chicks, at first with a liquid baby food called crop milk, and then with regurgitated food.

 

 

3rd Place:

 

 

Two grey herons spar as a white-tailed eagle looks on in Hungary.

 

 

Honorable Mention

 

 

A Japanese macaque indulges in some grooming time on the shores of the famous hot springs.

 

 

People’s Choice

 

 

A great gray owl swoops to kill in a New Hampshire field.

 

 

LANDSCAPES

 

1st Place:

 

 

Shortly before twilight in Kalapana, Hawai’i, a fragment of the cooled lava tube broke away, leaving the molten rock to fan in a fiery spray for less than half an hour before returning to a steady flow.

 

 

2nd Place:

 

 

Sunlight glances off mineral strata of different colors in Dushanzi Grand Canyon, China.

 

 

3rd Place:

 

 

A summer thunderstorm unleashes lightning on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

 

 

Honorable Mention

 

 

Morning fog blurs the dead trees of Romania’s Lake Cuejdel, a natural reservoir created by landslides.

 

 

People’s Choice

 

 

Sunset illuminates a lighthouse and rainbow in the Faroe Islands.

 

 

UNDERWATER

 

1st Place:

 

 

Blue-filtered strobe lights stimulate fluorescent pigments in the clear tentacles of a tube-dwelling anemone in Hood Canal, Washington.

 

 

2nd Place:

 

 

Typically a shy species, a Caribbean reef shark investigates a remote-triggered camera in Cuba’s Gardens of the Queen marine protected area.

 

 

3rd Place:

 

 

Buoyed by the Gulf Stream, a flying fish arcs through the night-dark water five miles off Palm Beach, Florida.

 

 

Honorable Mention

 

 

Preparing to strike, tarpon cut through a ribbon-like school of scad off the coast of Bonaire in the Caribbean Sea.

 

 

People’s Choice

 

 

A Portuguese man-of-war nears the beach on a summer morning; thousands of these jellyfish wash up on Australia’s eastern coast every year.

 

 

AERIALS

 

1st Place:

 

 

In Sydney, Australia, the Pacific Ocean at high tide breaks over a natural rock pool enlarged in the 1930s. Avoiding the crowds at the city’s many beaches, a local swims laps.

 

 

2nd Place:

 

 

Snow-covered metasequoia trees, also called dawn redwoods, interlace over a road in Takashima, Japan.

 

 

3rd Place:

 

 

On the flanks of Kilauea Volcano, Hawai’i, the world’s only lava ocean entry spills molten rock into the Pacific Ocean. After erupting in early 2016, the lava flow took about two months to reach the sea, six miles away.

 

 

Honorable Mention

 

 

Migratory gulls take flight from a cedar tree being washed downstream by a glacial river in British Columbia, Canada.

 

 

People’s Choice

 

 

Green vegetation blooms at the river’s edge, or riparian, zone of a meandering canyon in Utah.

 

 

Amazing Things Happen at the Grand Canyon and this Timelapse Captures Them Beautifully

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world

 

Millions of visitors a year come to Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park, one of the seven natural wonders of the world and the most visited national park in the western United States. On extremely rare days when cold air is trapped in the canyon and topped by a layer of warm air, which in combination with moisture and condensation, form the phenomenon referred to as the full cloud inversion.

In what resembles something between ocean waves and fast clouds, the Grand Canyon is completely obscured by fog, making the visitors feel as if they are walking on clouds. The full inversions, which mostly take place in the late fall or early winter, are sometimes followed by huge snowstorms, as depicted here.

The Grand Canyon was recently awarded the status of a Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association. This video was filmed as part of SKYGLOW (featured previously), an ongoing crowdfunded quest to explore the effects and dangers of urban light pollution in contrast with some of the most incredible dark sky areas in North America. This project is being produced in collaboration with International Dark-Sky Association (darksky.org), a non-profit fighting for the preservation of night skies around the globe.

The film was shot on Canon 5DIV, 5DSR & 6D cameras & lenses sponsored by Canon USA, aided by Alpine Labs’ Michron & Pulse, powered by Paul C. Buff Vagabond Mini. LRTimelapse was used to process some of the shots.

This video is a follow up to KAIBAB ELEGY, a Skyglow video which garnered over 1 million views on Vimeo and over 4 million on social media and other outlets. That video can be seen here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jupiter Up Close Looks Like a Van Gogh Painting (10 Photos)

NASA’s Juno spacecraft has taken some incredible photos of Jupiter

 

Juno is NASA’s current mission attempting to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. The spacecraft is equipped with a suite of science instruments including several high-tech cameras that have been transmitting incredible images back to Earth for processing and analysis.

Close-up images of the gas giant are awe-striking and the patterns and colours have drawn comparisons to van Gogh’s iconic impressionist-style paintings. Below you will find 10 images from Jupiter taken by Juno that look like van Gogh himself could have painted.

With the exception of the sun, Jupiter is the most dominant object in the solar system. Because of its enormous size and the fact that it was likely the first of the planets to form, and it has profoundly influenced the formation and evolution of the other bodies that orbit our star.

After a five-year journey that begin in August 2011, NASA’s Juno mission reached Jupiter in July 2016. Juno will continue to operate within the current budget plan through July 2018, for a total of 12 science orbits. The team can then propose to extend the mission during the next science review cycle. For more information, visit Juno’s official mission page.

 

 

1.

 

The Juno spacecraft captured this image when the spacecraft was only 11,747 miles (18,906 kilometers) from the tops of Jupiter’s clouds — that’s roughly as far as the distance between New York City and Perth, Australia. The color-enhanced image, which captures a cloud system in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere, was taken on Oct. 24, 2017 at 10:24 a.m. PDT (1:24 p.m. EDT) when Juno was at a latitude of 57.57 degrees (nearly three-fifths of the way from Jupiter’s equator to its north pole) and performing its ninth close flyby of the gas giant planet.
 
Because of the Juno-Jupiter-Sun angle when the spacecraft captured this image, the higher-altitude clouds can be seen casting shadows on their surroundings. The behavior is most easily observable in the whitest regions in the image, but also in a few isolated spots in both the bottom and right areas of the image. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager.

 

2.

 

This enhanced color view of Jupiter’s cloud tops was processed by citizen scientist Bjorn Jonsson using data from the JunoCam instrument on NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image highlights a massive counterclockwise rotating storm that appears as a white oval in the gas giant’s southern hemisphere. Juno acquired this image on Feb. 2, 2017, at 6:13 a.m. PDT (9:13 a.m. EDT), as the spacecraft performed a close flyby of Jupiter. When the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 9,000 miles (14,500 kilometers) from the planet.

 

3.

 

A dynamic storm at the southern edge of Jupiter’s northern polar region dominates this Jovian cloudscape, courtesy of NASA’s Juno spacecraft. This storm is a long-lived anticyclonic oval named North North Temperate Little Red Spot 1 (NN-LRS-1); it has been tracked at least since 1993, and may be older still. An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon where winds around the storm flow in the direction opposite to that of the flow around a region of low pressure. It is the third largest anticyclonic oval on the planet, typically around 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) long. The color varies between red and off-white (as it is now), but this JunoCam image shows that it still has a pale reddish core within the radius of maximum wind speeds.
 
Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager. The image has been rotated so that the top of the image is actually the equatorial regions while the bottom of the image is of the northern polar regions of the planet. The image was taken on July 10, 2017 at 6:42 p.m. PDT (9:42 p.m. EDT), as the Juno spacecraft performed its seventh close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 7,111 miles (11,444 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of 44.5 degrees.

 

4.

 

This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot was created by citizen scientist Björn Jónsson using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft. This true-color image offers a natural color rendition of what the Great Red Spot and surrounding areas would look like to human eyes from Juno’s position. The tumultuous atmospheric zones in and around the Great Red Spot are clearly visible.
 
The image was taken on July 10, 2017 at 07:10 p.m. PDT (10:10 p.m. EDT), as the Juno spacecraft performed its seventh close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 8,648 miles (13,917 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of -32.6 degrees

 

5.

 

This enhanced-color image of Jupiter’s bands of light and dark clouds was created by citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Three of the white oval storms known as the “String of Pearls” are visible near the top of the image. Each of the alternating light and dark atmospheric bands in this image is wider than Earth, and each rages around Jupiter at hundreds of miles (kilometers) per hour. The lighter areas are regions where gas is rising, and the darker bands are regions where gas is sinking. Juno acquired the image on May 19, 2017, at 11:30 a.m. PST (2:30 p.m. EST) from an altitude of about 20,800 miles (33,400 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops.

 

6.

 

This series of enhanced-color images shows Jupiter up close and personal, as NASA’s Juno spacecraft performed its eighth flyby of the gas giant planet. The images were obtained by JunoCam.
 
From left to right, the sequence of images taken on Sept. 1, 2017 from 3:03 p.m. to 3:11 p.m. PDT (6:03 p.m. to 6:11 p.m. EDT). At the times the images were taken, the spacecraft ranged from 7,545 to 14,234 miles (12,143 to 22,908 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude range of -28.5406 to -44.4912 degrees.

 

7.

 

This striking Jovian vista was created by citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran using data from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The tumultuous Great Red Spot is fading from Juno’s view while the dynamic bands of the southern region of Jupiter come into focus. North is to the left of the image, and south is on the right.
 
The image was taken on July 10, 2017 at 7:12 p.m. PDT (10:12 p.m. EDT), as the Juno spacecraft performed its seventh close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was 10,274 miles (16,535 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of -36.9 degrees.

 

8.

 

This color-enhanced image of a massive, raging storm in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its ninth close flyby of the gas giant planet. The image was taken on Oct. 24, 2017 at 10:32 a.m. PDT (1:32 p.m. EDT). At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was about 6,281 miles (10,108 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of Jupiter at a latitude of 41.84 degrees. The spatial scale in this image is 4.2 miles/pixel (6.7 kilometers/pixel).
 
The storm is rotating counter-clockwise with a wide range of cloud altitudes. The darker clouds are expected to be deeper in the atmosphere than the brightest clouds. Within some of the bright “arms” of this storm, smaller clouds and banks of clouds can be seen, some of which are casting shadows to the right side of this picture (sunlight is coming from the left). The bright clouds and their shadows range from approximately 4 to 8 miles (7 to 12 kilometers) in both widths and lengths. These appear similar to the small clouds in other bright regions Juno has detected and are expected to be updrafts of ammonia ice crystals possibly mixed with water ice. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager.

 

9.

 

This image, taken by the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft, highlights a feature on Jupiter where multiple atmospheric conditions appear to collide. This publicly selected target is called “STB Spectre.” The ghostly bluish streak across the right half of the image is a long-lived storm, one of the few structures perceptible in these whitened latitudes where the south temperate belt of Jupiter would normally be. The egg-shaped spot on the lower left is where incoming small dark spots make a hairpin turn.
 
The image was taken on March 27, 2017, at 2:06 a.m. PDT (5:06 a.m. EDT), as the Juno spacecraft performed a close flyby of Jupiter. When the image was taken, the spacecraft was 7,900 miles (12,700 kilometers) from the planet. The image was processed by Roman Tkachenko, and the description is from John Rogers, the citizen scientist who identified the point of interest.

 

10.

 

See Jupiter’s southern hemisphere in beautiful detail in this new image taken by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced view captures one of the white ovals in the “String of Pearls,” one of eight massive rotating storms at 40 degrees south latitude on the gas giant planet. The image was taken on Oct. 24, 2017 at 11:11 a.m. PDT (2:11 p.m. EDT), as Juno performed its ninth close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was 20,577 miles (33,115 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a latitude of minus 52.96 degrees. The spatial scale in this image is 13.86 miles/pixel (22.3 kilometers/pixel). Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager.

 

15 Standouts from the 2017 Nat Geo Nature Photographer of the Year Contest

Highlights from National Geographic’s annual photo competition

 

Contest entry period ends November 17th, 2017

National Geographic invites photographers from around the world to enter the 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 (USD), publication in National Geographic Magazine and a feature on National Geographic’s Instagram account, @natgeo.

Eligible contestants can visit natgeo.com/photocontest to submit photographs in any or all of four categories: Wildlife, Landscapes, Underwater and Aerials. The entry fee is $15 (USD) per photo, and there is no limit to the number of submissions per entrant. The contest entry period ends Friday, Nov. 17, at 12 p.m. EST.

Our friends at National Geographic were kind enough to let us share some of the notable entries from the contest. Enjoy!

 

 

Courage

 

 

This photo was taken in amboseli, kenya. a group of hyenas were the aggressors in attempting to take on two female lionesses who they had sensed to be old or injured. The standoff lasted about 30 minutes, but in the end the hyenas were no match for the two lionesses who were able to get away unscathed.

 

 

Prairie Dancer

 

 

Rotating supercell thunderstorm dances across the Kansas farmland

 

 

Rock Pool

 

 

A rock pool in sydney, Australia at high tide. Waves crash over the edge. a long swimmer is undeterred.

 

 

Don’t come any closer

 

 

Orange Anemonefish, (Amphiprion Sandaracinos) or most commonly referred to as “Nemo” to most was shot amongst this vibrant, iridescent and highly toxic anemone. This reef habitat was situated in the pristine waters of Sipadan Island, Sabah Borneo Malaysia.

 

 

Great Gray Owl

 

 

A great gray owl hunting rodents in a field in New Hampshire, US. This bird was a rare visitor to this area and was worth the 7 1/2 hour drive to see it. The owl was not baited or called and this photo is during a natural hunt. Baiting has become a hot topic recently and it is very unfortunate that many people do it for the sake of a photo. With these owls in particular if you are patient enough you will see them hunt. They are not shy nor very intimidated by people.

 

 

Over the lake

 

 

The picture was taken from a helicopter over lake natron. A flock of flamingos were flying over the lake.

 

 

Kamokuna ocean entry, November 2016

 

 

Lava flows into the ocean at sunset, kamokuna, Kalapana, hawaii

 

 

Rush Hour

 

 

Isla del Coco, or Cocos Island is a National Park off the shore of Costa Rica. The marine ecosystem is locked in a time-capsule and everything is huge; from the underwater currents to the biodensity of marine life. In this photo, I encountered a 25 meter giant school of horse-eyed jack fish. As I approached, a predator must have spooked the school from the other side. The massive school suddenly swam towards me and before I knew it, I was engulfed in this storm of silvery fish.

 

 

Atlantic Puffin

 

 

An Atlantic Puffin on the remote nesting island of Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine.

 

 

Swimmer over the sleepers

 

 

Free diver swimming over a pod of sleeping sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, Vulnerable (IUCN). The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales. Sperm whales are known to dive as deep as 1,000 meters in search of squid to eat. Image has been shot in Dominica, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean. Photo taken under permit n°P 17-01/02 Fis-4.

 

 

Sword

 

 

This photograph is taken at Ecuador. It’s very difficult to take sharp photograph of hummingbird when the bird is in action. Light conditions was very bad and to get higher shutter speed I used higher ISO. The sword-billed hummingbird is the only species of bird with a bill longer than the rest of its body. This adaptation is to feed on flowers with long corollas such as Passiflora mixta. The tongue is therefore also unusually long.

 

 

Arctic Reflection

 

 

It is difficult to get a sense of purity and calm in our modern hectic world, unless you are in Arctic, watching icebergs floating by… reflection of an iceberg (about 100-120m tall), Scoresby Sound, Greenland ’17

 

 

Shy little cowry

 

 

Calpurnus verrucosus Little Cowry eating soft coral @ Pulau Weh, Indonesia

 

 

Lightning bridge

 

 

Spectacular view of the Golden gate bridge during a rare bay area lightning and thunderstorm

 

 

Sunrise of maasia mara

 

 

During month of AUGUST and SEPTEMBER, there are millions of WILD BEASTS, zebra, and other animal in Maasia mara game reserve. On this september morning, a wild beast eating glass intersected the sun coming out of the horizon, creating this image. It was one of the most beautiful sunrise i had seen so far.

 

 

12 Amazing Highlights from the 2017 Nat Geo Nature Photographer of the Year Contest

The grand-prize winner will receive US$10,000, publication in National Geographic and a feature on Nat Geo’s IG account

 

Contest closes November 17, 2017

National Geographic invites photographers from around the world to enter the 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 (USD), publication in National Geographic Magazine and a feature on National Geographic’s Instagram account, @natgeo.

Eligible contestants can visit natgeo.com/photocontest to submit photographs in any or all of four categories: Wildlife, Landscapes, Underwater and Aerials. The entry fee is $15 (USD) per photo, and there is no limit to the number of submissions per entrant. The contest ends Friday, Nov. 17, at 12 p.m. EST.

Our friends at National Geographic were kind enough to let us share some of the standout entries from the contest so far, enjoy!

 

 

Liquid Bear

 

 

Bear from the water Kamchatka, Russia

 

 

Great White Shark

 

 

Great White Shark at Guadalupe Island, Mexico

 

 

I can see the sky from here

 

 

my daughter and her best friend on their backs in a clearing, just between planted fir forest and natural beech forest

 

 

Kalsoy

 

 

Kalsoy island and Kallur lighthouse in sunset light, Faroe Islands

 

 

Whale Shark in Thailand

 

 

The young Whale Shark was swimming in the Gulf of Thailand at a popular dive site called Sail Rock near the island of Koh Pha Ngan. The brief encounter was was captured whilst diving the remote reef which the graceful giant was using as cleaning station, a sort of car wash for big fish.

 

 

Family Reunion

 

 

We found them early one morning feasting on a new kill of a springbok. It was an intense sight to watch them feed – our close proximity to them gave us an opportunity to observe their relationship with one another. It was fascinating to watch the brothers intermittently embrace each other and lick the blood off each other’s faces while the mother kept guard. This photograph captures the harshness of the wild and yet softens us to witness the strong bond between the brothers.

 

 

A Beautiful Morning in Hallstat

 

 

The image was taken from Hallstat Village in Austria right after sunrise. I had to walk some distance to reach this village view point. It was worth every step that I took as the scene turned out to be magical with the fog movement. Luckily the fog did not cover up the mountains.

 

 

Above the Polar Bear

 

 

Dear future generation, I hope we will still be able to see the Arctic wildlife as we do now. It is threatened as the environment is changing. I was able to witness many scenes of wildlife and I can guarantee you this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Here the polar bear might be interpreted as holding back the sea ice melting. Incredible and unique shot 6 meters above a polar bear in Nunavut, Baffin area during wildlife reportage in Nunavut and Greenland during summer 2017.

 

 

Great Gray Owl Taking Off

 

 

Great Gray Owl Taking Off in winter

 

 

Sea and Salt

 

 

Spain has many impressive landscapes and fascinating destinations, but one of the most amazing natural resorts are the salty pink lakes in Torrevieja. In this beautiful coastal resort you can find two beautiful salt lakes: a blue-green one called La Mata lagoon and the other, of an impressive pink colour, known as Torrevieja lagoon; both connected to the sea by canals.

 

 

One happy seal model

 

 

Went to the very north of Denmark, skagen, at sunrise and found this willing model.

 

 

Sunrise

 

 

Morning at Koruldi Lakes in Georgia (country).

 

 

15 Highlights from the 2017 Nat Geo Nature Photographer of the Year Contest

Grand-prize winner will receive US$10,000, publication in National Geographic and a feature on Nat Geo’s IG account

 

National Geographic invites photographers from around the world to enter the 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year contest. The grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 (USD), publication in National Geographic Magazine and a feature on National Geographic’s Instagram account, @natgeo.

Eligible contestants can visit natgeo.com/photocontest to submit photographs in any or all of four categories: Wildlife, Landscapes, Underwater and Aerials. The entry fee is $15 (USD) per photo, and there is no limit to the number of submissions per entrant. The contest ends Friday, Nov. 17, at 12 p.m. EST.

Our friends at National Geographic were kind enough to let us share some of the standout entries from the contest. Enjoy!

 

 

Mother Nature’s Camo

 

 

Gator waiting in Duckweed in New Orleans, LA. This was taken off of a board walk so don’t worry for my safety.

 

 

A Mother Bear and a Cub

 

 

the 3 months cub was so cute i almost dropped the camera and run to hug him. almost 🙂 mother bear (huge female) was looking at me suspiciously 🙂

 

 

Cable Beach Camel Caravan

 

 

A bird’s eye view of a caravan of camels walking along Cable beach at sunset.

 

 

Infinite Road to Transylvania #6

 

 

This is Cheia (DN1A) road that takes you to Transylvania. Yes, THAT Transylvania, the birthplace of the legendary Count Dracula (Vlad Tepes). The legend says that this shot imagines what he might have seen on his nocturnal flights! Nevertheless, it’s a breathtaking view with a magnificent road.

 

 

Enchanted

 

 

A tidal pool at Lofoten islands in northern Norway acts as natural eye catcher. with the high tides around full moon, white sand gets washed into the pool and then the magic unfolds.

 

 

A Thousand Birds

 

 

Each year between the months of December-March, Northern California becomes the winter home to thousands of migratory birds (geese, egrets, ducks, herons and others). Aerial image (photographed from a plane while flying at 120 miles per hour).

 

 

Alien

 

 

This is one of my favorite photos of my favorite critter. Shot with a +25 magnifier, it really brings out the detail in this otherwise very small skeleton shrimp. It’s face is clear, its reddish eyes are visible, and the way it faces my camera with its arms wide makes it almost symmetrical. It’s clear color matches the hydra that it is living on. Plus the colors in the background really make this an interesting and beautiful photo. Don’t think there are aliens on earth? Look no further!

 

 

Blue Heart

 

 

My two loves in one picture. My beautiful girlfriend and nature. This is a drone long exposure. It took a few attempts to be able to have the water blur and her freeze in time. This photograph will be a timeless memory for us to share forever.

 

 

Anemone

 

 

Starburst anemone at Half Moon Bay, California

 

 

Tadami Line

 

 

Tadami line is a JR East line that connects Fukushima pref and Niigata pref. It is a single-track, non-electrified local line. This line runs through the serene countryside where people live closely to the nature in satoyama, the border area between mountain foothills and flat land. Especially along the Tadami River, the view from the train is stunning. The train goes over a number of bridges passing cherry blossoms in spring, greenery in summer, colored leaves in autumn, and snow in winter.

 

 

Rorschach Test

 

 

Golden Hour at Bombay Hook NWR this morning. There was not a hint of wind when this Great Blue Heron began to preen.

 

 

Lust

 

 

This photograph was taken in the cold waters of Whyalla, South Australia during the annual Australian giant cuttlefish aggregation. This annual event sees hundreds of thousands of cuttlefish make their way here seeking to find a mate and is the only place where they are known to aggregate in such large numbers. mating can be aggressive, with males usually dominating the females by 10:1. This is a larger male showing his dominance over the smaller female after they have finished mating.

 

 

Heaven on Earth

 

 

A magical moment in the morning right after sunrise with 2 horses in Fundatura Ponorului Transylvania, Romania

 

 

Étirement

 

 

A lioness stretches into the immensity of Masai Mara, Kenya

 

 

MacKenzie Mountains, NWT

 

 

Rich colours fading into the grey ruggedness of the Makenzie Mountains approximately 200 km NW of the Nááts’ihch’oh National Park Reserve

 

 

The Winners of the 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

The winning photo was selected from over 15,000 entries from participants in more than 30 countries

 

A photograph of an erupting volcano hit by a bolt of lightning has earned Sergio Tapiro Velasco of Mexico the prestigious title of 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. Velasco will receive a 10-day trip for two to the Galápagos Archipelago with National Geographic Expeditions, as well as a $2500 prize. Velasco’s incredible photo was selected from over 15,000 entries from participants in more than 30 countries.

Velasco took his grand prize-winning photo, titled “The Power of Nature,” outside Colima, Mexico. For more than a decade, Velasco has been studying and photographing the Volcán de Colima, which is one of the most active volcanos in Latin America and also known as the “Volcano of Fire.” Before he captured this striking photograph, Velasco had been carefully tracking an increase in activity and closely watched the volcano for almost a month.

While shooting on a completely clear night just 12 kilometers away from the crater, Velasco heard a booming noise and witnessed the biggest volcanic lightning he’d ever seen. Until he reviewed the photos he’d taken, Velasco had no idea if he’d actually captured the spectacular event.

“When I looked on the camera display, all I could do was stare,” said Velasco. “What I was watching was impossible to conceive, the image showed those amazing forces of nature interacting on a volcano, while the lightning brightened the whole scene. It’s an impossible photograph and my once in a lifetime shot that shows the power of nature.”

The 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year contest recognizes spectacular photos taken within the last two years, with entries in three categories: Nature, People and Cities. In addition to the grand-prize winner, top photos were selected in each of the three categories. First-, second- and third-place winners were awarded $2500, $750 and $500, respectively, as well as a subscription to National Geographic Traveler magazine.

 

 

Grand Prize, and 1st Prize Nature Category
The Power of Nature – Sergio Tapiro Velasco

 

 

Powerful eruption of Colima Volcano in Mexico on December 13th, 2015. That night, the weather was dry and cold, friction of ash particles generated a big lightning of about 600 meters that connected ash and volcano, and illuminated most of the dark scene. On last part of 2015, this volcano showed a lot of eruptive activity with ash explosions that raised 2-3 km above the crater. Most of night explosions produced incandescent rock falls and lightning not bigger than 100 meters in average.

 

 

1st Place – Cities
Levels of reading – Norbet Fritz

 

 

The modern interior of the city library in Stuttgart. With its wide-open space in the central, where natural light comes from through the windows on the top, it has a very unique atmosphere, where you can broaden your knowledge.

 

 

2nd Place – Cities
Walled City #08 – Andy Yeung

 

 

The Kowloon Walled City was the densest place on Earth. Hundreds of houses stacked on top of each other enclosed in the center of the structure. Many didn’t have access to open space.This notorious city was finally demolished in 1990s. However, if you look hard enough, you will notice that the city is not dead. Part of it still exists in many of current high density housing apartments. I hope this series can get people to think about claustrophobic living in Hong Kong from a new perspective.

 

 

3rd Place – Cities
Henningsvær Football Field – Misha De-Stroyev

 

 

This football field in Henningsvær in the Lofoten Islands is considered one of the most amazing fields in Europe, and maybe even in the world. The photo was taken during a 10-day sailing trip in Norway in June 2017. We arrived to Henningsvær after a week of sailing through the cold and rainy weather. Upon our arrival, the weather cleared up. I was really lucky that the conditions were suitable for flying my drone, and I managed to capture this shot from a height of 120 meters.

 

 

Honorable Mention – Cities
Colorful Apartment – Tetsuya Hashimoto

 

 

This building is apartment complex in Gifu Prefecture of Japan. It is very colorful, but it is an ordinary collective housing where ordinary people can live.

 

 

Honorable Mention – Cities
Al Ain – Andrzej Bochenski

 

 

New city on the desert

 

 

2nd Place – Nature
To Live – Hiromi Kano

 

 

Swans who live vigorous even in mud.

 

 

3rd Place – Nature
Crocodiles at Rio Tarcoles – Tarun Sinha

 

 

This image was captured in Costa Rica when I was travelling from Monteverde to Playa Hermosa. As you cross over this river, you can stop and peer over the edge of the bridge. Below, reside over 35 gigantic crocodiles, relaxing on the muddy banks of the river. I wanted to capture the stark difference between the crocodiles on land and in the water. In the murky waters, the body contours of these beasts remain hidden, and one can only truly see their girth as they emerge from the river.

 

 

Honorable Mention – Nature
Marble Caves – Clane Gessel

 

 

The marble caves of Patagoina

 

 

Honorable Mention – Nature
Forest of the Fairy – Yutaka Takafuji

 

 

Shooting in the forest This photograph was taken in the evening hours of a humid early summer day in the forest of a small remote village in the Tamba area of Japan. It beautifully captures the magical atmosphere of Princess fireflies carpeting a stairway leading to a small shrine revered by the local people.

 

 

Honorable Mention – Nature
Mt. Bromo – Reynold Riksa Dewantara

 

 

Mount Bromo volcano is a small, but active volcanic cinder cone on Java, Indonesia. Early 2016, I happened to be in Mt. Bromo during the increase of seismic activity and triggered the alert status to the second highest.

 

 

Honorable Mention – Nature
In Your Face – Shane Gross

 

 

Caribbean reef sharks are usually shy so I placed my camera on a rock where I know they frequent and used a remote trigger to click away as they came in and bumped my camera around.

 

 

1st Place – People
Worship – F. Dilek Uyar

 

 

This photo was taken in Konya. Willing Dervish in an historical place of Sille KonyaTurkey. The ‘dance’ of the Whirling Dervishes is called Sema and is a symbol of the Mevlevi culture. According to Mevlana’s teachings, human beings are born twice, once of their mothers and the second time of their own bodies.

 

 

2nd Place – People
Interesting moment – Julius Y.

 

 

Museum visitors curiously watching Rembrandt’s painting ” Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild” where it gave the illusion that the people on the paintings too are curiously watching the visitors.

 

 

3rd Place – People
Under The Wave – Rodney Bursiel

 

 

I recently traveled to Tavarua, Fiji to do some surf photography with pro surfer Donavon Frankenreiter at Cloudbreak. I’m always looking for new angles and perspectives. The usual surf shots have all been done so we decided to get a little creative. Makes you look twice.

 

 

Honorable Mention – People
Bridging Generation – Jobit George

 

 

A beautiful photo of a father and son sitting in white traditional attire with beautiful blue sky on the day of Eid al-Fitr in a mosque in New Delhi, India. The photo shows the beautiful bond which these two generation have been building up in a very simple and lovable manner.

 

 

Honorable Mention – People
The Man’s Stare – Moin Ahmed

 

 

The photo was taken on 23rd of July 2016 at Tongi Railway Station, Gazipur, Bangladesh. I was there for taking photos and waiting for a moment. A train from Dhaka toward another district has reached and stopped at the platform for 5 min for lifting passengers. It was huge raining. Suddenly I found a pair of curious eye was looking at me through the window and on his left an umbrella has been put for protect the rain. I got the moment.

 

 

Honorable Mention – People
Blessings at Besakih – Michael Dean Morgan

 

 

Besakih Temple has been known as Bali’s ‘Mother Temple’ for over 1000 years and is perched 1000 metres high on the southwestern slopes of Mount Agung. Here Balinese often come to offer up prayer and take blessing from the temple priests or “Pemangku” who reside there.

 

 

The Amazing Winners of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards

The 2017 World Photography Awards received over 227,000 entries from 183 countries. It’s the world’s largest photography competition

 

The World Photography Organisation has just named Belgian photographer Frederik Buyckx as the Sony World Photography Awards’ 2017 Photographer of the Year. The Awards’ judges were challenged to find the best photographic series and were taken by the beauty, scale and effort involved in Buyckx’s winning work titled “Whiteout”.

The 2017 Awards received over 227,000 entries from 183 countries and is the world’s largest photography competition. An exhibition of all the winning and shortlisted work, along with rare images by British photographer Martin Parr, recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize, will run at Somerset House, London from 21 April – 7 May.

Chosen from the winners of the Awards’ ten Professional categories, Chair of Judges Zelda Cheatle says of Frederik Buyckx’s photographs:

“I have chosen a series of landscapes so that we may return to the essence of looking at photography. Landscape is often overlooked but it is central to our existence. These are beautiful pictures made by a serious photographer, and they are to be enjoyed. I hope this award will inspire many more photographers to take pictures that do not simply encompass the terrible aspects of life in these troubled times but also capture some of the joys and loveliness in each and every environment.”

 

Buyckx was revealed as the Photographer of the Year and presented the $25,000 (USD) prize at an awards ceremony in London. Below you will find a gallery of the amazing winners from the prestigious contest.

 

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – FREDERIK BUYCKX, BELGIUM

 

© Frederik Buyckx | Sony World Photography Awards

 

© Frederik Buyckx | Sony World Photography Awards

 

© Frederik Buyckx | Sony World Photography Awards

 

© Frederik Buyckx | Sony World Photography Awards

 

Born in Antwerp in 1984, Frederik Buyckx is a freelance photographer for the Belgian newspaper De Standaard. Buyckx’s images have been published and exhibited internationally and most recently he was shortlisted for the ZEISS Photography Award. The winning series “Whiteout” was taken in the Balkans, Scandinavia and Central Asia, remote areas where people often live in isolation and in close contact with nature. Buyckx explains:

“There is a peculiar transformation of nature when winter comes, when snow and ice start to dominate the landscape and when humans and animals have to deal with the extreme weather. The series investigates this struggle against disappearance.”

 

Portraiture winner: George Mayer, Russian Federation

 

 

Like in works of Modernism the shadow in the exhibited portraits is symbolic itself. Occupying nearly the whole picture it holds some mystery, and occasional points of light give us a chance to guess it. It may be said that along with the woman’s body there is another inanimate character in the photograph. It is the shadow. The human figure is likened to the light fighting with the dark. In this struggle harmony is born.

 

Sport winner: Yuan Peng, China

 

 

This series was taken in a sports school in Jining, in Shandong province, China. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters, who have liked gymnastics since their childhood. They have studied, trained and grown up here.

 

Daily Life winner: Sandra Hoyn, Germany

 

 

Kajol with her 6-month-old baby Mehedi and a customer on her bed. Two weeks after birth of Mehedi she was forced to have sex again with customers. Because of the baby her business is not good.

 

Architecture winner: Dongni, China

 

 

Rules ordering a regular intensive repetition sum up the feeling of the modern city

 

Natural World winner: Will Burrard-Lucas, United Kingdom

 

© Will Burrard-Lucas | Sony World Photography Awards

 

I was in Liuwa Plain at the end of the dry season. When the rains finally arrived thousands of Wildebeest migrated to the area. I positioned a remote flash in front of the herd and drove round so that I could use the flash to back-light the rain. It was a challenging shot as I had to predict the movement of the animals and hope they passed between me and the flash. I had to compose and manually focus in complete darkness, all while attempting to keep my equipment dry in the driving rain!

 

Still Life winner: Henry Agudelo, Columbia

 

 

Hundreds of missing people are waiting to be recognized by the different departments of the state for this reason that is preserved at least some part of their body, whether a tattoo, a mark on one of their bones, a prosthesis. In Colombia there are more than 130,000 disappeared because of the war and violence in this country is lived, many bodies that are not identified pass to medical universities to be studied and waiting for a relative to come and recognize him

 

Current Affairs & News winner – Alessio Romenzi, Italy

 

© Alessio Romenzi | Sony World Photography Awards

 

Sirte, Libya, November 26, 2016: A fighter of the Libyan forces affiliated with the Tripoli government gets some rest whilst outside, clashes with ISIS continue in the Al Jiza neighbourhood.

 

Conceptual winner – Sabine Cattaneo, Switzerland

 

© Sabine Cattaneo | Sony World Photography Awards

 

In Switzerland, three out of four people would rather die at home.

 

Contemporary Issues winner – Tasneem Alsultan, Saudi Arabia

 

© Tasneem Alsultan | Sony World Photography Awards

 

“Society constrains the divorcee. What you can or can’t do, remains under the control of others. As an independent single mother, I’ve made peace with the sacrifices I’ve had to make, but also managed to find happiness on my own”. Nassiba, fashion designer. Jeddah.

 

STUDENT PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – MICHELLE DAIANA GENTILE, ARGENTINA

 

© Michelle Daiana Gentile | Sony World Photography Awards

 

Michelle Daiana Gentile, aged 21, of Escuela de Fotografía Motivarte, won the Student Photographer of the Year title with a stunning series called “Only Hope”. Responding to the brief of “Emotions”, Gentile delivered a powerful series shot across ten days spent with workers of an old paper factory in Argentina. Gentile received €30,000 worth of Sony photography equipment for her university at the awards ceremony.

 

YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – KATELYN WANG, US

 

 

Sixteen-year-old student Katelyn Wang from Los Angeles, California received the Youth Photographer of the Year title. Open to those aged 12-19, the Youth competition asked photographers worldwide to respond to the brief of ‘Beauty’ with a single image. Wang’s winning photograph “On Top of the World” was taken while standing above Lake Pehoé in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park, and beautifully captures the landscape beneath her.

 

OPEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – ALEXANDER VINOGRADOV, RUSSIAN FEDERATION

 

© Alexander Vinogradov | Sony World Photography Awards

 

“Mathilda” by Russian photographer Alexander Vinogradov was selected as the best single photograph in the world and awarded the photographer $5,000 (USD) along with the Open Photographer of the Year title. Vinogradov is an amateur photographer based in Moscow and his winning image is a portrait of a young girl, inspired by the French movie ‘Léon’. The photograph was selected from ten Open category winners announced on 28 March by a panel of judges led by British journalist and photographer Damien Demolder.

 

 

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Sony World Photography Awards annually recognize and rewards the finest contemporary photography from the last year. Free to enter and open to all photographers, the awards are an authoritative voice in the photographic industry that has the power to shape the careers of its winning and shortlisted photographers. The 2018 Sony World Photography Awards open for entries on June 1, 2017.