National Geographic announces the winning photos from its first “Pictures of the Year” photo contest.
The contest, which opened to US residents in early December, invited readers to submit a digital photo in one of four categories: nature, people, places and animals.
The contest required that the photos be largely unretouched. According to the rules, “only minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable in the form of minor cropping.” Photos with other alterations are “unacceptable and … ineligible for the award.”
Grand Prize – Alaska
Bald eagles compete to perch on a tree log at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve in Alaska.
Karthik Subramaniam
Karthik Subramaniam, a software engineer in San Francisco who is passionate about wildlife photography, won the grand prize. He said he captured his winning shot at the end of a weeklong photography trip in Haines, Alaska, which hosts the world’s largest congregation of bald eagles.
As Subramaniam observed eagles hunting salmon in his fishing grounds, one eagle swooped down on a tree to steal the other’s perch.
“Hours of observing their patterns and behavior helped me capture such moments,” he said.
The photo will be featured in an upcoming issue of National Geographic’s US magazine.
In addition to the grand prize winner, Nat Geo also named several “winners” honorable mentions. His photographs will be published on National Geographic your shot Instagram page, which has some 6.5 million followers.
Photos of most of them, along with information provided by Nat Geo, are published below.
Iceland
Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano is erupting in 2021.
Riten Dharia
The six-month lava flow that covered the surrounding landscape in hardened black rock was “an exhibition of the raw and terrifying power of nature,” said Riten Dharia, who photographed the scene on the Rijksene peninsula.
mongolia
In this photo, a nomadic Kazakh falconer on horseback prepares his golden eagle for hunting in Bayan-Olgi, Mongolia, where training falcons for hunting is a 3,000-year tradition, according to Nat Geo.
A hunter and his hawk on horseback in a meadow outside Bayan-Olgi, Mongolia.
Eric Estrel
Photographer Eric Esterle lay down to capture the moment He said the horse passed on his belly less than a few feet away from the side of the stream.
“I remember covering my camera with my body and keeping my head down,” he said.
Austria
He said that photographer Alex Berger’s hair stood up after seeing this golden tree hidden among the tall stems in the forest.
A golden tree deep in the Austrian Alps.
Alex Berger
Burger said he saw it by a small stream during a road trip through the Austrian Alps.
The mountain ranges of the Alps extend for about 750 miles across eight countries.
island of south georgia
Russ Solano photographed this crowd of king penguins on the beaches of Gold Harbor on South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
King penguins crowd together on the beaches of South Georgia Island.
rez solano
The island plays host to king penguins as well as gentoo penguins and elephant seals.
Roughly half of the island is covered by ice, and no permanent human population lives on it, Although travelers can go here by cruise ship or yachtAccording to its official website.
North Carolina, US
Freelance photographer Tihomir Trichkov said he took this shot on his way home from the airport one October morning.
It captures the fog settling over a canyon as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
View of Foggy Canyon from the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
tihomir trichkov
The scene depicts “the little piece of paradise in which I live,” Trichkov said of his home in the Highlands of North Carolina.
“The Smoky Mountains are gorgeous,” he said.
Washington, US
This photo shows the night sky reflected in the waters of Lake Tipsoo in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington.
Lake Tipsoo in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State.
W Kent Williamson
From across the lake, photographer W. Kent Williamson said he could see the lanterns of climbers making their way to the 14,411-foot summit of Mount Rainier.
“The night sky was unusually clear, and the Milky Way could be seen right above the mountain,” he said.
Peru
A lone salt miner uses a wooden rake to scoop salt out of a hill at the Maras salt mine in Peru in this photo by Ann Lee.
Salt wells on a hill in the Maras salt mines in Peru.
took one
The mines have approximately 4,500 salt wells, each producing approximately 400 pounds of salt per month. Families who have wells continue the tradition of extracting salt, which dates back to the time of the Inca Empire.
About the ‘Pictures of the Year’ contest
The competition is Nat Geo’s latest effort to highlight photography from contributors.
It started with the magazine’s annual “Pictures of the Year” issueFeaturing the best 49 photos taken by Nat Geo photographers, selected from over 2 million submissions.
According to Nat Geo the “Picture of the Year” competition aims to provide “equal spotlight” to aspiring photographers.
To view the full gallery of winners, visit natgeo.com/PhotoContestWinner,