The annual National Geographic Travel Photographer competition is currently accepting entries. The prestigious award attracts a vast range of work from photographers across the globe who capture moments in places and situations that most of us can only dream of. Entries are split into three categories: people, cities and nature, all of which are growing by the day until the competition closes on May 27th. Heartwarming, uplifting, dark or simply awe inspiring, our picks of the entries so far are as moving as they are diverse.
Aashit Desai, India
“Devotees carrying the palki, sedan chair, of Shiva. The Shiva’s Temple is a very famous temple situated in the town of Jejuri in India. Every year on the day of Somvati Amavasya – a no moon day – thousands of devotees arrive at the temple. The festival’s main ritual is the offering of turmeric powder by the devotees. Such large quantities of turmeric powder are used that all the devotees and the temple ground are covered in yellow color.”
Martin Dunn, Myanmar
“Just before sunset, six Burmese women return to their village in Began, Myanmar. One of the thousands of Pagodas that dot the landscape can be seen in the lower right.”
Cristoph Schaarschmidt, Australia
“I had heard a lot about how beautiful Uluru should look like when it rains. But I never believed that I would see it with my own eyes because the red center of Australia is a very arid area. That’s one of the reasons why Uluru is such a special place for the Anangu – the local aboriginal clan. If it rains, the water fills up the reservoirs around the rock, the only water source for several kilometers.”
Julia Wimmerlin, Hong Kong
“This amazing stacked architecture of Hong Kong shows the housing of its rather dense population. It’s visually striking to understand that your whole horizon is built from people’s lit windows. It shocks you that each life so big and important to the person himself and his close circle looks just like a tiny star in a huge sky next to millions of the same stars.”
Dylan Shaw, Iceland
“Whilst on a road trip in Iceland, we stumbled across a sea of old lava flows that has, over the centuries, been blanketed in thick, green layer of moss.”
Manish Mamtani, United States
“This image is an aerial selfie image. We laid down on the bridge covered with snow and flew the drone above us to take this image.”
Paul Nevin, Yemen
“With my police escort I had arrived at my lodgings on dusk, perched on the edge of a massive escarpment in Wadi Dohan. In the fading light and on the valley floor I could see this fortress like village. Having imagined how it might present under a rising sun, I was up at first light. The sun rose, bathing the escarpment in golden light, it seemed like an eternity before it finally gilded the top of the fortress like village – magic.”
Miloslaw Schultz, Dubai
“Captured during a final descent into Dubai airport. Low sun and eternal dust in the air creates that picture of sand and the city trying to overcome each other.”
Antonio Leung, China
“Performances of Chinese opera are usually held in a mat-shed at the Pak Tai Temple in Taipa village. In this small temporary make-up room built solely with bamboos and the iconic red-white-blue nylon canvas, over 10 performers are preparing for the show.”
Thierry Bornier, China
“This image was captured very early in the morning after climbing Yellow Mountain at 3 am and waiting for few hours in the cold and wind at -4 degrees. No HDR and no Photoshop was used for the effect of this image, everything is 100% natural. The magic of the nature did its work and I have been lucky.”
James Smart, United States
“Amazing supercell produces over the town of Blackhawk, South Dakota back on June 1st 2015. Flash flooding would occur near Rapid City.”
Massimo Rumi, Antarctica
“Last December I sailed to Antarctica on a 54 feet long-haul steel vessel. As we entered the Polar Zone this was one of the first icebergs we saw. Sculpted by the wind and waves, majestic in scale and with a dazzling white color with layers of deep blue. The sun makes a quick appearance through a hole in the clouds, just in time for this shot.”
Pierre Destribats, Finland
“A cold night on the top of this hill in Lapland, near the Russian border waiting for the dancing lights in the sky. All around, snow ghost are watching, standstill.”
Reynold Dewantara, Indonesia
“This picture was taken during Mt. Bromo eruption, the horse seems a little agitated due to the sound of the eruption.”
All images sourced from nationalgeographic.com
See all entries, or enter your photograph here.