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National Geographic Photo Contest Highlights Amazing Photos From Around The World

PHOTOS: Wild And Mesmerizing Entries From National Geographic's 2011 Photo Contest
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As the year winds down, it is again time for National Geographic's annual photo contest. The contest is open to adults from around the world who believe they have a one of a kind photograph and pay the $15 entrance fee. National Geographic is accepting submissions now through November 30.

Photographs which have not been digitally manipulated can be entered in one of three categories: people, places and nature. National Geographic explains that a winner will be chosen in each category, with a grand prize winner selected from among those three. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 and a trip to National Geographic's Washington, D.C. headquarters.

This year's judges, National Geographic photographers Tim Laman, Amy Toensing and Peter Essick, will have their work cut out for them. National Geographic says it received over 16,000 submissions from 130 countries last year.

View some of the finalists and winning images from 2010 here.

Visit National Geographic's contest website for more information about the contest and to see some of the most recent submissions.

Captions and images by individual photographers.

National Geographic Photo Contest
Blue Shark Surprise(01 of12)
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The surface of the water reflects light and hides what may be just below. This beautiful blue shark swam up to say hello.Caption courtesy of Shane Gross. (credit:Shane Gross/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Ghost from the Earth(02 of12)
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This photo was taken in the Upper Antelope Canyon near Page (AZ) and its shows the amazing effect of the sand thrown in the air and struck by the rays of the sun.Caption courtesy of Angiolo Manetti. (credit:Angiolo Manetti/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Oxpecker's puzzle(03 of12)
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I've always been intrigued by the markings of giraffes--how they vary between individuals and how they look like pieces of a puzzle, cracked mud or even tectonic plates in my scientific mind. I've tried many times to capture them but it was never right. Here, this oxpecker in a tight crop, lost on the abstract surface and framed by the legs of the larger animal finally seems to work.Caption courtesy of Benjamin Bronselaer. (credit:Benjamin Bronselaer/National Geographic Photo Contest)
March of the Coots(04 of12)
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The winter at the start of 2010 was one of the first strong ones in years again in The Netherlands. The lake in the local park in Eindhoven was almost completely frozen. It just had snowed. Perfect conditions to photograph these black Coots in contrast with the white snow. I'd observed the Coots for a couple of days already. I'd shot a whole series of photos. All of a sudden I saw the scene I was looking for. They formed a group and started to walk back to the hole in the ice to go back in the water. While they where walking the scene reminded me of the film "March of the Penguins."Caption courtesy of Andrew George. (credit:Andrew George/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Stingray(05 of12)
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This image was captured to Sandbar, Grand Cayman during my last trip. This beautiful creature turns around you very close and you can touch it. This is a really amazing experience, you are surrounded by dozens of this friendly animal.Caption courtesy of Gazzaroli Claudio. (credit:Gazzaroli Claudio/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Bonobo Portrait(06 of12)
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Bonobo Portrait, Jacksonville Zoo, FloridaCaption courtesy of Graham McGeorge. (credit:Graham McGeorge/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Forsaken(07 of12)
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Happy scenery suddenly turns into tragedy. A giraffe family is drinking water at one of the rare water pits during dry season in Namibia when suddenly a storm approaches. Father and mother are starting to run away, however, their child is hesitant and stays behind. Later it helplessly starts looking for his parents, but they are nowhere to be seen. The small giraffe's vision is blurred by the sandstorm.Caption courtesy of Katharina Spiegl. (credit:Katharina Spiegl/National Geographic Photo Contest)
The Cloud(08 of12)
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At safari not only animals can attract attention.Caption courtesy of Dmitry Gorilovskiy. (credit:Dmitry Gorilovskiy/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Trees cocooned in spiders webs after flooding in Pakistan, 7 December 2010(09 of12)
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An unexpected side-effect of the 2010 flooding in parts of Sindh, Pakistan, was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters; because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiders webs. People in the area had never seen this phenomenon before, but they also reported that there were fewer mosquitoes than they would have expected, given the amount of standing water that was left. Not being bitten by mosquitoes was one small blessing for people that had lost everything in the floods.Caption courtesy of Russell Watkins. (credit:Russell Watkins/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Winter lollipops(10 of12)
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Winter is extremely beautiful in Lithuania. It was an early morning and minus 25 degrees Celsius outside. This landscape feels out of this world, but in fact it's in the outskirts of my home city, Kaunas--just a mile away from my house. Oftentimes beauty lays just a step away from our door.Caption courtesy of Matas Juras. (credit:Matas Juras/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Horned Grebe(11 of12)
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Portrait of a swimming Horned Grebe also called Slavonian GrebeCaption courtesy of Jan Sahlen. (credit:Jan Sahlen/National Geographic Photo Contest)
A look at the Gulf of Naples(12 of12)
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Although the strong human presence on the coast, an octopus, overlooking the Gulf curious about the snow-covered Vesuvius!Caption courtesy of Pasquale Vassallo. (credit:Pasquale Vassallo/National Geographic Photo Contest)

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