(QNO) - The winners of the 27th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest have just been announced. Winning first prize, Anuar Patjane Floriuk of Tehuacán, Mexico, will receive an eight-day photo expedition for two to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal for a photograph of divers swimming near a humpback whale off the western coast of Mexico. Here, National Geographic has shared all of this year’s winners, gathered from four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, and Spontaneous Moments. Captions by the photographers.
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| Diving with a humpback whale and her new born calf while they cruise around Roca Partida Island, in Revillagigedo, Mexico. © Anuar Patjane |
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| A gravel crushing workplace remains full of dust and sand. Three gravel workmen are looking through the window glass. © Faisal Azim |
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| Camel Ardah, as it called in Oman, is one of the traditional styles of camel racing between two camels controlled by expert riders. The faster camel is the loser, so they must be running at the same speed level in the same track. © Ahmed Al Toqi |
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| The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli in Namibia. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means "dead marsh." The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. © Beth McCarley |
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| Two boys are trying to catch a duck near a waterfall. © Sarah Wouters |
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| A sauna at 2,800 meters high, in the heart of Dolomites. Monte Lagazuoi, Cortina, eastern Italian Alps. © Stefano Zardini |
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| The night before this photo, we tried all day to get a good photo of the endangered white rhino. Skulking through the grass carefully trying to stay 30 feet away to be safe, didn t provide me the photo I was hoping for. In the morning however, I woke up to all three rhinos grazing in front of me. © Stefane Berube |
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| Traditional haymaking in Poland. Many people continue to use the scythe and pitchfork to cut and sort the hay. © Bart Omiej Jurecki |
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| White frost over Pestera village in Romania. # © Eduard Gutescu |
ALAN TAYLOR
Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/
