Here are some of the the winners and finalists of National Geographic’s 2010 photography contest, and there are some stunners. Go have a look, and be sure to look at everything, since some of the runners-up are, to me, as good or better than the winners. Here’s a few snaps (be sure to click on them to enlarge).
This is the grand prize winner (10K$ plus publication in the magazine). Aaron Lim Boon Teck’s “Eruption of Gunung Rinjani,” an eruption he captured on a trek to the crater of another volcano.
Photo by Sean Heavey: a supercell thunderstorm on the Montana plains:
Ki Gompa, a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas. Photo by Natalia Luzuriaga:
Qat market, Yemen; photo by Abubakir Balfaquih. (Qat, or “khat” is a flowering plant, Catha edulis, whose leaves are chewed as a stimulant.)
Surfer “Donavon” holding on like crazy with a big water wall close behind him. Photo by Brian Bielmann:
And we can’t forget the beasties.
Natural selection: a heron catching a squirrel in Los Angeles. Photo by Dung Ma:
A gorgeous photo by Jody MacDonald, captioned “The last of his kind.” The description:
Rajan is the last ocean swimming elephant on earth. Initially trained using very cruel methods to log the Andaman Islands, he was forced to swim hauling massive loads. At 60 years he is the last of the group to survive. Now retired, he spends his time with his caretaker and enjoys swimming and walking through the forests he once logged. He is truly the last of his kind.
Monkey sitting on a termite mound, Jim Corbett National Park, India. Photo by Sanjeev Bhor:
And, of course, teh kittehs. An aged and pensive lion at a wildlife sanctuary in Indonesia. Photo by Stephanie Swartz:
Lion and cub, photo by Rocco Sette. The caption, in imperfect English:
After a big fight, a young lion male scared the leader of a lion praid away. He killed next to this two of three newborn babys they just was born a few hours before. The last one tried the Mother to safe, she walked with the baby in the mauth it and walked with the baby in the mouth far away.
Be sure to see the rest, and notice that there are arrows to the right of many categories that show more entries.
National Geographic productions on nature and history are pretty decent. Its shows on religion, though, are awfully slanted. Constantly trying to endorse the religionist perspective. No objectivity. Anything that attracts more viewers, however untenable.
The heron helping that squirrel by giving him a ride over the water is so cute. True altruism in nature!
😉
And that lioness about to eat her own young – disgusting!
These are wonderful. Thanks for posting!
Wow!
Photographs that look like an artist’s month of toil. Superb.
I want to share some lioness photos that I took at Whipsnade Zoo in the UK. They’re doing what lions do best, sleeeping 😀
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/ohexploitable/stoof/sleepylion.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/ohexploitable/stoof/pileolions.jpg
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff123/ohexploitable/stoof/goodmorningintheafternoon.jpg
They really are beautiful C: I got some nice ringtailed lemur photos that day as well.
I have always loved the national geo photographers. They have always combined the greatest senses extreme craftsmanship and skill with the most beautiful serendipity. A combination that makes truly great art.
The photos of Gunung Rinjani and the supercell storm had the strange and eery texture and majestic scope of the great paintings of extraterrestrial objects by Chesley Bonestell.
Those paintings, which graced the pages of now-vanished magazines, such as Collier’s(!), inspired kids of my era to become engineers and scientists.
You can check out a few at http://www.novaspaceart.com/Prints/Limited%20Editions/Bonestell/Index.html