No one would envy the 3 photographers at National Geographic who had to judge this year’s photo contest. More than 20,000 photographs were submitted from over 130 countries by professional and amateur shutterbugs. A first place winner was selected in each of the three categories – nature, people, and places. From those, a grand prize winner was selected. That honor went to the above photograph, “Splashing”, by Shikhei Goh. The dragonfly in Indonesia’s Riau Islands appears to have been caught in a sudden downpour, but it’s actually thanks to a friend of Goh’s, using a water bottle.
The winner of the People category, was Izabelle Nordfjell. Her photo of a Swedish Sami reindeer hunter captures the moment immediately after he’s made a kill that will feed his family for the winter.
“Into the Green Zone” by George Tapan won for Places. It shows a rainbow arching over the Philippines’ Onuk Island after a rainstorm.
There were several honorable mentions in each category, and we picked our faves from each group. The monsoon in Bhaktapur, Nepal at the bottom is particularly striking.
