National geographic photo contest

Steam rises off a boy after his holy bath in Nepal's Khaptad National Park in this National Geographic Your Shot Photo of the Day.

Lonely tree in the desert

Visual storytelling is the heart of National Geographic. Our photography contests feature images created by photographers from around the world, sharing visions that inspire, inform, and awe.

Beams of light filter through a historic building in Konya, Turkey, where a whirling dervish performs an ecstatic dance. The ceremony represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent towards truth and love, and represents the constant revolution of all living things. For example, the Earth itself is in a state of rotation as well as the atoms that make up everything on it.

Awash in color, texture and movement, the winners of the Siena International Photo Awards offer a nostalgic glimpse of life before the pandemic.

Each year National Geographic opens its creative doors to highlight talented professional photographers from around the world through the National Geographic Travel photo contest and similar competitions. The travel photography contest challenges contenders to "help us explore and experience our world through your travel photos," - and this year's beautiful pictures rose to the occasion. The entry period for this year's contest closed noon ET on May 3, and every travel photography submission…

It was a quiet morning at Nagarahole Tiger Reserve—the sun was opening up and the mist from the night was clearing. As we made a drive through the woods, we saw this beautiful leopardess perching on her favorite tree. Ever since I started wildlife photography, I wanted to photograph a leopard on the tree. It took over three years to find the photo. I love everything about this picture—a prowling leopardess, a beautiful tree with the white flowers, soft sunlight—it was just a perfect setting…

National Geographic has become synonymous with the best photography, with the magazine always showcasing the outstanding beauty and wonder of our planet. So naturally, their annual photo contest is a prestigious and hotly-contested event, with judges having thousands of breathtaking images to narrow down, to find the eventual winners.

See the winners of National Geographic's 2017 travel photo contest

National Geographic's photo contests always draw incredible submissions from around the world, and this year is no different. Perhaps the best part is that entrants willingly yield the rights to their photos, allowing NG to make each one freely downloadable as wallpapers for your desktop, tablet or phone. You can