Just like every year National Geographic hosts the National Geographic Photo Contest and the result of the 2012 contest have just been released. More than 22,000 entries were submitted from over 150 countries this year. Both professional and amateur photographers from across the globe submitted their entries for three different categories: People, Places and Nature.

The competition was judged on creativity and photographic quality basis by a panel of experts like Christian Ziegler (natural history photographer) and Gerd Ludwig and Debbie Fleming Caffery (documentary photographers). The Grand Prize Winner receives $10,000 and a trip to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National Geographic Photography Seminar in January 2013.


Here are the winning images and honorable mentions, along with the Viewers' Choice winners. Have a look:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER (Nature Category): The Explosion! (Photographer: Ashley Vincent) "The subject's name is Busaba, a well cared for Indochinese Tigress whose home is at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand. I had taken many portraits of Busaba previously and it was becoming more and more difficult to come up with an image that appeared any different to the others. Which is why I took to observing her more carefully during my visits in the hope of capturing something of a behavioral shot. The opportunity finally presented itself while watching Busaba enjoying her private pool then shaking herself dry. In all humility I have to say that Mother Nature smiled favorably on me that day!"

FIRST PLACE (Places Category): The Matterhorn (Photographer: Nenad Saljic) "The Matterhorn, 4,478m, at full moon."

FIRST PLACE (People Category): Amongst the Scavengers (Photographer: Micah Albert) "In Dandora, Kenya. At the end of the day women are allowed to pick through the dumpsite."

VIEWERS' CHOICE (Nature Category): Tender Moment (Photographer: Sanjeev Bhor) "Everyday in Mara starts with something new and different and day ends with memorable experiences with spectacular photographs. I was very lucky to sight and photograph Malaika, the name of this female Cheetah, and her cub. She is well known for her habit of jumping on vehicles. She learned that from her mother Kike, and Kike from her mother Amber. Like her mother she is teaching lessons to her cub. This is a tender moment between Malaika and her cub. I was very lucky to capture that moment."

HONORABLE MENTION (Nature Category): East of Iceland (Photographer: Eric Guth) "Glacial ice washes ashore after calving off the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier on Iceland's eastern coast. During the waning light of summer this image was created over the course of a 4 minute exposure while the photographer backlit the grounded glacial ice with a headlamp for 2 of those 4 minutes."

HONORABLE MENTION (Nature Category): Predation up close and personal (Photographer: Fransisca Harlijanto) "Near Komodo, Indonesia, I was surrounded by thousands of fish that moved in synchrony because of the predation that was happening. It was an incredible experience."

HONORABLE MENTION (Nature Category): Red Fox catching mouse under snow (Photographer: Micheal Eastman) "With his exceptional hearing a red fox has targeted a mouse hidden under 2 feet of crusted snow. Springing high in the air he breaks through the crusted spring snow with his nose and his body is completely vertical as he grabs the mouse under the snow. In Squaw Creek, Park Country, Wyoming."

HONORABLE MENTION (Nature Category): Ursus arctos horribilis (Photographer: Jason Ching) "This photo of a wild Alaskan brown bear digging on a game trail was taken with a homemade motion-controlled triggering device hooked up to my DSLR. Location: Bear Creek, Lake Aleknagik, Alaska."

VIEWERS' CHOICE (Places Category): Iceberg Hunters (Photographer: Adam Coish) "Chipping ice off an iceberg is a common way for the Inuit community to retrieve fresh drinking water while on the land. During a weekend long hunting trip, we came upon this majestic iceberg frozen in place. It was a perfect opportunity to grab enough ice and drinking water for the remainder of the trip."

HONORABLE MENTION, (Places Category): Eerie Eiffel (Photographer: Indra Swari Wonowidjojo) "The gloomy winter day worked to my advantage to create this eerie feeling of the famous landmark Eiffel tower."

VIEWERS' CHOICE (People Category): Expedition Amundsen (Photographer: Kai-Otto Melau)  "A race that follows in the path of the famous explorer Roald Amundsen brings the contestants to the Hardangervidda Mountainplateu, Norway. 100km across the plateau, the exact same route Amundsen used to prepare for his South Pole expedition in 1911 is still used by explorers today. Amundsen did not manage to cross the plateau and had to turn back because of bad weather. He allegedly said that the attempt to cross Hardangervidda was just as dangerous and hard as the conquering of the South Pole. The group in the picture used the race as preparations for an attempt to cross Greenland."

HONORABLE MENTION (People Category): Captive (Photographer: Wendell Phillips) "Yayasan Galuh Rehabilitation Center is an impoverished mental health facility based in Bekasi, Indonesia that hosts over 250 patients. Most come from poor families no longer interested in managing their condition, or are unable. Some patients are homeless, deposited after being taken off streets by police The only medical treatment received is for skin conditions. No assessments, psychotherapy or psychiatric medications is available. Over one third of the patients are shackled in chains. These measures are implemented to those thought to be violent, uncontrollable and dangerous."

HONORABLE MENTION (People Category): Chinese Traditional Dragon Boat Racing (Photographer: 关嘉城) "Dragon boating is a Chinese traditional entertainment. As an aquatic sport to commemorate Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet in ancient China, it is usually held in festivals, which can be traced back to two thousands years ago."

HONORABLE MENTION (People Category): Stilt Fishing (Photographer: Ulrich Lambert) "Stilt fishing is a typical fishing technique only seen in Sri Lanka. The fishermen sit on a cross bar called a petta tied to a vertical pole planted into the coral reef. This long exposure shot shows how unstable their position is."

Checkout the winners of the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012.

Source: National Geographic

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