Zebra, Serengeti

Photograph by Giulio Zanni

Image taken in the Serengeti in Tanzania during the migration period. Zebras and wildebeest were gathering on the edge of the river, waiting for the right moment to cross.

Caimans at Night, Brazil

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Luciano Candisani

After the caimans emerged at dusk, the photographer was reminded of an earlier encounter. At 15 he went with his dad to look for the crocs by flashlight: “The image of their eyes glowing like stars in a dark sky is something I will never forget.”

Elephant and Calf, India

Photograph by Sandesh Kadur

Wild elephants live in India's fertile Kaziranga floodplain, where marshland, tall grass, and forests provide shelter and food. Kaziranga National Park takes in 50 miles of the Brahmaputra River and harbors some 1,300 elephants.

Fallow Deer, England

Photograph by Mark Bridger

In England, a fallow deer fawn stays close to a buck. Dama dama isn't native to the U.K.; the species is thought to have been introduced to Britain by the Normans in the 11th century. Today it's widespread in England and Wales.

Icebreaker, Antarctic

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Charles Swithinbank

U.S.S. Atka stands off Crater Hill on McMurdo Sound in mid-March; she kept channels open for evacuation of the last summer residents.

Tsukuba City, Japan

Photograph by Akira Takaue

Your Shot contributor Akira Takaue was after a cityscape in Tsukuba when he came across this building in what he calls an uncommon suburban town. Located about 37 miles from Tokyo, it's known as Science City for its various national research facilities and structurally challenging architectural features. "I found this [building] with a beautiful exterior and regularly placed windows standing beside a crosswalk under the soft sunlight," Takaue says. "I aimed to capture only this wall combined with the pedestrian signal in a perfect flat-plane image without any optical distortions."

Docks, Ohio

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Jacob J. Gayer

In a circa 1928 autochrome, ships approach a vast dock to unload millions of tons of iron ore near Ashtabula, Ohio. The photo was published in the May 1932 issue of National Geographic.

Whirling Dervishes Ankara, Turkey

Photograph by Sukri Celil Advan

Whirling dervishes perform the ritual dance of the Sufi sect in a showroom in Ankara. Practitioners believe the act of repeatedly spinning allows them to forget their earthly body and move closer to God.

Canvasback Ducks, Maryland

Photograph by Paul Bramble

A private tidal pond in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay hosts thousands of overwintering canvasback ducks, seen here gathered at dawn. "Canvasback ducks are my favorite bird to pursue, both with my camera and as a waterfowl hunter," says Paul Bramble, a member of National Geographic's Your Shot community. "Witnessing so many at one spot is incredible."

For this shot, Bramble employed a remote to allow the birds to move close enough to give a packed appearance. "As it was early morning, I set the camera to aperture priority to account for the changing light," he says. "Luck provided the shutter speed of 1/15th and the painterly blur of birds in the foreground."

Hikers Camping, Glacier Bay National Park

Photograph by JK Putnam

My wife and I paddled up the west arm of Glacier Bay and back on an eight-day kayak trip in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park. We were on our own for the majority of the trip. We went days without seeing other people, but we never felt alone. This trip strengthened the already well-founded bond between us. I took this photo so that we would always have something to remind ourselves of this experience and how much closer we grew during it.

Manta Ray and Snorkeler, Australia

Photograph by Violeta Jahnel

A snorkeler appreciates the beauty of a giant manta ray in Ningaloo Reef, off Australia’s west coast.

Blenny Fish, Red Sea

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Dmitry Marchenko

Small blenny fish hiding in a coral hole, Red Sea, Egypt.

Beaver, Vancouver

Photograph by Paul Colangelo

A North American beaver (Castor canadensis) waterproofs its fur by combing through it with its claws, spreading natural oils. Vancouver's urban Stanley Park is home to Beaver Lake, a small body of water that supports waterfowl, fish, and its eponymous mammals.

Owl, Florida

Photograph by Barbara Motter

Having never seen a sleeping owl, Barbara Motter was surprised to find delicate feathers covering the eyelid of a resting resident of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Preserve in western Florida. "It's a wonderful nature preserve that houses a variety of owls," says Motter, a member of National Geographic's Your Shot photo community. "Because they are nocturnal, the owls are usually asleep during the day, and visitors just pass by the enclosure with little more than a glance. What treasures we find when we take the time to look closely at nature."

Tukad Unda Dam, Bali

Photograph by Lisa Hendrawan

This dam is on a river called Tukad Unda in Klungkung, Bali. I framed the photo to make the dam look like a natural waterfall. Locals regularly bathe and wash their clothes here. It's also a fun place for the children to play. I adjusted the shutter speed to capture the arcs of water flowing from their buckets. —Lisa Hendrawan

Musicians, New Orleans

Photograph by Robert Davies

On our last walk around the French Quarter before heading home we came across this band setting up on Royal Street. We were able to hear a few songs and snap a few shots before rushing off to the airport.

Railway Bridge, Japan

Photograph by Teruo Araya

On an early summer morning, Teruo Araya captured this image of a train on Japan Rail's Tadami line as it passed through Fukushima Prefecture. "The haze generated by the river created a fantasy world," as the train crossed the railway bridge, Araya says. For the Your Shot contributor, the sight expressed the recovery of the people of Fukushima, defying the earthquake and nuclear accident of March 2011. "But it is like an endless journey."

Novice Shaman, Mongolia

Photograph by Carolyn Drake

A novice shaman makes an offering of milk to the spirits at her initiation outside the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

Kyrgiz Nomads, Afghanistan

Photograph by Matthieu Paley

Kyrgyz herders adore their cell phones, which they acquire by trading and keep charged with solar-powered car batteries. Though useless for communication—cellular service doesn't reach the isolated plateau—the gadgets are used to play music and take photos.

Birdsville Race Track, Australia

Photograph by Rowan Bestmann

Once a year, thousands of people descend on the remote town of Birdsville, Australia, for a three-day horse racing event in western Queensland's Diamantina Shire. Commissioned to document the Shire—a 36,000-square-mile area on the edge of the Simpson Desert—Your Shot contributor Rowan Bestmann was covering the event from a light plane when he came across this view of parked 4x4s. "The owners of these vehicles had driven from all over Australia," he says. "During the races, the town's two service stations sell more than 160,000 liters [42,000 gallons] of diesel fuel."

Spiral Staircase, Tokyo

Photograph by Tomoyasu Chida

When Tomoyasu Chida was shooting photos near the Koenji shrine in Tokyo, the Your Shot contributor got a surprise: the sudden appearance of a woman's face near the top of a spiral staircase. "At that moment, it seemed like she was part of the polka dots," Chida says.

Swimmers, Kumta

Photograph by Dinesh Hegde

"Nonstop rain for a week left all the small lakes filled with water in Kumta," says Your Shot contributor Dinesh Hegde of an early monsoon in the coastal Indian town. "When the sun came out unexpectedly, one could see the people running around to finish off their last week's pending work with a mixture of happiness and [haste]."

Hegde came across the swimming children while riding his bike. "The gorgeous monsoon clouds and the Western Ghats formed a perfect backdrop for their cheerful activity," Hegde says. And the kids were happy to get the perfect response to their celebrations—"me photographing them."

Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand

Photograph by Brad Grove

Trees stand like guardians at the top of Lake Wakatipu on New Zealand's South Island. Says Brad Grove, a member of our Your Shot community: "I first discovered these trees by the Glenorchy jetty back in April 2011 and had never really been happy with my efforts to shoot them." Grove achieved this HDR image in June 2012, after approaching the trees from a different direction. "It was minus 4 [degrees Celsius] on a very cold morning, and the sun had just broken the horizon behind me," he says. "The composition fell into place, and I took seven exposures hoping I had enough data to produce the image I could see in my head."

Church of Rodel, Outer Hebrides

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Jim Richardson

The 15th-century church of Rodel on the Isle of Lewis, built for the warlike chiefs of the MacLeods, towers over the sea lochs of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Nothing in early modern Britain, from its cities to its remotest corners, was more political than religion. The church in every parish—nearly always the most imposing building—was as much a symbol of worldly control as a shrine to God.

Roman Ruin Arch, Algeria

Photograph by George Steinmetz

TIMGAD, ALGERIA
This triumphal arch awed visitors to the city of Thamugadi, founded by the emperor Trajan around A.D. 100 as a civilian settlement near the fort of Lambaesis. The grooves left by wagon and chariot wheels can still be seen in the stone road.

Moai, Easter Island

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Randy Olson

Their backs to the Pacific, 15 restored moai stand watch at Ahu Tongariki, the largest of Easter Island's ceremonial stone platforms. Rapanui artisans carved the moai centuries ago from volcanic rock at a quarry a mile away. By the 19th century all of Easter's moai had been toppled—by whom or what is unclear. In 1960 these moai were swept inland by a tsunami, which fractured some (left).

Gray Wolf, Washington

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Mukul Soman

A gray wolf rests at Wolf Haven International, a wolf sanctuary in Washington State.

Foxes, New Jersey

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Jack Fusco

This photo was taken in Island Beach State Park, New Jersey.

Zebras, Zambia

Photograph by Craig Arnold

A three-week-old zebra plays with an older zebra.

Llamas, Peru

Photograph by Antoine Bruneau

After a couple of days trekking across the Peruvian Andes, our group had an unusual encounter at 4,600 meters, on top of the narrow, windy, and freezing Huacahuasi Pass. While we had not run into a single soul for days, we had to give way to a flock of llamas and their herder, basically coming out of nowhere: a real culture shock between us Occidental folks in search of adventure and the local Quechua mountain people going about their daily business. —Antoine Bruneau

Sunset, Mount Everest

Photograph by Cory Richards

The sun sets over the west shoulder of Mount Everest (right) and Mount Nuptse.

Kayakers, Maui

Photograph by Ron Dahlquist

There is an incredible coral bloom off the village of Olowalu on Maui's south shore. I've seen the coral from a helicopter numerous times and always thought it would photograph beautifully, especially if I could arrange for some kayakers to be paddling in and around the coral to add scale to the scene.

Garden Lizard, India

Photograph by Arpan Parui

No more than five inches long, a baby garden lizard of the Calotes genus rests on a cactus in Your Shot contributor Arpan Parui's backyard. "I first saw it on a winter morning sitting on a brick," Parui says. "Its dreamy eyes, basking in the pleasures of its surroundings, caught my attention."

A researcher of ant ecology, Parui had been on an early-morning prowl for the perfect insect shot when he spotted the lizard. "Wildlife is my passion—I have spent more than three years working in the forest, and yet every day presents something new and unique."

Kangaroos, Australia

Photograph by Graeme Ricketts

Kangaroos retreat to the leeward side of a tree line to escape a late-afternoon shower on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. National Geographic Your Shot contributor Graeme Ricketts captured the photo "from the comfort of our front veranda, which has a fantastic view of the Eleanor River Valley." When the sky opened up, Ricketts "was in awe of the wonderful light and contrasts that were created by the rain that descended upon the valley. The local wild kangaroos were forced to take shelter, and I just had to capture it." The challenge, Ricketts writes, was capturing all of the scene's elements. "Too fast a shutter speed would have frozen the rain and too slow would have washed the scene out."

Sheep Encounter, China

Photograph by Steven Chou

Steven Chou was on his way back to Lhasa from Kashgar in remote western China—"a long, tough way"—when he encountered "a big gold-pit truck preparing to go back to Lhasa too." Chou, a member of National Geographic's Your Shot photo community, got a lift from the truck's Tibetan driver. He describes this shot as one glimpse from his seven-day journey on board.

Both Island, Antarctica

Photograph by Nancy Dowling

Taken at Booth Island in Antarctica.

Ghadames, Libya

Photograph by George Steinmetz

Tight clusters of traditional mud-brick-and-palm houses have stood for centuries in Ghadames, a pre-Roman oasis town in the Sahara. Rooftop walkways allowed women to move freely, concealed from men’s view.

Fishers, Haiti

Photograph by Guy Mokia

This long-exposure photo was taken in Jeremie, Haiti, as local fishermen tried to salvage a ship that got stuck, using the waves to bring pieces of the ship back to shore.

Reef Manta Ray, Bali

Photograph by Andrea Marshall

"On one special day we encountered dozens of reef manta rays feeding at the surface in Nusa Penida," Marine Megafauna Foundation cofounder and National Geographic explorer Andrea Marshall says. "When these giant animals feed they are distracted, and snorkelers can approach them quite closely without disturbing them. It is almost like they go into a trance.

"This individual spent about a half an hour with us, in quite shallow water, weaving in and out between us while feeding on densely concentrated plankton in the surface waters," she says. "As it approached me it reared up a bit and flashed its ventral surface (belly) at me, giving me a glimpse of its natural spot patterning on its underside, which we use to identify between different rays."

Marshall and her team recently created Manta Matcher, an automated online manta ray database. It "stores the patterning of each manta ray sighted across the world and automatically checks for a match every time a new entry is uploaded," Marshall says. "This system will allow researchers to follow the lives of these elusive animals and learn more about their movements and behavior over time."

Jal Mahal, India

Photograph by Mahesh Balasubramanian

At Jal Mahal in Jaipur, India, a flock of pigeons burst into the sky just as Mahesh Balasubramanian was contemplating the landscape's misty backdrop. "It was an early morning, and I was roaming around Jal Mahal," says the Your Shot contributor. "I was in the right position to [capture] those floating structures' reflections, with one nearby and another a bit far, balancing the frame. The water was very still."

Sabratah's Ancient Roman Theater, Libya

Photograph by George Steinmetz

Libyans enjoy a visit to Sabratah's ancient Roman theater, one of Africa's largest.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Photograph by Melih Sular

An interior shot of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.

Mount Everest, Nepal

Photograph by Nikolay Radosnov

A Sherpa carries luggage in the vicinity of the Tengboche Monastery, Nepal.

Dovekies, Svalbard

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Paul Nicklen

Small auks called dovekies dive for copepods and nest on rocky shores in Svalbard, Norway's Arctic archipelago. The birds deposit guano and carcasses on land, fertilizing a mossy garden that provides ideal lurking ground for arctic foxes and other hunters.

Moscow, Russia

Photograph by Dara Pilugina

On the day that I made this photo, it was really cold. It was the beginning of March, but in Russia it seemed like it was the middle of winter. I was lucky and unlucky with the weather at the same time. I was standing on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, and a cold strong wind was blowing, but the same wind drove the clouds in the sky and the ice on the river.

Cheetah and Tourist, Kenya

Photograph by Yanai Bonneh

When Yanai Bonneh saw a pair of cheetahs jump onto the top of a tourist vehicle, the Your Shot contributor "didn't think too much, only realized it was an unusual moment, pulled out my camera, and started clicking." For Bonneh, it was "the opportunity of a lifetime" during a visit to Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. "Later in the evening, I stopped on this photo, and what came out was only a big 'wow.'"

Morella, Spain

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Jules Gervais Courtellemont

A 1928 Autochrome image by Jules Gervais Courtellemont shows a view of the arcades along the main street in Morella, Spain.

Festival Dancers, India

Photograph by Priyanka Telang

A cloud of marigold, rose, and jasmine petals envelops raas leela dancers during a Holi Festival performance in Vrindavan, India. According to Your Shot contributor Priyanka Telang, performers and organizers work hard to preserve the ancient dance, "a dramatic presentation of the events of Lord Krishna's childhood days."
In the scene pictured, Lord Krishna celebrates Holi with friends, mostly female. "All the roles are played by male artists dressed up in female costumes," writes Telang. "Being a part of it and watching it live is one of the most wonderful and spiritual experiences—you are spellbound and everything in the world around you disappears … ".

Tokyo, Japan

Download Wallpaper (1600 x 1200 pixels)

Photograph by Danilo Dungo.

One cold silent night on Oshiage in Sumida, there stood the tallest structure in Japan.

Royal Bengal Tiger, Brahmaputra Valley

Photograph by Sandesh Kadur

A tiger's stripes leave it well camouflaged among tall grass in India's Brahmaputra Valley. Hunted to death in much of the rest of the country, the valley and Kaziranga National Park provide shelter.