Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Patos Island, one of Washington's San Juan Islands, is part of a thousand-acre national monument created last year by President Barack Obama. Wilderness, a higher form of land protection, covers 350 acres of the San Juans.
Photograph by Lorenzo Mittiga , National Geographic Your Shot
Not quite as threatening as some sea monsters, a spiny-backed iguana floats by photographer Lorenzo Mittiga in the Bonaire Caves of the Dutch Caribbean.
"There I was, fully equipped with my camera, its underwater housing, and a wide-angle lens, preparing for the final setting of the sun, when a friend interrupted my solitude," writes Mittiga , a member of our Your Shot community. He had dived into the water above my head and was swimming around the entrance of the cave, as if to say 'hello' to me.
Mittiga s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Richard Barnes, National Geographic
The successors of Roman Emperor Nero largely buried his legacy from view. Beneath the Oppian Hill (at left) the remains of the palace the Domus Aurea, or Golden House built by and for Nero are closed to the public. By contrast, the Colosseum receives more than 10,000 visitors a day.
Photograph by Matthieu Paley, National Geographic
Greenland's Inuit survived for generations eating almost nothing but meat in a landscape too harsh for most plants. Today markets offer more variety, but a taste for meat persists.
The 64 residents of the remote east Greenland village of Isortoq, pictured here, still hunt and fish but combine traditional Inuit foods with purchases from the supermarket, the large red building in the foreground. A favorite dish: seal dipped in ketchup and mayonnaise.
Photograph by Aizuddin Saad , National Geographic Your Shot
A performer with Switzerland s Swiss Dream Circus nimbly twirls hula hoops around her arms and legs. In Malaysia, it s really hard to see a circus show without animals involved, writes Your Shot member Aizuddin Saad . When I heard that a group of circus performers was doing a show in Kuala Lumpur, I took a chance to document circus life.
Saad s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
This rugged wilderness was the precursor to the 1964 Wilderness Act. Forty years before the act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson, 755,000 acres in New Mexico s Gila National Forest, including the Middle Fork of the Gila River, became the world s first designated wilderness.
Photograph by Anibal Trejo , National Geographic Your Shot
Firecrackers douse raucous revelers in a steady stream of sparks during a celebration of Correfoc, or fire runs, in Sant Quint de Mediona, Spain. A Catalan tradition, the festival features groups of participants known as "devils" running wild among the narrow streets, igniting fireworks along the way.
The shooting conditions are really dangerous for the photographer, writes Your Shot photographer Anibal Trejo . I had to protect myself to avoid burnings, dressing up with long sleeves, protective glasses, a hat, handkerchief, and even gloves.
Trejo s picture recently appeared in the Your Shot assignment How Close Can You Get?
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Jeff Nelson , National Geographic Your Shot
Tourists flock to a lone tree along the path of Hadrian s Wall in northern England. Built between 122 A.D. and 128 A.D., the wall spans a 73-mile neck of land between the Tyne and the Solway Firth a solid northern boundary for the entire Roman Empire. It s often considered the most important relic of Roman rule in Britain.
"I wanted to get the photo without people, but that wasn't possible," says photographer Jeff Nelson . "In the end, I feel they give the photo better perspective."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Fay Stout , National Geographic Your Shot
"The Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas, is my 'happy place' to spend time photographing the flowers and garden critters," writes Your Shot member Fay Stout . "I was fascinated by the webs covered with water droplets on a low hedge in the Women's Garden but didn't immediately see the tiny spiders that were crawling out of the holes in the webs' centers. When I looked more closely, I saw them and tried to capture one with my macro lens."
Stout s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Viet Thanh Nguyen , National Geographic Your Shot
A salt worker labors at a salt field in the Dien Chau district of Vietnam's Nghe An Province. The district's salt workers sell their product year-round at roadside markets.
Nguyen s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Snow clings to aspens near Taos, New Mexico, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A proposal to protect 45,000 acres here in the Carson National Forest is one of some 30 wilderness bills before the U.S. Congress.
Since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act in 1964, the number of wilderness areas has increased to more than 750.
Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic
In other places around the world, coral has been decimated by bleaching and disease, but the southern Line Islands reefs retain their resilience. Scientists believe the key to coral health is intact ecosystems, where all the native species including planktivores such as the vividly marked Achilles tang seen here play their part.
Photograph by Matthieu Paley, National Geographic
The Bajau of Malaysia fish and dive for almost everything they eat. Some live in houses on the beach or on stilts; others have no homes but their boats.
Her face dusted in bedak sejuk, a cooling powder made of rice and pandan leaves, Alpaida paddles out to visit friends in stilt houses. The teen and her family belong to the tribal group known as the Sea Bajau because they live year-round on their lepa-lepas, handmade houseboats.
Photograph by Hannes Lochner , National Geographic Your Shot
When photographer Hannes Lochner set up his camera at a water hole in South Africa's Kalahari, he tried hiding it from curious lions because "they might play with it or carry it off," he writes. "On this particular evening, I was in my vehicle just as the sun was setting, the dust in the air creating a special kind of Kalahari light, and a pride of lions arrived. By repeatedly clicking the shutter, I coaxed the ever curious cubs forward."
Lochner's picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
Photograph by Kevin H. , National Geographic Your Shot
A blue heron catches the last rays of a setting sun at Great Falls National Park in Maryland.
"I go there often because the herons make great subjects for long exposures against the falls," writes Your Shot member Kevin H. "After shooting for about a minute or two, I finally noticed one standing on the rocks. I loved how the glowing mist was drifting behind it and that the rocks were illuminated by the sunset."
Kevin H.'s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
Photograph by Barbara Ernst , National Geographic Your Shot
"Seven-acre Eastern Egg Rock is an Audubon research island off Boothbay Harbor, Maine, that's home to the world's first restored seabird colony," writes Barbara Ernst , a member of our Your Shot community. Puffins and guillemots nest on nearby granite boulders, while the interior habitat hosts eiders, nesting terns, and laughing gulls.
"We were circling the island by boat looking for puffins when the student interns (the only people on the island) climbed on top of the house and started waving to the only people they probably saw all day. They sleep in the small tents, and the little house you see is their kitchen/work area. I was drawn to the drama of the scene and the emotion of the story it told."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Huynh Jet , National Geographic Your Shot
"I was drawn to an older woman who was working very hard on crafting these hats," writes Your Shot member Huynh Jet , who captured this photo in a traditional dwelling in Duc Hoa, Long An Province, Vietnam. "I climbed on a ladder and stood there until I caught the moment when she put the threads into the hat. A big traditional family in Long An has made and sold hats for over a hundred years."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Rennis Kauffman , National Geographic Your Shot
A tight angle captures the McCloud River falling in tiers to an unseen swimming hole below. The Middle McCloud Falls are one of three on the clear, chilly river in northern California's Shasta-Trinity National Forest. From an overlook at the Middle Falls, visitors can take in Mount Shasta and Castle Crags among other natural features.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Mike Korostelev , National Geographic Your Shot
"I met this crocodile face-to-face underwater," writes Your Shot member Mike Korostelev . "There was only my underwater camera between it and me."
Having long dreamt of photographing a crocodile in its natural aquatic habitat, Korostelev traveled to Banco Chinchorro, Mexico, a biosphere reserve in the Caribbean Sea and a breeding ground for American crocodiles. "We lived in a fisherman's hut that stood right on the sea on stilts. During the day we searched for crocodiles, which swam out of mangroves to hunt fish. This one was quite friendly and showed its beauty all around."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Luca Venturi , National Geographic Your Shot
Atmospheric weather conditions in the Lofoten Islands village of Hamn y gave Luca Venturi the opportunity to take advantage of a less than ideal forecast on a four-day photography trip. The Your Shot member had hoped to capture the aurora borealis on the Norwegian archipelago and found it necessary to adapt. "I came across a fishing village that I had dreamed of seeing in snowy conditions and decided to use the unusual lighting to portray its uncommon appearance," Venturi writes. "I tried to highlight the warm colors of the fishermen's houses and the surrounding vegetation against the more cold and tenuous ones of sky and sea."
Venturi's picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Cedric Delves , National Geographic Your Shot
It's bracing weather for a walk on a November afternoon in the town of Deal on England's North Sea coast. "Only a few people out, a number walking the dog," writes Your Shot member Cedric Delves . "Perhaps it was the weather, but having wrapped up, most appeared to have turned inward, to thoughts, worries, and all; only the dogs seemed wholly at ease, simply out and about for the fun of it.
"I thought I would try to capture something of this. These three came from different directions, at differing speeds Fortunately all came together: the two people deep in their thoughts, going their separate ways, but the dog at ease, even giving me a direct, open, and sort of knowing look."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Iwan Pruvic , National Geographic Your Shot
A tokay gecko shows its true colors in the woods around Tangerang, Indonesia. Tokays are among the largest geckos and range from northeast India to the Malay Archipelago. Here, one of the tokay's ears can be seen as a small hole on the side of its head. It's possible, peering through the hole, to see through its head to the other side.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Vito Dozio , National Geographic Your Shot
Dawn comes to a tea plantation in Munnar, India, once a favorite summer retreat of British officials. Situated 5,200 feet and more above sea level, the Kerala hill station is awash in the green of its forests, grasslands, and plantations, and offers visitors the charm of discovery from waterfalls and wildflowers to winding lanes.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Julian Bound , National Geographic Your Shot
On a tour of Wat Mahathat, a temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand, Your Shot member Julian Bound spotted a large stone Buddha head sitting encased in a tree. "Its roots are said to have grown around the sculpture during a time when the temple lay abandoned and overgrown," Bound writes. "Drawn to the uniqueness of the statue, I knelt down to take the shot as rich sunlight played across the Buddha's features, making sure to capture the ground before the tree to give depth and scale to the image."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Sandro Lonardi , National Geographic Your Shot
While diving in the Gal pagos Islands, Sandro Lonardi took a break between dives to snorkel with sea lions. "At first they were all on the island, but slowly they entered the water and started to play with us," says the Your Shot member. "They were a bit shy, but as I started to imitate them, they become more familiar and started to get closer and closer. It was a great moment."
Lonardi s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Laetitia Guichard , National Geographic Your Shot
A long exposure captures cloud movement over the coastal Greek village of Pyrgos. "The sky was perfect for this sort of treatment," says Your Shot member Laetitia Guichard . "Pyrgos is an authentic reflection of Greece perfect for an artist and photographer."
Guichard s picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Chester Boyes , National Geographic Your Shot
In the Bosnia and Herzegovina town of Mostar, a local dive club instructor jumps from the Stari Most, or Old Bridge, to the Neretva River below. "Divers have been leaping from the bridge for hundreds of years," writes Chester Boyes , a member of our Your Shot community. "On this day, we were going to try it for ourselves. Here, our instructor shows us how it's done before we try our luck."
Noticing the size and energy of the crowd, Boyes quickly ran down to the river's edge, hoping to catch his instructor in flight. "I arrived just in time."
Boyes s picture recently appeared in Your Shot s Daily Dozen .
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Davide U. , National Geographic Your Shot
The Santiago Calatrava-designed AV Mediopadana train station in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is "an architectural masterpiece," writes Your Shot member Davide U. At night, he adds, the station's lighting makes it magical. "There are all sorts of people coming and going, and a lot of emotions can be seen in their expressions. It's one of my favorite places to shoot. [That night] I had been waiting a long time, and when I saw the lady in red, I knew I had just found what I was looking for."
This photo was submitted to Your Shot . Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
Photograph by Cory Richards, National Geographic
A polar bear stands sentinel on Rudolf Island in Russia s Franz Josef Land archipelago, destination of the multidisciplinary Pristine Seas Expedition in the summer of 2013. The expedition sought to uncover, among other mysteries, why the perennial ice is melting and what the ecological consequences may be.
Hear Cory Richards talk about pushing through personal struggles »
Get more on the Franz Josef Land expedition »
Photograph by Rafal Ziejewski , National Geographic Your Shot
A camel caravan journeys across the dunes of Morocco's Erg Chebbi desert on the edge of the Sahara. Before capturing this scene, photographer Rafal Ziejewski had trekked two hours into the desert by camel and spent the night at a Berber camp. "On the way back I wanted to take some interesting photos of this amazing place," writes Ziejewski, a member of our Your Shot community. "[So] instead of taking a camel, I decided to walk. Getting off the beaten track gave me a lot of opportunities for great shots."
Ziejewski's picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen .
Photograph by John Warner , National Geographic Your Shot
While hiking and camping in Montana's Beartooth Mountains, Your Shot member John Warner used a technique called light painting to illuminate the landscape as the Boulder River roared by. "It was pitch-dark and actually cloudy, hence the Morse code star trails," he writes. "During the five-minute exposure I walked upstream along the river's edge carrying two powerful flashlights." Through gaps in the foliage, Warner shined beams of light onto the water and the opposite bank as he walked. "I wish you could hear the deafening sound."
Warner's picture recently appeared in the Your Shot assignment After Midnight .
