In the Hole

Photograph by Christoph Jorda , National Geographic Your Shot

To get this shot, taken in Austria, Your Shot member Christoph Jorda set up two Profoto B1 flash systems: one on top of the ice cave and one inside. We had to dig out the entrance of the cave because it was almost totally closed by the snow you see in the foreground, Jorda writes. The problem? According to Jorda, the ice cave was at an altitude of nearly 9,800 feet, the temperature was at minus 4 F, and the flash didn t work properly. So he [had] to jump a couple of times to get it right, he says.

Jorda s image was recently featured in Your Shot s Daily Dozen .

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Fireside Chat

Photograph by Muhammad Babar Swaleheen , National Geographic Your Shot

While shooting at the seaside in the United Arab Emirates, Your Shot member Muhammad Babar Swaleheen was about to pack up when he spotted these men discussing daily life around a small fire. Swaleheen asked if he could photograph them, and they gladly agreed.

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Going Electric

Photograph by David Guttenfelder, National Geographic

Dams are rising all along the Mekong River to bring the people of Southeast Asia clean electricity. In Thailand the hunger for electricity is driving dam construction on the lower Mekong in Laos and Cambodia. Bangkok s CentralWorld complex (at right) houses some 500 shops, a hotel, and an ice-skating rink.

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Sparks Fly

Photograph by Steve Bradburn , National Geographic Your Shot

Your Shot member Steve Bradburn used wire wool and a long exposure to create this fiery effect in Salcombe, England. Above, stars wheel in the night sky.

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Boatman of Mathura

Photograph by Andrew Louis Kleynhans , National Geographic Your Shot

While taking pictures of Hindu holy men in the Indian city of Mathura birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna Your Shot member Andrew Louis Kleynhans came across a boatman on the Yamuna River who asked to have his picture taken. To get this angle Kleynhans got on his stomach in the boat s stern, his feet dangling in the water. In the end ... the boatman was very happy with his image, he writes.

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A Stretch of Luck

Photograph by Yanming Qin , National Geographic Your Shot

Red lanterns create a decorative canopy during the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, a significant holiday during which millions of Chinese travel home to be with family. In China the color red traditionally symbolizes good fortune and is said to bring happiness and prosperity.

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The Fiercest Form

Photograph by Raja Subramaniyan , National Geographic Your Shot

A young girl s face is painted for a festival honoring the guardian deity Angalamman, the fiercest form, evoked in participants expressions. The festival is held every year in the village of Kaveripattinam in Tamil Nadu, India.

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Christmas in Kolkata

Photograph by Abir Choudhury , National Geographic Your Shot

Families celebrate under a corridor of twinkle lights on Christmas Eve in Kolkata s Bow Barracks. This auspicious occasion is celebrated in a very colorful way, writes Abir Choudhury, a member of our Your Shot community. I [tried] to highlight them with black and white.

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Circle of Life

Photograph by Federico Cabello , National Geographic Your Shot

A shoal of sardines resembles an eye on the ocean depths as it swirls near the surface at Thousand Steps Reef off the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Your Shot member Federico Cabello photographed and documented Bonaire s more than 90 official dive sites for his book Bonaire Point to Point. Thousand Steps Reef was one of these dive sites, Cabello writes. It s reached via a narrow, meandering stone stairway. A long trek but worth it.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox

Photograph by Mitch Adolph , National Geographic Your Shot

A red fox meanders through dunes along the New Jersey shore in this picture by Your Shot member Mitch Adolph. When it got to the top of this dune, I got down on my knees to get a lower point of view and bring the cloudy sky into the background, he writes. As the fox looked back, I got this shot."

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The Brightest Smile in Town

Photograph by Gregor Pirih , National Geographic Your Shot

A street performer and a picture of Ray Charles meet in a window in the small town of Nova Gorica in western Slovenia, home of Your Shot member Gregor Pirih, who came upon this scene while taking a walk. Pirih stopped and listened for a while before taking out his camera and hunting for the serendipitous angle captured here. He then waited to include a passing woman. I wanted to have a good street atmosphere [in] my photo, he writes. I fired off a few frames, and I knew immediately that I just took the photograph I was hoping for.

Pirih s image was published in the Street Photography assignment .

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Shining Through

Photograph by Ernie Vater , National Geographic Your Shot

The setting sun shines through the ice on the shore of a frozen Lake Superior, traversed by Your Shot member Ernie Vater to reach this spot. Part of the beauty of this place is the silence of it, he writes of the ice caves at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore near Bayfield, Wisconsin. You hear nothing except the occasional creaking of the ice (which can make you jump if it's right under you). There were a few times when I just stopped and enjoyed the quiet. In this spot the only sounds were the water drops splashing.

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A Life Apart

Photograph by Mohd Irman Ismail , National Geographic Your Shot

The Sanskrit term sadhu ( good man ) refers to renouncers who have chosen to live a life apart from or on the edges of society to focus on their own spiritual practice, writes Your Shot member Mohd Irman Ismail, who made this portrait in Kathmandu, Nepal. I was visiting Pashupatinath Temple and saw this lone sadhu relaxing near the bank of the river that passed through the temple. I smiled at him and gestured at the camera, asking for his permission, and he nodded. I lifted the camera and captured him with [this] deep and steely look.

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Lavender Avenue

Photograph by Jeff Berkes , National Geographic Your Shot

While traveling in Tuscany last summer, Your Shot member Jeff Berkes wanted to experience the culture and vibe of each of its small towns. I came across this bicycle in Montepulciano, Italy, and the color palette was the first thing that caught my attention the yellows and purples just stood out to me, he writes. I also loved the difference in the type of light there, the direct light on the bike, and the cooler color temperatures of the shaded corridor in the background.

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Intelligent Travel

Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic

Spinner dolphins return from foraging to a bay off Oahu, Hawaii. Garrulous and gregarious, spinners gather in groups that can number in the thousands.

Skerry talks about photographing the soul of the sea on Proof .

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Pilgrims Progress

Photograph by Michael George

On the route known as the Camino Frances, pilgrims dot a trail across the Meseta, the plateau of central Spain. The Camino has no specific stopping point each day, wrote photographer Michael George in his journal. If you are tired, injured, or fall in love with a town or a person, you can stop. Exploring on foot, he concluded, is simultaneously the simplest and most intense way to see the world.

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Fuji s Swan

Photograph by Swapnil Deshpande , National Geographic Your Shot

I was on my backpacking trip to Japan, and I had decided to spend a day on Lake Yamanaka in Hirano village to photograph Mount Fuji, writes Swapnil Deshpande, who shared this picture with the Your Shot photo community. I was fortunate to get this swan swimming in the morning light there.

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Lighting the Night

Photograph by Fabio Manca , National Geographic Your Shot

We arrived in Hoi An right after Typhoon Haiyan had hit the Vietnamese coast, writes Your Shot member Fabio Manca. The streets in the old part of the city were flooded for several days, and people were using small speed boats to move around. Others were simply trying to push the water out from their homes and shops. Eventually we could walk to the city center, where life had started again and shops reopened. There was a full moon that night, and young girls in colorful pink traditional dresses were selling candles to honor their ancestors and bring good luck.

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Windswept

Photograph by Yves Vernin , National Geographic Your Shot

A strong, dry wind called a mistral in southern France blows through the city of Marseilles, with hair-raising results. Photographer Yves Vernin had for a long time been hoping to do a series on the mistral, so on a windy day he headed to Notre Dame de la Garde, or the "bonne m re," situated on a hill. This is a famous place in Marseille, and a windy place, he writes. After I searched [for] a good place with nice light and a lot of wind, I waited like a hunter. (Of course, I underexposed because of the light on the faces, and I set a high speed to immobilize the hair.) This one was the most interesting I took.

Yves Vernin s photo was recently published in the Street Photography assignment.

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Cloud Cover

Photograph by Brendon Wainwright , National Geographic Your Shot

Table Mountain wears her distinctive blanket while Cape Town flickers below in this picture by Brendon Wainwright, a member of our Your Shot community. Taking advantage of a beautiful day, Wainwright had hiked with friends to the top of Lion s Head in the Table Mountain range. Most people know [that] when the southeasterly wind is blowing it is unpleasant, strong, and irritating; however, not the case on Lion's Head, which is situated between Table Mountain and Signal Hill, says Wainwright. As a result of the southeaster, [we saw] a magical 'tablecloth' cloud phenomenon ... formed over Table Mountain.

Wainwright s image was recently featured in Your Shot s Daily Dozen .

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Alaska King Crab

Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic

Underneath the ice, spikes meet spikes as an Alaska king crab the size of a nickel crawls over a knobby sea star. After a dozen years, the crustacean will grow to the size of a tractor tire.

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Come Dancing

Photograph by Visarut Teerawatvichaikul , National Geographic Your Shot

The light and shimmer of the Starlight Room at San Francisco s Sir Frances Drake Hotel absorbs a couple moved to dance the tango. I heard the tango music while I was setting up my camera on a tripod, writes Your Shot member Visarut Teerawatvichaikul, who visited the lounge while at work on a school project. Suddenly, I saw one couple run up to the dance floor. They danced like a shadow among the stars. I was watching them dance for a while, and I felt like time was paused in that moment between me and them, so I took a shot.

Teerawatvichaikul s photo was recently published in the Street Photography assignment.

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The Searcher

Photograph by Carlo Mogavero , National Geographic Your Shot

A lone rider is dwarfed by the immensity of Utah s Monument Valley. Your Shot member Carlo Mogavero had the benefit of a clear day and an iconic setting but, he writes, his shot was missing a subject. Suddenly a cowboy started to climb the cliff, and I began to hope that the guy was going to reach the right position, he writes. I waited for a while, and luckily the cowboy went [onto] the rock. For Mogavero, the scene evoked the classic Western films of Sergio Leone and John Ford, once viewed on a black-and-white television.

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When Penguins Attack

Photograph by Gordon Tait , National Geographic Your Shot

This is what happens when you leave a GoPro out on the sea ice, writes Your Shot member Gordon Tait, who captured a series of time-lapses with the HD camera system while running an ocean acidification experiment near Casey Station, Antarctica. We often get groups of Ad lie penguins coming to see what we re doing, and this one was trying to peck the camera.

Tait s image was recently featured in Your Shot s Daily Dozen .

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Pool of Light

Photograph by Kelsey Gerhard , National Geographic Your Shot

In the summer months in Virginia, writes Your Shot member Kelsey Gerhard , my daughters practically live in the water. And the beauty of the girls in their element has become one of Gerhard s favorite things to photograph. One night, I knew we would be swimming late at a nearby pool, and I brought along my Nikon D700 and Ikelite underwater housing to play. I knew the pool lights would create some interesting images, but I did not realize just how magical they would be.

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Grand Torino

Photograph by Prandoni Livio , National Geographic Your Shot

For Prandoni Livio our city lives are, more and more, lived fleetingly. Livio, who shared this picture with our Your Shot community, was on a trip to Turin, Italy, when he captured this shot of a passing tram. I look around to discover new situations and photographic opportunities, he writes. Seeing the passing tram, Livio concentrated on [the] situation, trying to find the right angles and [waiting] for the passage of people to make the photo dynamic.

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Purple Haze

Photograph by Szymon Bielikowski , National Geographic Your Shot

I cannot describe the feelings that were flowing through my entire self when I finally got to J kuls rl n, writes Szymon Bielikowski , a member of our Your Shot community. It was a spiritual experience. Bielikowski photographed the glacial lagoon while on a lone journey through Iceland. I could stay there for weeks, months, who knows how long? he writes. It is as beautiful as it is sad. I will get back there as soon as I can.

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Shake It Off

Photograph by Michael Pachis , National Geographic Your Shot

The Memphis Zoo houses bald eagles that have been injured too badly to be returned to the wild, writes Your Shot member Michael Pachis . Usually the eagles are perched in their tree watching the visitors. However, this time I noticed one ... hopping on the ground toward a water pool in the aviary. He surprised me by dunking his entire head in the water before coming up shaking.

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Galaxy West

Photograph by Dan Whittaker , National Geographic Your Shot

The Milky Way arcs above an abandoned farm outside the former railroad town of Bartlett, Texas. Earth s vast home galaxy spans 120,000 light-years from end to end.

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Holding Fast

Photograph by Syed Hassan , National Geographic Your Shot

Light and smoke commingle to cast a misty glow over devotees during Rakher Upobash, a Hindu fasting festival, in Bangladesh. This is what lured Your Shot member Syed Hassan to photograph the scene. But he was also drawn to the expressions of the devotees. No matter which religion is practiced, I love to capture the feeling, he writes.

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Chasing Rainbows

Photograph by Myriam Casper , National Geographic Your Shot

I was inside my car as the ferry was getting ready to dock, [and] I see people's faces looking in one direction, in awe, toward the sea, writes Your Shot member Myriam Casper , who was traveling from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island to mainland Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. So I grabbed my camera, went to check out what they were looking at, and then saw this perfect double rainbow in front of me. Casper fought crowds of people on the ferry s deck to get the shot over Horseshoe Bay. It s almost as if we [were] approaching a portal to another planet.

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