“When I'm Old...” When I'm old and looking back on my daughter as a little girl, this is how I hope to remember her. The joy, the curious eyes, and the freckles that seem to go on forever. Photo location: Wilmington, NC. (Photo and caption by Mike Melnotte/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Creature”. This is a self portrait taken when I was twenty one years old. Photo location: Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. (Photo and caption by Tasha Grabowski/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Basketball”. Basket in the air. Photo location: Milan. (Photo and caption by Cristiano Ragab/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Metal worker”. People making money from molten iron. Photo location: Turkey. (Photo and caption by Murat Yılmaz/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Searching”. Glass eel fishing season starts in Japan in the winter. Hunters illuminate the water with a mercury lamp from onboard and scoop up eel fry gathering in the light with a small net. During the new moon, hunters search for glass eel and wander about with many lights in the estuaries. Photo location: Japan. (Photo and caption by Yusuke Sakai/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“The really scary Festival”. Flame of hand tube fireworks would exorcism. It is the traditional fireworks of Japan（hand tube fireworks）. The event will be the ritual worshiping God. Third Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in July: Gion Matsuri Festival of Yoshida-jinja Shrine (held in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture; Old Tokaido Road, Yoshida-juku, the inn town) In the festival, you can see powerful hand-tube fireworks. Photo location: Toyohashi, Aithi, Japan. (Photo and caption by Hidenobu Suzuki/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Destroyed Homs”. Birds fly over the destroyed houses in Khalidiya district in Homs, Syria. In the vast stillness of the destroyed city center of Homs, there are large areas where nothing moves. Then, suddenly, wind blows a ripped awning, or birds fly overhead. Photo location: Homs, Syria. (Photo and caption by Sergey Ponomarev/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Hey Kids”. I was traveling by car across beautiful Masurian Lakes district in Poland together with my family. Being impressed with the beauty of the landscape we decided to make a stop by the field of bales and take some nature shots. Before I knew, my niece who trains in gymnastic, was happily jumping from one bale to another presenting her skills. I thought it was great moment to snap her summer time joy. Photo location: Poland. (Photo and caption by Malgorzata Walkowska/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Phone Home”. For this trip I brought many layers…which did the trick…except for the gloves which remained in my bag in the hotel, oops. I will say that by the time we left that night temperatures were around 30F (windchill estimates around 13F). Trying to work with a metal tripod, camera buttons and facing in to the wind certainly made for challenging conditions. Which means that I’m was quite excited when I saw the results of this exposure pop up on the back of the LCD screen. The pillar of light you see is called the Zodiacal Light. The quarter moon did the job of illuminating the rest of the scene. Photo location: Hawai'i Island. (Photo and caption by Aaron Feinberg/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Harlem Escapade”. On my day off, I took my younger brother out to explore the city, we turned a corner and found this gem in the heart of Spanish Harlem. On a hot summer day in NYC, all the fire hydrants are opened and the kids are on the block trying to cool off. It all comes down to which neighborhood has the best and the biggest, as Hispanic folks say “pompa”, opened on full blast. Photo location: Spanish Harlem, New York, USA. (Photo and caption by Naomi Ordonez/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Batanes Sunset”. A local villager walking pass a cow during sunset. Photo location: Batanes, Philippines. (Photo and caption by Emma Fumoto/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Fish smoking area”. A man passing by a fish smoking area. Photo location: Senegal. (Photo and caption by Emmanuelle Andrianjafy/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Warming up”. This photo I capture in the early afternoon, the animal species of lemurs fly. Photo location: Sambas, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Hendy Mp/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Ha O Ka Mo'o (Dragon's Breath)”. Heading out to Spouting Horn on the south side of Kaua'i I had the opportunity to capture an image that had been in my mind for years. Given the appropriate conditions I ventured out on the the rocks. Which, given the circumstances is a bit eery. The water pushing through the cracks in the rock also makes whistles and noises that aren't near the spout itself. Has I settled in and began to shoot I had to adjust my initial idea as the street lights nearby were casting a glow on to the scene. I decided to combine this with a gelled flash and after about an hour achieved the result here. Photo location: Poipu, Kaua'i. (Photo and caption by Aaron Feinberg/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Evergreen snake”. This non poisonous snake is commonly found in the evergreen forests commonly known as western ghats of India which is drenched in the monsoon rains for about 4 months in a year. It is highly difficult to spot this snake in the greenery as its color is a camouflage in the green surroundings. Photo location: Western ghats of Karnataka state, India. (Photo and caption by Mahesh Hegde/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Walking on Water”. I was finishing up a photo shoot when a wild kangaroo appeared out of nowhere and bounded onto the lake, as if walking on water. This, along with the picturesque sunset combined to create an absolute visual treat! Photo location: Noosa, Queensland, Australia. (Photo and caption by Dave Kan/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Fireplay”. I headed out one night to photograph the Milky Way. As I reached the top of the mountain, this magnificent scene presented itself to me. I immediately wanted to photograph it in all its glory. After trying out a few different exposure times, I settled on a duration of roughly 16 minutes. This allowed me to capture the intense glow of the fire along with the surreal star trails seen in the sky. Photo location: Advancetown Lake, Gold Coast Hinterland, Australia. (Photo and caption by Dave Kan/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Holuhraun eruption”. Late afternoon flight over the eruption site at the remote holuhraun craters in central highlands of Iceland. Photo taken of September 4, 2014. By landing in a remote landing strip close to the eruption and camp over night, we managed to be the last plane in the area, allowing us to stay longer over the eruption site in low sun. Photo location: Holuhraun central highlands of Iceland. (Photo and caption by Haukur Snorrason/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Sunset Milky Way”. In sunset time in Uyuni lake. Only this time, we can see nice sunset and Milky Way. The sunset light and night light mixed this point. Photo location: Uyuni lake in Bolivia. (Photo and caption by Yosuke Yamada/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Simplistic”. It was a very calm day and we couldn't access much of the park due to snow. So I made the best of what I was offered. Such a beautiful place! Photo location: Lake McDonald Glacier National Park, MT. (Photo and caption by Erik Kuhlmann/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Solitude”. A lone wave breaks along the Na Pali Coast on the north shore of Kaua'i. Photo location: Ke'e Beach, Kaua'i, Hawai'i. (Photo and caption by Aaron Feinberg/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Searching for Love”. Blue Ghost Fireflies in Brevard, North Carolina. Blue Ghost fireflies are unique because they stay lit and only hover about a foot off the ground. Photo location: Brevard, North Carolina. (Photo and caption by Spencer Black/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“On the lookout!” This tiny thumbnail poison dart frog (Ranitomeya variabilis) was captured on a heliconia plant while searching for an intruding male, calling from a distance. Photo location: Tahuayo, Loreto, Peru. (Photo and caption by Fredrik Tegnér/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“The Lord of The Ocean”. Off the coast of Guadalupe Island, great white sharks gather to feed on sea lions. It is an ideal place to observe these majestic animals in their natural state. Far ideas through Hollywood movies, the great white shark remains fearful of man and does not leave easily approached. Photo location: Guadalupe Island, Mexico. (Photo and caption by Marc Henauer/National Geographic Photo Contest)