Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

In one of the planet’s most desolate and harsh terrains, the Altai Mountains which run from Siberia in Russia down to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, hunting with eagles is currently only practiced by a handful of Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. This form of falconry, the practice of hunting with the aid of birds of prey, can be traced back as far as 4,000 years in Central Asia. Here: after a successful hunt, a proud hunter rewards his eagle by feeding it the lungs of the prey, which is considered the most highly prized part of the animal. (Photo by Tariq Zaidi/The Washington Post)

Sport category, winner: Yuan Peng. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters who have studied and trained in gymnastics since their early childhood in Jining, China. (Photo by Yuan Peng/Sony World Photography Awards)

Hot air balloons in flight over Melbourne, Australia on January 24, 2022. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A general view of the Drax Power Station, illuminated in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, in North Yorkshire, Britain on April 1, 2022. (Photo by Lee Smith/Reuters)

Police Cpl. Cristiano de Oliveira offers a hand to police dog “Corporal Oliveira”, at the 17 Military Police Battalion's station, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, April 7, 2022. Oliveira is one of two rescue dogs that have turned into local mascots and budding online influencers after joining their rescuers' ranks. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A Nepalese woman wearing a mask as a precaution against the coronavirus stands next to the clothing store in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 26, 2022. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Hamish the polar bear tries out his new enclosure at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park at Branton, Doncaster on November 6, 2020, after moving from the Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland. Hamish was the first polar bear to be born in the UK. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire Press Association)