National Geographic's International Photography Contest, 2009

• While in Namibia, one of our stops was an area near Keetmanskoop called the Giants Playground. It offers spectacular photographic opportunities of the Quiver trees and dolerites. At night it is spell-binding; the darkness was filled with millions of brightly shining stars and several other celestial bodies, including a couple of man-made satellites. The sounds of nature in the surrounding area dramatically added to the sense of awe I was feeling.
  - Chris Gray
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  Chris Gray / National Geographic

• A sulfur miner rests at the top of East Java's famous sulfur-belching Ijen crater. To avoid heat and the scorching sun, the miners begin their grueling journey up and down the crater before sunrise. The hardened sulfur is extracted with nothing more than bare hands and a metal rod. Human muscle-power and a bamboo basket are relied upon to transport loads of sulfur that weigh as much as 100kg. The heavier the load - the higher the pay.
  - Mitchell Kanashkevich
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  Mitchell Kanashkevich / National Geographic

• A painter poses for a portrait while scratching paint out from a roof in a store that is being refurbished in a busy road of Kochi, Kerala. A mask protects his mouth and nose but not his eyes that are clearly made red by the paint powder.
  - Cesare Naldi
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  Cesare Naldi / National Geographic

• My grandfather was born and raised on our New Zealand farm. He and my grandmother were married nearly 60 years. Preparing for a photo in the barley, my grandmother lovingly reached up to adjust his hat. This was his last harvest.
  - Gemma Collier
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  Gemma Collier / National Geographic

• On the road to the Steens mountain peak in eastern Oregon, a captivating grove of Aspen trees at close to 8,000 ft.
  - Paul Nielsen
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  Paul Nielsen / National Geographic

• Masjid Selat Melaka is a new landmark in Melaka on the man-made island of Pulau Melaka near Malacca, Malaysia. Masjid Selat Melaka is built along the coastline of Straits of Malacca, at the water level of the sea. So, in the evening at high tide, Masjid Selat Melaka looks like a floating mosque. This shot was taken on the day of Eid ul-Fitr, often abbreviated to Eid, that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
  - Souvik Bhattacharya
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  Souvik Bhattacharya / National Geographic

• On the same evening Gov. Bobby Jindal signed dozens of controversial bills into law, lightning struck the capitol building in downtown Baton Rouge, La.
  Note: This image has been cropped but not digitally manipulated in any other way. This is a single RAW frame from a Canon 5D digital camera. The original CR2 file is available for review.
  - Teddy Smith
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  Teddy Smith / National Geographic

• Taken at 1:22 a.m. on March 11, 2008. My wife and I arrived at the 528 Causeway in Cape Canaveral with our Sony 100a DSLR. With a low, solid, overcast of clouds covering the launch site, they launched. I pushed the shutter and started a 15 second time-lapse exposure! Disaster!!! I ripped the camera off of the tripod, spun the program wheel to anything else and started to squeeze the shutter. I was only able to take two photos as the shuttle Endeavour lifted into the overcast. This is the second one.
  - Robert Garrett
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  Robert Garrett / National Geographic

• Shot at sunrise at Death Valley National Park, Calif.
  - Nagaraju Hanchanahal
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  Nagaraju Hanchanahal / National Geographic

• The two wild stallions are in the McCullough Peak's range. They are fighting over the use of the waterhole and who's mares will be drinking next.
  - Jeffrey Wooden
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  Jeffrey Wooden / National Geographic