The world in pictures

National Geographic Traveler Magazine has announced the winners of its 2013 photo contest

THIS YEAR, more than 15 500 professional and amateur photographers from around the globe entered their works in the prestigious competition.

Photographer Wagner Araujo won the the 2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest, now in its 25th year, and was awarded places for himself and a guest on a 10- day Galapagos Expedition with National Geographic Expeditions.

The winning entry featured the Brazilian Aquathlon championship in Manaus, Brazil, in which the participants had to swim and run in the Rio Negro, or Black River, named for the colour of its water.

“I photographed it from the water and my lens got completely wet, but there was so much energy in these boys that I just didn’t worry about that,” Araujo wrote in his submission.

Besides the exciting trip, Araujo’s photo will be published in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

He will also receive a year’s subscription.

The range of entries is inspiring and gives a glimpse of the diversity in the world, from an owl hiding in a tree to traditional Taiwanese performers painting their faces in preparation for a show.

“Every year the task of judging the contest gets tougher,” said Keith Bellows, the editor- in- chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

“The quality of photographs gets increasingly better and the range of imagery more diverse.

“It’s exciting to see the emergence of such huge numbers of imaginative photographers.”

The second prize, a seven-day National Geographic Photography Workshop in Santa Fe, was awarded to Max Seigal, who hiked out to the Canyonlands National Park, Utah, at night, hoping to photograph ruins with the Milky Way in the backdrop, but instead captured a dramatic thunderstorm.

Yahai Bonneh won the third prize, a six-day cruise for two from Schooner American Eagle and Heritage, for his picture of cheetahs jumping on to a Jeep in the Masai Mara National Park, Kenya.

The contest had four categories: travel portraits, outdoor scenes, sense of place, and spontaneous moments.

Judges reviewed the submissions over two rounds, choosing the top three images along with seven merit choices. Another photograph was selected by readers. – The Daily Mail

STORM: Max Seigal scooped the second prize for his picture taken in the Canyonlands National Park in Utah.