National Geographic Photo of the Day: June 19th of 2017

June 19, 2017

Marble Caves

Las Cuevas de Mármol (The Marble Caves) sit in the middle of General Carrera Lake, which lies between Chile and Argentina. The tunnels and caves are only reachable by boat. The swooping arches have been formed by more than 6,000 years of water lapping against the rock, and the waters change color depending on the time of year.

Photograph By clane gessel, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: May 6th of 2017

May 6, 2017

Under Ice

Your Shot photographer Marc Henauer says that freediving under the ice is "a strange and claustrophobic atmosphere." Divers, like this one in Switzerland, plunge into water as cold as 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), without oxygen tanks.

Photograph By Marc Henauer, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geogaphic Photo of the Day: January 7th of 2017

January 7, 2017

Petal Predator

In this magnified image submitted by Your Shot photographer Swaroop Singha Roy, a spider casts a sinister-looking glance from its hiding spot beneath the petals of a Madagascar periwinkle in Kolkata, India. Some spider species lie in wait in flowers, where their prey, pollinating insects, are likely to land.

Photograph By Swaroop Singha Roy, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: January 6th of 2017

January 6, 2017

Breath of Fresh Air

Women in traditional clothing rest on a rough-hewn footbridge in Nubra Valley in Ladakh, India. Barren but breathtaking Ladakh (“land of high mountain passes”) is home to a predominantly Buddhist population who live according to generations-old traditions. “Dubbed ‘Little Tibet’ because of its geographical and cultural proximity to Tibet (and it also is host to many Tibetan refugees),” photographer Kieron Nelson writes, “… this austerely beautiful region is like nowhere else in India.”

Photograph By Kieron Nelson, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: January 5th of 2017

January 5, 2017

We Have Liftoff

Along the Zambezi River in northern Namibia, a giant flock of southern carmine bee-eaters (Merops nubicoides) scatters into the air. According to Your Shot photographer Jason Boswell, these birds were taking off as a group of bird ringers attempted to ring a few hundred of them, to gather more information on where they go when they leave these breeding grounds. Today is National Bird Day in the United States; the holiday coincides with the Christmas Bird Count, a citizen-led project to take stock of the health of the country’s birds.

Photograph By Jason Boswell, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: January 4th of 2017

January 4, 2017

Portrait by the River

Baba Vijay Nund stands for a portrait on the banks of the Ganges River in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi. The 87-year-old bears spiritual markings called tilaka, which are made using various materials, including ash and earth from the banks of the sacred Ganges. About 82 percent of Indians are Hindu.

Photograph By M. McMahon, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: January 3rd of 2017

January 3, 2017

Dawn of Civilization

The light of day begins to peek above the Roman Forum as the glow of night lingers at dawn. The site was developed into a civic center around 750 B.C., eventually becoming the site of temples and later a grazing ground. Your Shot photographer Renato R. writes that the “mixed light sources and mist create a very special atmosphere” at the ancient site.

Photograph By Renato R., National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: January 2nd of 217

January 2, 2017

Carved in Stone

Glacial river water conjures an evanescent mist at the Norwegian rock formation known as Marmorslottet (the Marble Castle). Located in Mo i Rana, the Marble Castle is limestone that has been carved into sinuous-looking curves by the rushing river fed by the Svartisen glacier, Norway’s second largest.

Photograph By therese jægtvik, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: January 1st of 2017

January 1, 2017

Play Time

Your Shot photographer Jean-Francois Beaudry and this coltish animal shared a moment at Quebec, Canada’s Granby Zoo. “This beautiful leopard was playing with a piece of wood,” Beaudry explains. “For a split second, he stopped and looked at me and ‘pulled’ his tongue.” In 2015, Granby Zoo welcomed two newborn Amur leopards. The species is one of the most endangered in the world.

Photograph By Jean-Francois Beaudry, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 31st of 2016

December 31, 2016

Sky Lights

How does your country celebrate the start of the New Year? Around the world, New Year’s traditions vary, but many include fireworks. Even by the lavish standards set by New Year’s celebrations, Iceland is “a bit crazy,” says Your Shot photographer Einar Pall Svavarsson, himself an Icelander. When midnight strikes and the calendar flips in Reykjavík, the night sky turns to day for 20 to 30 minutes as the entire city sets off fireworks, a decades-old tradition.

Photograph By Einar Pall Svavarsson, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 30th of 2016

December 30, 2016

Summer Storm

Lightning—or the “dragon of thunder,” as Your Shot photographer Makoto Igari refers to it—crashes to the sea in a summer storm off the coast of Ibaraki, Japan, located to the northeast of Tokyo. Silhouetted against the storm is a torii gate, a Japanese gateway typically constructed at the entrance to a temple; this one is outside the Oarai Isosaki Shrine.

Photograph By Makoto Igari, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 29th of 2016

December 29, 2016

Of a Feather

These pharaoh eagle-owl chicks are doing their best to send a loud and clear message to anyone approaching: Back off. A brood of two chicks is relatively common for these desert-dwelling birds, as mother owls will typically lay a clutch of two eggs. Pharaoh eagle-owls, among the smallest of eagle-owl species, are dispersed throughout North Africa and the Middle East; these chicks were spotted and photographed by Your Shot photographer Moe Murad in the Kuwait desert.

Photograph By Moe Murad, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 28th of 2016

December 28, 2016Sand CityResembling towers in an extraterrestrial city, these otherworldly towers are sand tufas, formed on the shore of Mono Lake, California. Your Shot photographer James Bau captured this image of the tufas, which he says “could be alien residences with parking garages,” across a quarter-mile stretch on the lake. Tufas form when calcium-rich springwater mixes with the carbonate-rich waters of the lake, creating these structures that grow beneath the surface.
Photograph By James Bau, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 27th of 2016

December 27, 2016

Sea of Red

Your Shot photographer Yan Gao captured the striking sprawl of look-alike red monastic dormitories around the Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute in China’s Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It’s the world’s largest Buddhist academy, housing up to 40,000 nuns and monks—strictly segregated, of course—at any given time.

Photograph By Yan Gao, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 26th of 2016

December 26, 2016Underwater OasisAn American crocodile rises from the grassy seabed to explore the vast Gardens of the Queen marine reserve off the coast of Cuba. “This croc came under our boat to check whether [our] crew could share something delicious with him,” photographer Dmitry Starostenkov concludes. “I quickly got on my wet suit and mask to pursue him for the … photo shoot. I was dubious, however I [overcame] my fear and slowly approached.” Read the November 2016 National Geographic feature article “Cuba’s Underwater Jewels Are in Tourism’s Path” to find out how Gardens of the Queen could be affected by an influx of travelers to Cuba.
Photograph By Dmitry Starostenkov, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: Decemer 25th of 2016

December 25, 2016CloudlandChina’s Yellow Mountain (Huangshan) soars above a shroud of dramatic cloud cover. Your Shot photographer Thierry Bornier captured this phenomenon over “the loveliest mountain in China” after a predawn climb. “[After] climbing at 3 a.m. to reach the shooting point, I could see in the dark … the white, slow-motion ‘cloud waterfall.’ My hope was, when the [sun rose], this effect … would still stand in front of me. At 6:30 a.m., [it] was still there … before disappearing completely a few minutes later.”
Photograph By thierry bornier, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Picture of the Day: December 24th of 2016

December 24, 2016Soothing SoakA Japanese macaque, commonly known as a snow monkey, seems meditative while being groomed. Snow monkeys live farther north than any other nonhuman primate, and very much like humans who live in colder climes, these inhabitants of the Japanese highlands enjoy a dip in natural hot springs to warm winter-weary limbs.
Photograph By Kitagawa Rikizo, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 23rd of 2016

December 23, 2016Something's in the WayA sailboat heads toward an iceberg and its rocky look-alike in eastern Greenland’s Scoresby Sund, a Greenland Sea inlet that branches into an intricate network of fjords. Greenland, the world’s largest island, is more than 80 percent covered by ice; however, despite its desolate appearance in this image, the sound is a productive habitat for wildlife, supporting many species of land animals, birds, and marine life.
Photograph By Mike Long, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 22nd of 2016

December 22, 2016

Fighting Off Boredom

Stalled in their migration north as they wait for ice to freeze on Western Hudson Bay, north of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, these two male polar bears entertain themselves the way many young companions do: play fighting. “These two appeared to be keeping each other company,” writes Your Shot photographer Gillian Lloyd. “Most of the time they laid around or walked a little—and sometimes they started sparring.” The polar bears cross through this region—known as the world’s polar bear capital—every fall, with the heaviest concentration in October and November, en route from their summer habitat farther south back to seal-hunting grounds in the north.

Photograph By Gillian Lloyd, National Geographic Your Shot

National Geographic Photo of the Day: December 21st of 2016

December 21, 2016Fire on the Mountain"This is how the planet’s fiery breath looks," writes Your Shot photographer Vladimir Voychuk, "when the volcano wakes." The "blazing glow" of Klyuchevskaya Sopka, considered the tallest active volcano in Eurasia, is visible from more than 60 miles away, according to Voychuk. Klyuchevskaya Sopka is located on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, approximately 60 miles west of the Bering Sea, and towers nearly 16,000 feet at its peak.
Photograph By Vladimir Voychuk, National Geographic Your Shot