Stunningly beautiful nature from NatGeo travel photo contest
The Organizing Committee selected impressive moments of animals from thousands of photos submitted to the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest.
 |
Two macaque monkeys at a hot spring in Japan. Photo: KOUSUKE KITAJIMA/NG |
The 2018 National Geographic Travel Photo Contest has three main categories: nature, cities, and people.
In the nature category, many beautiful moments of animals were captured by photographers, such as cicada birds picking parasites off the back of a giraffe or a fish taking special shelter inside a jellyfish.
Meanwhile, with the angle taken from the flycam, the flock of pink birds becomes very lively.
The underwater animal photography angle is equally impressive when the photographer captured a transparent eel in the larval stage trying to swim quickly to escape a predator.
Among those moments, there are many that touch the hearts of viewers, such as the loving gesture of a lioness touching her cub's face with her nose or a group of snow monkeys huddled together to keep warm in the cold weather.
 |
This fish has a unique way of hiding inside a jellyfish. The photo was taken in the waters of Anilao, Central Luzon, Philippines. Photo: LILIAN KOH/NG |
 |
Photographer E. Arencibia braved the bitter cold to capture this image of a wild horse in the frozen Eyvindarhólar region of Iceland. Photo: E. ARENCIBIA/NG |
 |
A flock of flamingos flying in unison is impressive when captured by a flycam. Photo: CHENGUANG XIAO/NG |
 |
Two male giraffes use their long necks to fight each other at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania. Photo: LEINANI SHAK YOSAITIS /NG |
 |
Photographer Aaditya Deodhar was walking through a field in Bangalore, India, taking pictures of birds when he came across a pair of flies "in love". Photo: AADITYA DEODHAR/NG |
 |
Tiny fish right in front of the giant whale shark's mouth. Photo: HONGJUN YUE/N |
 |
A crystal-clear baby eel quickly flees from a predator in Japanese waters. Photo: YATWAI SO/NG |
 |
Seagulls on their nesting grounds on the island of Helgoland, off the German coast. Photo: ANDY LUBERTI/NG |
 |
A herd of zebras make it to safety after crossing the crocodile-infested Mara River in Kenya. Photo: KHAI CHUIN SIM/NG |
 |
A great blue heron swallows a large fish in the Destin wetlands, Florida, USA. "The heron used its beak to hold the fish for a few minutes before swallowing it. It was amazing when the heron swallowed the whole fish," said photographer Susan Cramer Stein. Photo: CRAMER STEIN/NG |
 |
Oxpeckers perch on a giraffe's back to catch parasites at the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. Photo: VARUN ADITYA/NG |
 |
Clownfish live symbiotically on the tentacles of a sea anemone. Photo: ALEX VARANI/NG |
 |
A male salamander (Sitana ponticeriana) displays its colorful neck folds to attract a female during mating season. They live in the highlands of Maharashtra, India. Photo: ANUROOP KRISHNAN/NG |
 |
A crocodile floats on the water to sunbathe in a mangrove forest in Cuba. Photo: MASSIMO GIORGETTA/NG |
 |
A group of snow monkeys huddle together to keep warm in the cold weather on Shodoshima Island, Japan. Photo: SHINICHI MASUDA/NG |
 |
A mother lion shows off her adorable gesture as she touches her cub's face with her nose at the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya. "The moment the lioness truly loves her cub is a true love worth seeing," said photographer Chandrashekar Kalyanasundaram. Photo: NG |
