Sandstone buttes radiate sunset light in the desert surrounding Moab, Utah, just south of the Colorado River. Hidden within this photo’s deepest shadows, tiny Moab is a popular home base for climbers and bikers headed to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.
Photograph by Krystle Wright
The famous red porphyry cliffs of Rocce Rosse along Sardinia’s Ogliastra coast are an irresistible perch for experienced divers. Photographer Andrea Frazzetta describes them as “fiery architectural details designed by time.”
Photograph by Andrea Frazzetta, National Geographic
The Uro people of Peru’s Lake Titicaca have rooted their communities overtime, gradually connecting their reed boathouses and bringing in soil from the mainland to build strings of arable islands.
Photograph by George Steinmetz
Zacharia Mutai, head keeper of Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy, greets Najin, one of the world’s last two northern white rhinos. Embryos from Najin and Fatu (seen grazing in the background) have been fertilised by now-deceased males and will soon be carried by a surrogate.
Photograph by Ami Vitale
A flurry of visitors pose for photographs inside Istanbul’s 17th-century Blue Mosque. Known for its 20,000-plus glossy blue tiles, stained glass windows, massive domes, and mother-of-pearl inlays, the opulent mosque was designed by architect and poet Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, whose title—Sedefkâr—means “worker of mother-of-pearl.”
Photograph by Dina Litovsky
Ancient mountain forests and Japan’s tallest single-drop waterfall cradle Kumano Nachi Taisha, a three-tiered pagoda at the end of Japan’s famous Kumano Kodo, one of only two ancient pilgrimage trails recognised by UNESCO.
Photograph by Michael Clark
Roped together for safety, two skiers stall atop a glacier in the Ruth Amphiteatre of Denali National Park, Alaska. “It was completely, utterly silent,” writes photographer Acacia Johnson.
Photograph by Acacia Johnson
Onlookers are sparse and quiet at 5 a.m. around the perimeter of the Taj Mahal, India’s famous 17th-century marble structure built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for both him and his wife Mumtaz.
Photograph by Ed Kashi, Vii
Beachgoers rinse off at a pull-chain shower on the beach in Tel Aviv, Israel. Windsurfing, volleyball, surfing, sailing, and stand-up paddle boarding are all popular Israeli beach activities.
Photograph by David Guttenfelder, National Geographic
Described by photographer Max Lowe as “simple in composition, but complex in perspective,” this misty scene was shot in just one take out the open door of a helicopter above Oahu’s Sacred Falls.
Photograph by Max Lowe
Photographer Michael Clark and a friend endured near white out conditions, frozen nose hairs, and the threat of wolves as they cross country skied their way past herds of wild bison to Yellowstone National Park’s Biscuit Basin thermal pools.
Photograph by Michael Clark
Three women brave a tidal surge from their spot on a sea pool wall near Honolulu. Oahu is Hawaii’s third largest—and most visited—island, and its ocean temperatures average a pleasant 78°F year-round.
Photograph by Max Lowe
Colourful umbrellas dot the beach of Cala Sinzias in southeastern Sardinia. There visiting family, photographer Matthew Borowick says the Mediterranean was “so clear you couldn’t tell how deep it really was.”
Photograph by Matthew Borowick
Deep shadows and a jade-coloured wall in Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap district provide a rich backdrop for trombone and trumpet players Rudi Jacobs and Abdul Baasit, both members of the local brass band the Street Kings.
Photograph by Ami Vitale
Stalagmites and hoarfrost crystals sparkle by the light of spelunkers’ headlamps as they enter Kate’s Cove Cave, recently identified by the Greenland Caves Project as Greenland’s longest explored cave at 341 feet.
Photograph by Robbie Shone
A black vulture soars over Iguazú Falls near the border of Brazil and Argentina. Nearly three times wider than Niagara, the powerful cascade thunders by at a rate of up to 450,000 cubic feet per second during the winter rainy season.
Photograph by Michael Melford
After a week of nonstop snow, photographer Robbie Shone waited for the clouds to lift above the funicular from his home in Nordkette mountains. Shocked at the clarity of his smartphone photo, Shone remembers the scene itself making him feel even colder than the actual weather did.
Photograph by Robbie Shone
Long exposure, headlamps, 10,000 ISO, and three or four frames helped make this photo of the midsummer Milky Way. “I was just trying to teach the magic of our outdoors and the night sky to my nieces, to the next generation,” explains photographer Pete McBride. “It’s amazing what you can see in your own backyard if you stop to take a look.”
Photograph by Pete McBride
This harp seal pup, nicknamed a “whitecoat” for its snowy pelage, was born on the ice of the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Quebec’s Magdalen archipelago.
Photograph by Jennifer Hayes
Two riders on horseback pause atop a ranch ridgeline on the western edge of Grand Teton National Park. Carved by fault lines and glaciers, the Tetons’ sharp peaks—many reaching over 12,000 feet—form a stunning segment of the Middle Rocky Mountains.
Photograph by Taylor Glenn
After shooting 30 frames, photographer Mathias Svold favoured the first image he snapped of the Deser-est Motel on Nevada’s Gold Rush–era Route 50, nicknamed “the loneliest road in America.” Although it may appear hot and dusty, the temperature at the time hovered just above freezing.
Photograph by Mathias Svold, National Geographic
Two sunbathers ignore a local vendor on Rio de Janeiro’s famous Copacabana beach. A hub of Brazilian beauty culture, Copacabana’s clean sand is punctuated by tropical florals and bold, trendy beachwear.
Photograph by Hannah Reyes Morales, National Geographic
Dubbed the “City of Minarets,” Istanbul is home to thousands of mosques, including the Yeni Cami, or “New Mosque,” pictured here, which this year celebrated its 356th birthday.
Photograph by Dina Litovsky
A young student races the tracks ahead of a train at the Ghum station of West Bengal’s Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, inscribed as a UNESCO site in 1999. At over 7,400 feet, Ghum is the highest railway station in India.
Photograph by Sara Hylton
Wildlife keeper Lekupania feeds milk to orphaned animals at Sarara Camp in northern Kenya. All African giraffe species, including reticulated giraffes like these, are currently facing a multi-threat “silent extinction.”
Photograph by Ami Vitale
A calm crystal lake mirrors Baita Segantini, a cosy hut at the foot of Pale di San Martino mountain in the Brenta Dolomites mountain range of northern Italy. “The reflection was just too pretty to ignore,” says photographer Kevin Faingnaert.
Photograph by Kevin Faingnaert
A man looks down from the wall of Jaisalmer Fort in Jaisalmer, India. Today, roughly 7,000 modern windmills power the 12th-century sandstone desert city.
Photograph by Jonathan Kingston
People relax in one of the fifty hammocks strung throughout Spruce Street Harbour Park, a seasonal network of biergartens, landscaped barges, floating gardens, and outdoor games bordering Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront.
Photograph by Dina Litovsky, National Geographic
Spanish moss and resurrection fern drape from a tree during a mid-afternoon rainstorm on the barrier island of Sapelo, sixty miles south of Savannah, Georgia. It’s home to Hog Hammock, one of the last surviving Gullah communities, and many Sapelo residents can directly trace their ancestry back to enslaved West Africans from the early 1800s.
Photograph by Kris Davidson
Photographer Toby Harriman stand-up paddles through cobalt blue water across 27-mile-long Matanuska Glacier, one of over 600 glaciers in the state of Alaska. While they may appear calm and permanent, glaciers are constantly shifting and their pools can drain at any time.
Photograph by Toby Harriman
Both loggerheads and green sea turtles like this one frequent the Great Barrier Reef lagoon off of Lady Elliott Island to rest, feed on jellyfish, and dig their nests every winter.
Photograph by Jennifer Hayes
Photographer Juan Arredondo waited three hours for the sun to set behind this sparkling panorama of Bogota, Colombia. Considered sacred by the indigenous Muisca community, Monserrate is a popular site for Christmas lights and for modern Christian pilgrims, who climb the hill’s 1,500 steps on their knees.
Photograph by Juan Arredondo
Photographer Michael Melford waited patiently on a clifftop between two viewing points on Australia’s Great Ocean Road to capture the sky changing behind the limestone sea stacks known as Twelve Apostles. The gauzy waves are a result of soft light and long exposure.
Photograph by Michael Melford
Every year, Tiki enthusiasts and collectors take over Palm Springs’ Caliente Tropics Resort for the weekend to immerse themselves in an sensory-driven, escapist world that celebrates the music, art, clothing and cocktails of Tiki culture.
Photograph by Jennifer Emerling, National Geographic
An enormous iceberg, broken from a glacier and blown by strong winds into the beach at Lago Grey, dwarfs a backpacker in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park.
Photograph by Michael Melford
