| 2016-6-hong-kong-basketball | | Picture of a boy playing on a basketball court in Hong Kong | | Against the backdrop of a high-rise as colorful as the ball court, a child in Hong Kong lets off some steam after school, says Your Shot member Wing Ka H., who submitted this image. Colors are vibrant throughout the city: In addition to its candy-colored high-rises, Hong Kong’s taxis are color-coded by service region, and the city’s Pearl River Delta is home to the uniquely hued Chinese white dolphin.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year contest.
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| 2016-6-seahorse-blur-scene | | Picture of a sea horse | | Using an underwater snoot, Your Shot community member Davide Lopresti made this bright photo of a sea horse. These delicate creatures live in shallow tropical and temperate waters around the world, and they use their elongated snouts to suck in their dinner: the plankton and tiny crustaceans that drift by them.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year contest.
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| 2016-5-bandra-taj-window | | Picture of a window and bridge in Mumbai, India | | From his vantage point at the Taj Lands End Hotel in Mumbai, India, Your Shot member Fanil Rajgor made this photo of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, an eight-lane, state-of-the-art cable-stayed bridge that hugs the Mumbai coastline. “The window and the contrast lighting add a beautiful texture to this image,” he writes.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-peru-women-climb | | Picture of women in traditional clothing climbing a hill in Peru | | In the highland province of Canas in Peru, women dressed in traditional costumes ascend a hill, “where they will dance and sing to give encouragement to the participants of the battle of Chiaraje,” writes Your Shot member Gianni Bulacio, who submitted this photo. The ritual battle is fought to ensure the fertility and abundance of the land. “Their songs raise the request for the protection of the apus [mountain spirits] for communities and their warriors, as well as for crops and livestock.”
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-pharaoh-eagle-owl | | Picture of a pharaoh eagle-owl in a scrape | | From its preferred nesting environment—a scrape constructed within a rocky cliff or outcrop—this pharaoh eagle-owl scans the terrain. Its bright yellow eyes are characteristic of the species. The birds are generally found in arid habitats of North Africa and the Middle East and are efficient nocturnal predators—even scorpions are on its menu.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-uluru-lightning | | Picture of lightning striking Uluru in Australia | | Streaking from a sky as red as the earth, lightning strikes the famous dome-shaped, sandstone monolith Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia. “I had heard a lot about how beautiful Uluru should look when it rains,” writes Christoph Schaarschmidt, who captured this image. “But I never believed that I would see it with my own eyes because the Red Centre of Australia is a very arid area.”
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year contest.
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| 2016-5-sweden-island-aerial | | Picture of an island in Sweden from the air | | During the last ice age, Sweden was covered by a blanket of ice. When the land thawed, myriad streams, rivers, and lakes were left behind. In this image submitted by Your Shot member Tobias Hägg, a tiny island, seen from above, sits in one of Sweden’s nearly 100,000 lakes. “This little island connected to a small boathouse makes me dream about my own home in the future,” Hägg writes.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-spring-ermine-scene | | Picture of an ermine and melting snow in spring | | An ermine, also known as a stoat or short-tailed weasel, emerges in its springtime coat. In the winter, these animals do not hibernate, and their coat turns almost completely white. For centuries the ermine's winter pelt has been sought by furriers both for its warmth and its beauty.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year contest. Submit your best photo by May 27 for a chance to win >>
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| 2016-5-dawoodi-bohra-street | | Picture of colorful houses in India | | Built in the early 20th century by affluent members of the Dawoodi Bohra community of Muslim traders, these houses add color and resplendence to a neighborhood in Sidhpur, in the Indian state of Gujarat. Known as havelis, the homes’ architecture reveals baroque, Gothic, British colonial, and art deco influences. Despite the age and condition of many of the buildings, they are treasured for their historical and architectural significance.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Submit your best photo by May 27 for a chance to win >>
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| 2016-5-cambodia-tonle-sap | | Picture of people and a baby in a boat in Cambodia | | A baby naps in a rowboat on the Tonle Sap in Cambodia. The lake supports a massive freshwater ecosystem, which in turn supports the people who live around it in floating villages. Many of the Cambodian villagers are ethnic Vietnamese who lost citizenship—and land ownership rights—during the Khmer Rouge takeover in the mid-1970s. “Cambodia’s ethnic Vietnamese live an isolated life on the lake,” writes photographer Brendan Abbenhuys.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Submit your best photo for a chance to win >>
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| 2016-5-valencia-arts-sciences | | Picture of people riding bikes in Valencia, Spain | | In Valencia, Spain, bike riders roll past the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum in the City of Arts and Sciences complex, which includes multiple boldly designed buildings dedicated to culture and the sciences. More than 50,000 cubic meters of concrete and 14,000 tons of steel were used in the construction of the museum.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Submit your best photo for a chance to win >>
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| 2016-5-botswana-lioness-scene | | Picture of a lioness in Botswana | | An African lioness rests in the rosy light of the setting sun in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Lionesses are the primary hunters of their pride, doing so usually at dawn, dusk, or night; however, some lions in the Okavango Delta have adapted to hunting during the day, timing their meals to the movement of the herds of Cape buffalo that also live there.
This photograph was submitted to the 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Submit your best photo for a chance to win >>
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| 2016-5-french-valley-chile | | Picture of French Valley in Torres del Paine, Chile | | The renowned beauty of Chile’s Patagonia region is exemplified in this photo of French Valley in Torres del Paine National Park, submitted by Your Shot member Roger Smith. The valley is ringed by the soaring granite peaks of the 19-mile Cordillera del Paine and is located at the center point of the park’s popular W circuit hike.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-deadvlei-star-trails | | Picture of stars over a dead tree in Dead Vlei, Namibia | | The skies are in constant movement over the stillness of Dead Vlei in Namibia. Dead Vlei, meaning “dead marsh,” is a clay pan studded with the remnants of trees that died hundreds of years ago. The star trails are a fitting backdrop to a landscape that looks otherworldly even in the light of day.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-hoi-an-lanterns | | Picture of women in a lantern shop in Hoi An, Vietnam | | Two women in Hoi An, Vietnam, pass the time at a lantern shop. The old waterfront town was an active Southeast Asian trading port dating back to the 15th century and is now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. “The colored lanterns abound in the Old Quarter,” Your Shot member Martin Bagg writes. “At night they make it a visually stunning place [in which] to walk around.”
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-mahabalipuram-rock | | Picture of people sitting in the shade of a large rock in India | | Your Shot community member Achintya Guchhait captured this photo of brave “travelers and locals taking shelter under a huge rock [that’s been] stuck for ages in Mahabalipuram, India.” The rock, perched in a gravity-defying position on the edge of a hill, is nicknamed Krishna’s Butter Ball. Scientists believe it was likely placed by ancient glacial activity; however, legend has it that Lord Krishna, a fan of butter, dropped it where it sits.
This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our storytelling community where members can take part in photo assignments, get expert feedback, be published, and more. Join now >>
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| 2016-5-manu-ocelot | | Picture of an ocelot in Manú National Park | | A camera trap caught this ocelot on a nighttime prowl. Ocelots weigh up to 33 pounds; their diet includes rodents, lizards, sloths—and, according to an indigenous hunter and farmer who lives in the Peruvian national park where this photo was taken, his chickens.
See more pictures from the June 2016 feature story "This Park in Peru Is Nature 'in Its Full Glory'—With Hunters."
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