National Geographic named the best travel photographer of 2017
Mexican Sergio Tapiro Velasco with an unforgettable beautiful photo of lightning striking a volcano shooting ash into the night sky, won the Grand Prix and first place in the category "Nature" in the National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year photo contest. Velasco has been filming volcanoes for the past 15 years.
The jury selected his work from 15 thousand photos sent from 30 countries. The photographer captured the Colima volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico, from a distance of 12 kilometers. Moreover, Velasco did not even suspect that he had taken an incredibly rare frame until he began to view the resulting photos.
The jury of the annual photo contest evaluated outstanding photos in three categories: "Nature", "People" and "Cities".
(17 photos in total)
The best photo in the category of "Cities" was a picture of a futuristic library in the German city of Stuttgart. Photo: Norbert Fritz
In the category "People" the Turkish photographer F. won. Dilek Uyar with a photo of a dervish (Muslim monk) dancing in the temple.
Category "Cities", 2nd place — view of Hong Kong from the air. Photo: Andy Yeung
Category "Cities", 3rd place — football field, Lofoten Islands, Norway. Photo: Misha De-Stroyev
Category "Nature", incentive award — caves of Patagonia. Photo: Clane Gessel
Category "Nature", 2nd place. Photo: Hiromi Kano
Category "Nature", 3rd place — crocodiles in the Tarkoles River. Photo: Tarun Sinha
Category "Nature", incentive award — active volcano Bromo. Photo: Reynold Riksa Dewantara
Category "People", 3rd place. Photo: Rodney Bursiel
Category "People", incentive award — Father and son, New Delhi, India. Photo: Jobit George
Category "People", incentive award — blessing in the temple of Pura Besakih. Photo: Michael Dean Morgan
Nature category, incentive award — fireflies in a remote Japanese village. Photo: Yutaka Takafuji
Category "People", incentive award. Photo: Moin Ahmed
Category "Nature", incentive award. Photo: Shane Gross
Keywords: National Geographic | Volcanoes | Winners | Photographers | Photo contest