Solitary Dog Sculptor I

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS - Curious: As a kid I was always curious to know where we were going. Always impatient to know the current location, and how much time it would take to get to the destination. Somehow knowing that would make me feel better. On a recent trip on a train early morning I was taking some photos and there was this kid. He was peeping back every now and then and every time the train stopped he was looking at the boards. Once he saw the camera in my hand, he got curious but was not waiting for me to click. It was worth the wait and tries. I love how it just reminds me of my childhood travels. (Gopal Patil/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS – The Running Boy: A young boy is "flying" home. (Pietro Sferrino/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS - Women’s Prayer: This was my first time seeing many women from the youngest to the oldest praying seriously with all of their heart and mind. (Lydia Isnanto/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS - Innocence and Icon: The classic American car has become a symbol and staple throughout Cuba. In the back streets of Havana, one who has yet to learn of the country’s history, shows her innocence at play. (Eric Kruszewski/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS – Deer Under Falling Cherry Blossom Petals: I sat down on a stump for rest after stroll in Nara Park, and watching deer. They were eating fallen cherry blossom petals, peacefully. Suddenly strong wind blew out and cherry blossom petals were started to fall on the deer. It is like a shower of falling cherry blossom petals. It is called "Hana Fubuki" in Japanese, literally means flower snowstorm. (Hisao Mogi/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS - Chick Dropped in Soup: No, not chicken soup...It's a literal translation of a Chinese expression for being drenched. Caught this well-dressed lady trying to cross the street in a torrential downpour. (Brian Yen/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS - Window Washers: All of the sudden I looked up and there were four window washers way high up on the adjacent skyscraper. I grabbed my camera and started shooting. To get an interesting angle, I went under the glass awning and shot upward. (Amy Sacka/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SPONTANEOUS MOMENTS - Swirl: This was taken on 95th floor of John Hancock Building. I was fortunate to watch as fast moving low hanging clouds swept through the city buildings during late afternoon. A cloud swirled around the Trump Tower for a very brief moment for me to capture two frames. This is one of the two. (Jian Lou/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE – 4800 Above Sea Level: This shot was taken in Bolivia, close to Sucre city. On 4800 meters above sea level the mountain releases gas everyday from 5am till 7am. The gas is hot but not dangerous. It’s a beautiful view in the middle of a desert. There is always a lot of travelers stopping and checking out because the place is included on the Salar de Uyuni tour. (Stylianos Papardelas/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Split: The ancient Old Town of Split (Croatia) in February 2012 during the heaviest snowfall in its recorded history. (Nenad Saljic/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Alone: I felt the beautiful landscape of the Earth. (Takaki Watanabe/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Cruising in Cuba: The National Highway in Cuba has many stretches where you will not see another car for miles. Then when you do see one, it is an old classic like this 1950s Buick, which looks at home on the open road with the Cuban landscape of fields and mountains in the distance. (James Kao/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Lost in Time – An Ancient Forest: Near the city of Morondava, on the West coast of Madagascar lies an ancient forest of Baobab trees. Unique to Madagascar, the endemic species is sacred to the Malagasy people, and rightly so. Walking amongst these giants is like nothing else on this planet. Some of the trees here are over a thousand years old. It is a spiritual place, almost magical. (Ken Thorne/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Snowflakes: Frozen snowflakes on the side window of the car while driving towards the slopes for a great day of snowboarding. (Mark Timmermans/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Waterfall at the WTC Memorial: The World Trade Center Memorial in New York City seemed vast and somewhat sterile until I focused on just a part of the waterfall and was overwhelmed with the feeling of all those fleeting souls coursing down into the abyss. (Joan Stiehl/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Swimming in the Rain: My sister in the south of Chile. We are sitting at home next to the fireplace in our southern lake house when it suddenly began to pour uncontrollably. Had to rush into the lake to take this snapshot! (Camila Massu/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - The Ice Cave Experience: Deep, blue and cold. The frightening experience of climbing inside an ice cave on the north face of alpine summit at 3800 meters above sea level is very difficult to describe in words; especially in summer, when all the glacial ice melts making place for completely new formations. You need to stay focused, pay attention to every single move and commit yourself entirely to this climb. The reward: an amazing experience of climbing something pure and truly unique. (Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) SENSE OF PLACE - Divine: When light pours over the Taj Mahal everything else clears your mind. The tour guides, the crowds, the construction statistics...all become moot. (Colin Roohan/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

SENSE OF PLACE - Divine: When light pours over the Taj Mahal everything else clears your mind. The tour guides, the crowds, the construction statistics...all become moot. (Colin Roohan/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES - Lenticular Over Mt. Rainer: The wonder of the weather. (Rolland Hartstrom/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – The Village of Gasadalur: The village of Gasadalur and the island of Mykines in the background. Until a tunnel was built in 2004, the 16 residents living in Gasadalur had to take a strenuous hike or horseback over the steep 400 meters mountain in order to make it to the other villages. It was a rare sunny day in the Faroe Islands and I had to wait until the clouds rolled in to provide some softer light. I decided to go with a long exposure (1 minute 10 seconds) to illustrate the force of the wind and a serene sea among the isolated islands. (Ken Bower/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – Table Mountain’s Cloudy Tablecloth: This gorgeous phenomena of clouds pouring over the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, is what gave the mountain it's name.  I was mesmerized by this stunning, slow motion, waterfall effect and had to capture it with my camera...which I think is impossible to ever truly capture. (Laura Grier/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – Giant Marbles: Like ancient giant marbles, the Moeraki Boulders are strewn across Koekohe Beach on New Zealand's South Island. The light of sunrise casts an other worldly hue on these rock formations. (Marcus Haid/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – Another World: This is the great Japanese maple tree in the Portland Japanese Gardens.  I tried to bring a different perspective of this frequently photographed tree. (Fred An/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – New Years: Flying from Bozeman, MT to celebrate New Year's with my sister in Minnesota, I awoke from a nap to this incredible view of the sunrise. (Naomi Zatorowski/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – Frosted Vignette: An early morning drive along the Pullman Highway coupled with a pale grey sky revealed this beautiful scene. (Patrick Lipsker/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – Middle Americana: Common life for the fifty percent. (Jim Seiler/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – Beach Life Moments: Beach life moments in Sicily. (Angelo Cirrincione/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

OUTDOOR SCENES – My Balloon: H'Mong minority children were playing with their balloons on the foggy day in Moc Chau - Ha Giang province Viet Nam. (Vo Anh Kiet/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Pipedreams: As the call from mosques sound throughout the city, men make their way to begin prayer at this time of Eid. They walk in clothes freshly dressed, through busy streets and building sites. These pipes are some of the obstacles, though also used as shade from the intense sun and as a place of social gathering once prayer has been completed. As for now, men and boys will soon repeatedly bow their heads, all the while strengthening their faith. And I wonder at times, do they ever ask Allah for particular blessings, or do their most intimate hopes remain nothing more than pipe dreams. (Maria de la Guardia/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Amazon Boatman: This indigenous Kichwa boatman was our taxi on a recent trip to the Amazon region of Ecuador. It was amazing the control he had over his dugout canoe, which was probably 30 feet long. At one point we had all given up hope when we were caught in the jungle during a flash flood, but he got us out. All without changing facial expressions. (Howard Stanton/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - All Smiles: Our surgical team spent 2 weeks in the Western Highlands of Ethiopia performing obstetric fistula and uterine prolapse surgeries last November. I've never seen so many smiling ladies in a hospital before. The love and gratitude was overwhelming. This little girl was an orphan living on the hospital grounds and would come hang out with us on our breaks. Her smile and infectious laugh were an unbelievable gift. I look at this picture often and can't wait to go back next year. (Kathryn Quenneville/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Eyes: At the hospital of Dadaab's Refugee Camp a weak little girl is hold by her mother. (Lucas Mello/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Motherhood: Calm Silence shared between a mother and daughter amongst the frenzied traffic along the road to Agra. (Darrell Lew/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Wet: A swollen creek bed in the desert near Broken Hill in Australia, a local cools off. (Miles Rowland, National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Miss Confidence: Ruth stands in her newly won sash and tiara in her one room apartment that she shares with two other people. Ruth is three feet tall. She entered an able-bodied beauty pageant “Miss Fabulous Kenya” competing against hundreds of women. After three intense rounds she walked away with one of the top three prizes “Miss Confidence”. The pageant awarded her 5,000 Kenya Shillings, which paid for one months rent. (Mia Collis/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #

TRAVEL PORTRAITS - Looking Back in Time: While walking down the street in Old Havana, I was invited into this elderly woman's home. She was lying in bed and told me she wasn't feeling well. She asked if I had any Aspirin, which I did have in my purse. As I bent over to give it to her, I noticed this photograph on the nightstand beside her bed. It was taken of her many years before lying in the very same bed. I thought this was very cool. (Terri Gross/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) #