National Geographic Traveler announces 2013 photo contest winners

 

 

National Geographic Traveler magazine (the travel offshoot of National Geographic proper) has just announced the winners of its 2013 photo contest. Some 15,500 photographs were entered in the competition, competing for a top prize of a 10-day Galápagos National Geographic Expedition for two aboard the National Geographic Endeavour.

This year's winner was Wagner Araujo of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, for his image "Dig Me River" of Brazilian Aquathlon participants sprinting into the Rio Negro. Talking to National Geographic Traveler, Araujo said:

"I photographed it from the water and my lens got completely wet, but there was so much energy in these boys that I just didn’t worry about it."

The competition also included a second prize of a seven-day National Geographic Photography Workshop, third prize of a 6-day cruise on a Maine windjammer schooner for two, and seven merit prizes of $200 gift certificates to B&H Photo, plus a matted and framed print of their entry.

You can browse the winning photographs here, and view all the entries here. We've embedded a number of the top picks below.

 

First Place Winner: Brazil Aquathlon, by Wagner Araujo

 

Second Place Winner: Thunderstorm at False Kiva, by Max Seigal

 

Third Place Winner: Say Cheese, by Yanai Bonneh

 

Merit Winner: Sakura, by Hideyuki Katagiri