Otherworldly Images From National Geographic Traveler's Photo Contest

PublishedJune 11, 2014

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Every year, National Geographic Traveler invites readers to submit photographs of their travel experiences around the globe, but many of our favorite entries from this year's competition look like they could have been photographed on another world entirely. Here are some of our favorites.

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Autumn - Macrolepiota procera in autumn a foggy day. The picture was taken from under viewpoint and so the mushroom were important in the scene. The trees of background are fork tree (Quercus suber) The picture was taken with a wide angle in the parque natural "Los Alcornocales." Photo and caption by Andrés Miguel Domínguez / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Cortes de la Frontera (Málaga), Spain

Surreal Camping - We had entered Hang Son Doong at around noon after trekking through the jungle for a day and a half and spending the night in a smaller cave. After entering Son Doong, it was 2 hours before we made it to a point where we could see the light coming in through the first doline and then another hour to the camp. The entire way I was in awe of the scene unfolding in front of me. I couldn't believe this is where we would be spending the night. Photo and caption by Ryan Deboodt / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Hang Son Doong, Phong Nha Ke Bang, Vietnam

Kolmanskop Interior #6641 - This image is one of many of this buildings interior that I photographed. It was so interesting to see the way the sand dunes reclaimed the area over the years. Hard to believe that it was someone's home in 1954. This is just one building in the abandoned area of a diamond mine called Kolmanskop, in Namibia. I spent the entire day here getting better and better at visualizing how to shot these amazing interiors. Photo and caption by Bonnie Flamer / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Kolmanskop Diamond Mine, Namibia

Palm Garden - A click from Al Ain Oasis - the largest oasis in the city of Al Ain,United Arab Emirates. This garden is a beautiful with thousands of Palm trees. Photo and caption by Anu Prasanth / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Al Ain,United Arab Emirates

Through a Pronghorn's Eye - While sitting on a small plateau in the northern range of Yellowstone searching for wolves a small group of pronghorn approached me and began grazing and relaxing. I thought perfect, as the pronghorn's huge eyes and exceptional ability to spot predators would only help my purpose. As the time went by I began to photograph the pronghorn. While processing the photographs not knowing what I had I began to notice something incredible. Through the reflection in the eye I began to see Yellowstone as the pronghorn does. Notice the pronghorns shadow, the blue sky and the photographer behind the rock. Photo and caption by Joshua Savage / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Yellowstone National Park

Fog and the Mountain - Thick fog is coming from the down side of the mountain, and it is pumping up due to the high air pressure from the valley. I clicked this image on last winter time when I visited to the highest peak land of the United Arab Emirates, and it's called Jabal Al Jais. Photo and caption by Anu Prasanth / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Jabal Al Jais, Ras Al Khaima, United Arab Emirates

The tiring half - Mr Tarek works in Metal Casting. The temperature in his workshop reaches 60°C, while the temperature inside the furnace goes higher than 1000°C. Photo and caption by Nader Saadallah / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Alexandria,Egypt

122.20 ride - Taking a taxi on a rainy day in Kolkata. Photo and caption by Calla Fleischer / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Kolkata, India

Aloof - Due to the kindness of homestay workers it has been possible to take this photo in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, in March 2014. Photo and caption by Michael Muecke / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Aurora Hunters - Photographers taking part in a photography tour on the Lofoten Islands in Norway, pull over on the side of the road to take a photo of their first ever Aurora Borealis after spotting it from their tour bus. Photo and caption by Mark Gee / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Rystad, Lofoten Islands, Norway

Chasing The Sun - A trekker on the way to the summit of Mount Rinjani. Mount Rinjani is second highest active volcano in Indonesia, located on the island of Lombok. On the top of the volcano is a caldera that filled partially by crater lake, it's known as Segara Anak. Sasak tribe believe both the lake and the mount are sacred. Rinjani also a famous mount for trekkers during dry seasons, most trekkers are aiming the summit for amazing sunrise, but it will never be an easy job to get there. Photo and caption by Lidya Ally/National Geographic.

Location: Mount Rinjani, Lombok, Indonesia

Sunrise at Seoraksan, South Korea - After hiking for twelve hours out of a nineteen hour trek, it was time to watch the sunrise at Dinosaur Ridge. When we first looked out, the mountains were completely covered by clouds, but within an hour the clouds dropped and this was what we saw. It felt like heaven, and you could hear everyone present for this moment screaming and shouting for joy! I'd never seen something so incredible, I had to meditate and have gratitude to have experienced this. Some locals said that they'd never seen the mountains like this, even in their 40+ years of hiking there. Photo and caption by Ka Shim / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Seoraksan National Park, South

An Alien World - Hang Son Doong is located in central Vietnam and is the world's largest cave. It was only explored for the first time in 2009 and is just now opening up to very limited tourism. This photo shows some members of our party beginning the climb up one of the two collapsed roof sections or dolines that are prominent features in the cave. The vegetation that can be seen is entirely inside the cave, with the real jungle floor some 150m further above. Two-way radios and a laser pointer were used to get people in position and to ensure their headlamps provided just the right amount of illumination. Photo and caption by Chris Miller / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Hang Son Doong, Quang Binh, Vietnam

Bells of Sri Pada - Climbed up Sri Pada (Adam's peak) at 3am to see the sunrise. This is Sri Lanka's highest mountain. These bells are rung after you walk around the chedi at the top. Magnificent place, well worth the climb. Photo and caption by Dax Ward / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Location: Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka

Check out more images from the competition over at National Geographic Traveler. The competition runs until June 30th, so there's still plenty of time to enter photographs of your own for consideration. This year's prizes include a trip for two to Alaska and a NatGeo photo workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not too shabby!