2010 National Geographic Photography Contest

16,000 photographs submitted from 130 countries entered.

Some favourites were extracted for publishing.

Unexpected danger in Kanana Camp , Botswana

Snow Weasel , Minnesota USA

Oia Santorini , Greece

Piraputanga fish in Sucuri river, Brazil

The Louvre, Paris

The Pyramids, Egypt

Al-Saleh Mosque, Yemen

Praying Mantis

Thunderstorm in Montana , USA

A lightning bolt strikes the antenna of The Center building in Central, Hong Kong

Alone

River Bank in Zhenyuan, Guizhou Province , China

Mountain fog

Herring Gull with Guillemot Chick

Heavy load - little fly on a small white flower

Great Blue Heron with fish

Suradita Village, West Java, Indonesia - children playing with their roosters

Peyto Lake , Alberta , Canada

Mount Everest climber

Warminster , England

Feeding Koi fish at Windows of the World, Shenzhen , China

Oasis

Bee, purple flower

Czech Republic

the Angolan Plateau

Buddhist Monastery of Ki, Himalayas

Grand Prize Winner of 2010 National Geographic Contest

Eruption of Gunung Rinjani, an active volcano in Indonesia

Winning photo taken by Aaron Lim Boon Teck of Singapore Contest judge Joel Sartore said, "This image best represented the craft of photography.

Honourable Mention

Lion in the Shadows