PEOPLE, 3rd place: Rodney Bursiel/ National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “I recently traveled to Tavarua, Fiji to do some surf photography with pro surfer Donavon Frankenreiter at Cloudbreak. I’m always looking for new angles and perspectives. The usual surf shots have all been done so we decided to get a little creative. Makes you look twice.”

CITIES, 3rd place: Photo by Misha De-Stroyev/ National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “This football field in Henningsvær in the Lofoten Islands is considered one of the most amazing fields in Europe, and maybe even in the world. The photo was taken during a 10-day sailing trip in Norway in June 2017 and was captured via drone 120m up.”

PEOPLE, Honorable mention. Photo by Michael Dean Morgan / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “Besakih Temple has been known as Bali’s ‘Mother Temple’ for over 1000 years and is perched 1,000 meters high on the southwestern slopes of Mount Agung.”

NATURE, 3rd place. Photo by Tarun Sinha / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “This image was captured in Costa Rica when I was travelling from Monteverde to Playa Hermosa. As you cross over this river, you can stop and peer over the edge of the bridge. Below, reside over 35 gigantic crocodiles, relaxing on the muddy banks of the river.”

NATURE, Honorable mention. Photo by Shane Gross / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “Caribbean reef sharks are usually shy so I placed my camera on a rock where I know they frequent and used a remote trigger to click away as they came in and bumped my camera around.”

NATURE, Honorable mention. Yutaka Takafuji / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “This photograph was taken in the evening hours of a humid early summer day in the forest of a small remote village in the Tamba area of Japan. It beautifully captures the magical atmosphere of princess fireflies.”

CITIES, 1st place: Photo by Norbet Fritz/ National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “The modern interior of the city library in Stuttgart. with its wide-open space in the centre, where natural light comes from through the windows on the top - it has a very unique atmosphere where you can broaden your knowledge.”

CITIES, Honorable mention. Al Ain: New city on the desert. Photo by Andrez Bochenski / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

CITIES, Honorable mention. Photo by Tetsuya Hashimoto / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “This building is an apartment complex in Gifu Prefecture of Japan. It is very colorful, but it is an ordinary housing collective where ordinary people can live.”

NATURE, Honorable mention. Photo by Reynold Riksa Dewantara / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “Mount Bromo volcano is a small, but active volcanic cinder cone in Java, Indonesia. In early 2016, I happened to be in Mt. Bromo during the increase of seismic activity and triggered the alert status to the second highest.”

PEOPLE, 2nd place. Photo by Julius Y. / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. “Museum visitors curiously watching Rembrandt’s painting “Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild” where it gave the illusion that the people on the paintings too are curiously watching the visitors.”

CITIES, 2nd place. Andy Yeung / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “The Kowloon Walled City was the densest place on Earth. Hundreds of houses stacked on top of each other enclosed in the center of the structure. Many didn’t have access to open space.”

Grand Prize, and 1st Prize Nature Category: Sergio Tapiro Velasco / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “That night, the weather was dry and cold, friction of ash particles generated a big lightning of about 600 meters that connected ash and volcano.”

NATURE, Honorable mention. Photo by Clane Gessel / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. The marble caves of Patagonia.

NATURE, 2nd place. Photo by Hiromi Kano / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “Swans who live vigorously even in mud.”

PEOPLE, 1st place. F. Dilek Uyar / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “This photo was taken in Konya. Whirling Dervish in the historical site of Sille, Konya, Turkey. The ‘dance’ of the Whirling Dervishes is called Sema and is a symbol of the Mevlevi culture.”

PEOPLE, Honorable mention. Photo by Jobit George / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. “A father and son sitting in white traditional attire with beautiful blue sky on the day of Eid al-Fitr in a mosque in New Delhi, India. The photo shows the beautiful bond that these two generations have been building in a very simple and lovable manner.”

PEOPLE, Honorable mention. Moin Ahmed / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. “The photo was taken at Tongi Railway Station in Bangladesh. I found a pair of curious eyes looking at me through the window and on his left an umbrella has been put to protect from the rain. I got the moment.”