Get Your Pictures In

November 19, 2010 5:31 PM

Big Picture's early picks from National Geographic's Photo Contest 2010. Photo contest main site, deadline for submissions Nov. 30.
posted by stp123 (20 comments total)

#11 made me laugh because the first thought that came to mind was "Maybe he's taking his own bag to the dolphin grocery store." In either case this photo would be a great way to promote banning plastic bags or at least, reusing them.
posted by thorny at 5:38 PM on November 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

These were all so awesome.

Top 3 were 9, 15, and 40 (guess I like black and white pictures?)

My favorite was 9.
posted by Defenestrator at 6:19 PM on November 19, 2010

As I was scrolling down and saw #11, I thought, "Air, land, and sea...and a dolphin!" I was thinking it was the most awesome shot imaginable - and then I saw the plastic bag. Now, I'm filled with a heady mixture of rage and deep sadness.

That photo is really powerful on an emotional level, and most of the rest are just jaw-dropping, amazing works of art.
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 6:30 PM on November 19, 2010

Frequently Big Picture links get deleted. This one really ought to stay...

wonderful photographs... thanks.
posted by HuronBob at 6:43 PM on November 19, 2010

All amazing. This kaleidoscope of our earth and its denizens makes me happy to be alive. Looking at these erased at least 47 annoying news stories from my brain.

Also #2 ... wow.
posted by freecellwizard at 6:53 PM on November 19, 2010

A wonderful set of photos but I hate how the NAT GEO contest is little more than an image harvesting rights grab.
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:11 PM on November 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

Very cool, great stuff. The captions in the voices of the various photographers really add to the pictures.

Would agree that #11, the dolphin, is definitely the most powerful/memorable. Really like #28 of Hong Kong for some reason, #39 of the heron and the alarmed looking fish, and #7 of the beautiful big ol bear, too. And I'm jealous of the photographer who got to visit #33 for a week!

I'm one of those people who hate insects so will admit I scanned over all of the bug pictures ....
posted by jamesonandwater at 7:14 PM on November 19, 2010

I agree with blaneyphoto. It's a real shame that an organisation with such strong associations with photography normally engages in rights grabs in its public contests and competitions.
posted by michswiss at 7:37 PM on November 19, 2010

#5 wins
posted by Brocktoon at 7:56 PM on November 19, 2010

Blaneyphoto, what I love is how _you_ pay _them_ for it!!

Though I think I recognised a couple of names/photos in there as professionals/semi-pros so I guess they figure it's worth it.
posted by smoke at 8:03 PM on November 19, 2010

odinsdream - they have a wallpaper section on the contest site.

My favorite is.... the bee one. Maybe. Shockingly good crop this year, except for the lady in the field. Not feeling it. I prefer pictures that require no context to be meaningful.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:38 PM on November 19, 2010

Upon viewing the one from Hong Kong, my first thought was "Man, that lightning looks just like the electric lights from those buildings!"

Then I remembered what lightning is made of, and I felt like a first grader.
posted by Turkey Glue at 9:39 PM on November 19, 2010

#24 is great, I thought is was a lava trail at first. But my overall favorite is #43, even though that gull is a total dick.
posted by clorox at 10:24 PM on November 19, 2010

#3 is amazing, but the llama made my heart squeeze, just a little.
posted by janepanic at 11:09 PM on November 19, 2010

I saw this yesterday. They're all gorgeous. I'm sad to hear that there's some sort of rights grab/hijinks involved for the photographers.
posted by immlass at 6:02 AM on November 20, 2010

It looks to me like there's something weird going on in #28, but some of the weirdness may have been introduced when it was resized for the web - for example, it looks like it has been egregiously oversharpened. It took me a little while to realize this was taken through a rain-spattered window, so that explains some of the splotches of color and "soft" areas. More troubling, though, is the strange artifacts of dark and light areas around the very thin tendrils of lightning in the upper left-of-center - looks like over-zealous use of Photoshop's Highlight & Shadows filter, which adjusts local contrast and can result in some of the same kinds of artifacts you get from careless use of HDR.

Still a compelling pic, but I'd like to see the unprocessed original for comparison.
posted by kcds at 6:18 AM on November 20, 2010

Absolutely stunning, as usual.
posted by Acey at 7:44 AM on November 20, 2010

It always amazes me that as jaded as I think I am, there is always a way for a great photograph to move me.
posted by Xoebe at 10:02 AM on November 20, 2010

I was concerned about the rights grab thing as well, but to be honest, a lot of these people appear to be pretty dedicated professional photographers, and getting their name and photo featured in National Geographic is probably one of the reasons they became a photographer in the first place. I'd be happy to give up one of my best pictures, since I'm giving it to a mag with a long tradition of beauty and curiosity.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:44 AM on November 20, 2010

Terrific photos! Couldn't shut my mouth for a while :)
posted by ellipticals at 12:54 PM on November 20, 2010