A Giant Leap for Doubters

Photograph by Richard Barnes
A worker adjusts an exhibit at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Skepticism about established science is hardly new, but the Internet has been a boon to fringe beliefs. Think the moon landings were faked? Go online—you’ll find plenty of people who agree.

A Dinosaur in Eden

Photograph by Richard Barnes
At the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, Adam and Eve share Paradise with a dinosaur. Young-Earth creationists believe the planet was created with fully functioning adult humans less than 10,000 years ago. Science holds that Earth is 4.6 billion years old, that all life evolved from microbes, and that modern humans first appeared 200,000 years ago—65 million years after dinosaurs died out.

Stormy Debate

Photograph by Richard Barnes
Hurricane Sandy was not caused by human-made climate change, but the damage it did to the Jersey Shore was exacerbated by sea-level rise—which is caused in part by climate change. For those who question the consensus on this and other polarizing issues of science, skeptical beliefs become “almost like badges of membership, of loyalty to the group,” says Yale researcher Dan Kahan.

Spider Goat

Photograph by Richard Barnes
The Center for PostNatural History in Pittsburgh displays preserved specimens of genetically modified organisms—including Freckles, a goat bred to produce milk containing spider-silk protein, which could one day be turned into fiber for commercial uses. There’s no evidence that GMOs are harmful to human health, but public concern has led 64 countries and three American states to pass laws that require foods containing them to be labeled.

Vaccine Backlash

Photograph by Richard Barnes
At the Cedarsong Nature School on Vashon Island, Washington, Kina and Kaia are among many children who haven’t been vaccinated against contagious diseases such as measles. Vaccine avoidance has surged in the U.S.; 46 states allow religious exemptions from vaccination requirements, and 19 states allow philosophical ones.

Temple Dawn
Photograph by Andy Ferrington, National Geographic Your Shot

“Burma (Myanmar) is one of those special countries that will never fail to inspire and excite even the most well-traveled photographers,” writes Your Shot member Andy Ferrington. “There is nothing more awe inspiring than watching sunrise from the top of one of the 2,000-plus temples in the central plain in Bagan. This was my third consecutive 5 a.m. start to climb yet another temple in the cold, dark morning in bare feet. I opted for a super telephoto shot, as I wanted to really pull the punch of those warm sunrise colors. As I was tracking the flight path of this solo balloon, I estimated that it would pass between a perfect gap in the temples.”

A Perilous Profession
Photograph by Aaron Huey

In April 2014, a devastating avalanche killed 16 expedition workers on Mount Everest, becoming the worst accident in the peak’s hundred-year climbing history. For the Sherpas—13 of whom were victims of the avalanche—the climbing profession brings both prosperity and peril. Here, Da Nuru Sherpa coils rope at Camp II on Ama Dablam, perched like a spectacular bird’s nest at 19,600 feet.

Royal Velvet
Photograph by Szymon Bakota, National Geographic Your Shot

Victorious in autumn clashes with rivals, a fallow deer luxuriates in the fog of London’s Richmond Park. “This is a great time to simply wander around the park with a camera,” writes Your Shot member Szymon Bakota. “I found the ideal place in a small woodland, where bucks rub their foreheads and antlers against the bases and branches of trees. There were a couple of deer competing and clashing antlers. After one fight, the winner made this magnificent, royal pose. I got the camera as low to the ground as possible. My intention was to underexpose the photo a bit to capture an almost fairy-tale mood.”

Blacktip Grouper
Photograph by Brian Skerry

Blacktip grouper at Starbuck Island in the southern Line Islands are among the predators that dominate fish communities on healthy reefs. Long-lived and slow-growing, groupers are among the first casualties of overfishing.

Sea Challenge
Photograph by Ulrich Lambert, National Geographic Your Shot

Walking on the beach in Aqaba, Jordan, at sunset, Your Shot member Ulrich Lambert saw teenagers jumping from a pier into the Red Sea. “I shot from the pier using a wide-angle zoom because I wanted to capture not only the diver, but also his audience, as it was a kind of challenge between them,” he writes.

River Lady
Photograph by Vincent J. Musi

South Carolina’s ACE Basin harbors a wealth of wildlife and history. Here, a moss-hung cypress keeps watch over the placid waters of the Lowcountry basin, named for three rivers that run through it: the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto.

Owl in the Snow
Photograph by Sven Zacek, National Geographic Your Shot

While on assignment photographing great gray owls for a Wild Wonders of Europe project, Your Shot member Sven Zacek got a call that a few owls had been sighted nearby. Zacek had been busy with another mission—shooting winter landscapes—but was able to find and spend four days with this female near Oulu, Finland.

“This photo is from the first evening, when I had just arrived. It was snowing, and after observing the owl for a while I decided to try and creep closer. The snowfall really makes the shot.”

Mirror Image
Photograph by Torsten Muehlbacher, National Geographic Your Shot

On a stretch of road between Söderhamn and Gävle on the Swedish coast, Your Shot member Torsten Muehlbacher noticed this small island reflected in a lake. “I drove to a nearby parking area and walked a few minutes for the perfect view,” he writes. “I put my camera on a tripod and made a long-exposure shot for a better ‘mirror’ on the lake, because it was not windless.”

Tree Swing
Photograph by Francisco Mingorance

A maple tree provides a perfect swing for a playful Barbary macaque in Morocco’s Middle Atlas mountains. Illegal logging threatens forests where the endangered monkeys live, and overgrazing damages the area’s food-rich underbrush.

Turning Tail
Photograph by Lance Isackson, National Geographic Your Shot

Turkey tail mushrooms, a type of bracket fungi, are spied on a fall day in Belcarra, British Columbia, Canada. Known particularly in Chinese medicine for its healing properties, the mushroom is believed to strengthen the immune system against disease and infection.

Guaranteed to Raise a Smile
Photograph by Mirco Balboni, National Geographic Your Shot

Musicians relax after a daylong photo shoot near the town of Renazzo in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. “My intention was to capture the joy that these guys have making music together,” writes Mirco Balboni, a member of our Your Shot community. “The members of the band kept playing and joking as they entered the field. At that point, I saw that the situation was perfect—the evening light was great and they were carefree in the field, as if they were still children. I saw the happiness in their faces and the joy of playing together.”

Turtle Power
Photograph by Montse Grillo

“On the coast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, we have quite the selection of affectionate green turtles,” writes photographer Montse Grillo. “This turtle was coming [down] from the surface. The sun behind it and the sun rays surrounding it gave it a special majesty.”

Valley Flames
Photograph by Judge Helbig

Wildfires rage in a valley behind iconic Half Dome in California’s Yosemite National Park. Judge Helbig captured the photo at 3 a.m. using a one-minute exposure.

Leap of Faith
Photograph by Nicole Cambré

A migrating wildebeest leaps into the low waters of the Mara River in Tanzania. Wildebeests begin their annual migration at the edge of the Serengeti Plains. On their enormous loop following seasonal rains, the more than 1.5 million animals encounter deadly crossings like this one at the Mara, infamous home of the giant Nile crocodile.

Through the Woods
Photograph by Gary Migues

Rain dampens the forest floor along a trail in Montana’s Glacier National Park. Located in the Northern Rocky Mountains, the “crown of the continent” spans more than a million acres of rugged natural terrain. Among the features preserved within its borders are lakes and forests, alpine meadows, and valleys carved from the glaciers that give the park its name.

Lord of the Seas
Photograph by Marc Henauer

“Off the coast of Guadalupe Island, great white sharks gather to feed on sea lions,” writes Marc Henauer of this scene he captured near the island off Baja California, Mexico. “It’s an ideal place to observe these majestic animals in their natural state.”

Lake Effect
Photograph by Ben Leshchinsky

Canoers paddle the opaque surface of Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada’s Banff National Park. Ben Leshchinsky captured the “disorienting” photo from a cliff overlooking the lake. “Even boulders the size of large cars seemed like pebbles from a high vantage point,” he writes.

The Blue Universe
Photograph by Hiroki Kondo

About 4.5 million Nemophila menziesii—a California wildflower commonly known as baby blue eyes—carpet the hills at Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan. According to photographer Hiroki Kondo, who calls this landscape “the blue universe,” the flowers peak from the end of April to the first week of May.

Success
Photograph by Peter Allinson

An Atlantic puffin returns from a successful fishing expedition in this picture captured in Iceland. A puffin can grip 20 or more fish in its beak. Those with chicks make up to eight food runs a day.

Morning Java
Photograph by Achmad Sumawijaya

Photographer Achmad Sumawijaya waited three hours to capture this picture of Mount Bromo (in foreground) and Mount Semeru (in background) on a misty morning in East Java, Indonesia. Some Indonesians believe that the volcanoes are portals to a subterranean world.

Near and Far
Photograph by Yaron Shmid

Elephants appear to patrol the Serengeti in this picture taken in Tanzania. A recent study found that ivory-seeking poachers have killed 100,000 African elephants in just three years. During 2011 alone, roughly one of every twelve African elephants was killed by a poacher. Demand for ivory, most notably in China and elsewhere in Asia, has helped keep black market prices high.

Napoleon Invasion
Photograph by Christian Miller

A humphead wrasse, also known as a Napoleon wrasse, builds a living frame as it swims through a school of fish in the waters off Australia. Photographer Christian Miller captured the shot on a windy day right after a cyclone had passed the far northern Great Barrier Reef. “Never before [had I seen] that many glass fish on this particular coral bommie [outcrop],” he writes.

Tottori Sand Dunes
Photograph by Hideyuki Katagiri

The Tottori sand dunes—the largest in Japan—rise toward the horizon in the country’s south. The coastal dunes were formed by sand and wind over 100,000 years. In the distance, lighted squid-fishing boats bob on the Sea of Japan.

Over the River
Photograph by Garth Lenz

A tar mine edges up to a boreal forest and the MacKay River in northern Alberta, Canada. Photographer Garth Lenz speaks of the “insane scale” of the industrialization he photographs in the province, which has undergone dramatic changes since oil sands development began. Lenz uses aerial photography to capture the immensity of the altered landscape.

Stars Over Shivling
Photograph by Pete McBride

At 21,467 feet, India’s Mount Shivling rises toward a clear night sky. Here in the Garhwal Himalaya lies the Gangotri glacier—and the headwaters of the Ganges River.

Rains in Africa
Photograph by Keith Willette, National Geographic Your Shot

“The clouds initially caught my eye,” writes Your Shot member Keith Willette. “This rumbling storm was coming in and I was hoping to catch some lightning bolts. Then I noticed the giraffe.”

Willette had been photographing giraffes and elephants in Kenya’s Masai Mara and was about to return to camp because of the storm. “I asked to stay just a little longer because the smell of the storm and the peaceful quietness were something I wanted to enjoy just a bit more,” he writes. “Luckily, clouds broke through and illuminated the giraffe.”

Autumn in Aomori
Photograph by Sho Shibata

The morning sun kindles a view of fall foliage on Lake Towada in Aomori, Japan. Sitting at the base of Mount Hakkoda, the lake and the annual autumn display of its forested banks are a popular tourist draw.

Moonlit Mountaineers
Photograph by Pete McBride

At 16,700 feet and a temperature of minus 20ºF, Jake Norton (right) and Dave Morton eat a quick dinner under moonlight as they prepare to climb the unclimbed Chaukhamba IV looming behind them. Along with photographer Pete McBride, the climbers spent 45 days trekking every mile of the Ganges River.

Barn Storm
Photograph by Mark Duffy, National Geographic Your Shot

Sunlit storm clouds near Saskatchewan, Canada’s Qu’Appelle Valley capped a day of storm chasing for Your Shot member Mark Duffy. “The day for the most part was fairly flat, except for one developing thunderhead, so I started heading toward the back of this cloud formation,” he writes. “I went through the Qu’Appelle Valley from the north at Marquis and ended up at sunset at Tuxford. The sun shone through at the horizon and created a beautiful stormy sunset. I thought the shapes and color of the granary and Quonset were an interesting anchor for the shot.”

Bird Break
Photograph by Tylee Parvin

A brilliantly colored flamingo nuzzles into its feathers during a midday break at the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama. “The beauty was captivating,” writes photographer Tylee Parvin. “There's a sense of peace and tranquility in her eyes.”

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