National Geographic’s International Photography Contest 2009
Nazroo, a mahout elephant driver, poses for a portrait while taking his elephant, Rajan, out for a swim in front of Radha Nagar Beach in Havelock, Andaman Islands. Rajan is one of the few elephants in Havelock that can swim, so when he is not dragging timber in the forest he is used as a tourist attraction. The relationship between the mahout and his elephant usually lasts for their entire lives, creating an extremely strong tie between the animal and the human being. Photo and caption by Cesare Naldi
An example of photo luminescence in coral in West Papua (Photo and caption by Stephen Martin)
The edge of an iceberg floating just off the cost of Antarctica. (Photo and caption by Mike Matas)
The Darvaza natural gas crater is located in the center of the Karakum Desert in the central Asian country of Turkmenistan. The crater resulted after a Soviet natural gas exploration accident in the 1950s and has been burning ever since. The crater is approximately 60 meters in diameter and its depth is approximately 20 meters. (Photo and caption by Natalja Silver)
This is one view of many dunes found in Jordan. Two steps forward and one step back made for a challenging ascent. (Photo and caption by Andrew Cwiklewich)
More awesome photos from this years International Photography Contest from National Geographics on The Big Picture – Boston.com
