National Geographic Photo Contest 2011

The deadline for entries for this year's National Geographic Photo Contest is November 30. Photographers of all skill levels (last year more than 16,000 images submitted by photographers from 130 countries) enter photographs in three categories: Nature, People and Places. The photographs are judged on creativity and photographic quality by a panel of experts. There is one first place winner in each category and a grand prize winner as well. The following is a selection of images that we like, if you want to view all the images you can view them at http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/ 

IS HE STILL THERE?!: One morning while on the Big Island of Hawaii, i exploring my surroundings to see if i could find something to photograph. I almost went back inside when something on this huge palm tree leaf caught my eye. I stayed around and it was this little gecko, startled by my presence he was hidden between the ridges of the leaf. He would pop his head up periodically to check his surroundings, as soon as he saw i was still there he would hide again. We played this game for a while until i got the shot. Holualoa big Island, Hawaii. (Photo and caption by Lorenzo Menendez/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest)

CONFRONTING: Cage divers confront a great white shark on the Isla de Guadalupe. (Photo and caption by David Litchfield/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest)

THE CLOUD: At safari not only animals can attract attention. South Africa, Western Cape, Aquila Safari park. (Photo and caption by Dmitry Gorilovskiy/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest)

FLESH AND BONES: In a world where no one understands the importance of nature, all that is left of our nature is just these flesh & bones. Toronto, Canada. (Photo and caption by Amirhassan Farokhpour/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest)

STINGRAY: This image was captured to Sandbar, Grand Cayman during my last trip.This beautiful creature turn around you very close and you can touch it.This is a really amazing experience, you are surrounded by dozen of this friendly animal. Sandbar-Grand Cayman-Caribean (Photo and caption by Gazzaroli Claudio/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest)

LOVE OF PARENTS: The emperor penguins fight for survival and to protect their only baby in the frozen Antarctic ice desert. Antarctica: Atka Bay, Weddell Sea. (Photo and caption by Claus Possberg/National Geographic Photo Contest)

WINTER LOLLIPOPS: Winter is extremely beautiful in Lithuania. It was an early morning and minus 25 degrees Celsius outside. This landscape feels out of this world, but in fact it's in the outskirts of my home city, Kaunas—just a mile away from my house. Oftentimes beauty lies just a step away from our door. Kaunas, Lithuania (Photo and caption by Matas Juras/Nature/National Geographic Photo Contest)

SUNBATHING UNDERWATER: The sun gives us energy even underwater. This image was captured during freediving (diving on a single breath without scuba gear) in the Red Sea. Eel Garden, Dahab, Sinai, Egypt. (Photo and caption by Vaclav Krpelik/People/National Geographic Photo Contest)

NEW ORLEANS STREETCAR: This is a streetcar in New Orleans traveling back towards The Quarter on St. Charles Ave. I held the camera against the window sill, making sure to divide the image equally between the inside and the outside. New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo and caption by Don Chamblee/Places/National Geographic Photo Contest)

FLAT OCEAN: Just before a huge monsoon downpour, the ocean became flat as I have never seen before. It was drizzling a bit, people were on their way to their house, when I walked up this pier. The light rain made the pier mirror-like, and the ocean was so calm. On the horizon are the islands just in front of Makassar, part of that special islands of Sulawesi. Makassar, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Erik Kievit/Places/National Geographic Photo Contest)