“This photo was taken during a 100-kilometer [62-mile] trekking trip in Ladakh, India, at an altitude of 4,500 meters [14,763 feet]," writes Your Shot member Sebastian Wahlhuetter. "I was at Lake Tso Kar, one of the highest saltwater lakes on Earth. I [had been] watching the marmots for a couple of days, and I was wondering if I might be able to get a close-up shot from a very short distance, covering not only the animal but also the stunning environment these creatures were living in. It took me one desperate evening and a very successful morning for the final outcome. With literally hundreds of holes it was quite a task of observation to figure out where these animals would eventually appear next."
Photograph by Sebastian Wahlhuetter, National Geographic Your Shot

Climber Emily Harrington takes the hard way up southern China’s Moon Hill, an arch from the remains of a collapsed cave. Sightseers have an easier option: a paved walkway to a viewpoint beneath the arch, then a dirt path to the top.

"When I shoot street photography, I'm always looking for interesting light, juxtapositions, and emotions that will make a good picture," says Your Shot member Jason Maloney. "I was drawn to the background in this photo, as it is a well-known piece of Denver on the outside of the Denver Art Museum."

Maloney says the sliver of light looked very dynamic. "I felt it would make a great photo. I wanted to wait for just the right moment, though, and after a few passersby and groups of people, I saw this single man walking along."

Maloney's picture recently appeared in Your Shot's Daily Dozen.

This ten-inch-long juvenile goliath grouper in the Florida Keys may spend five years among mangroves, relatively safe from predators, before venturing out to the reefs. The species’ survival depends on mangrove forests, which are contending with coastal development.

In this picture from the July 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine, a girl tends goats in the mountains near Shiikh in the Somaliland region of Somalia. Though big farms make headlines—a subject explored as part of our Future of Food series—small farmers still produce most of the food in Africa. Both are crucial for the continent to be able to feed its own growing population—much less the rest of the world.

"After several days of rain, I finally got to witness a beautiful sunset at Neist Point Lighthouse and took this picture at dusk," writes Stefano Coltelli. "The image was made in mid-August on the Isle of Skye in Scotland."

"For years I have been fascinated by elephants and elephant herds," writes Your Shot member Jaco Marx. "I've traveled to Chobe in northern Botswana quite often to photograph them in large numbers, enjoying the sight of hundreds of elephants at a time. I came across an article on photographing from an underground hide in southeastern Botswana at the Mashatu Game Reserve, an opportunity to get really close to the animals from an interesting perspective."

"I was shooting for my upcoming book on Iceland and hired a pilot to fly me over the highlands," writes Your Shot contributor Hans Strand. "In the far distance I saw this inspiring river delta over Hvítarvatn near Langjökull glacier and directed the pilot to make a few laps over it. We flew three 360-degree laps at about a 400-meter [1,300-foot] altitude right over the delta, and I concentrated on getting a good frame. The wind coming from Langjökull was very strong, which made the airplane very turbulent, and after the three laps I had to give up and fly back to Reykjavík due to airsickness. Luckily, I got what I wanted."

"These two dolphins were playing out in the deeper ocean for some time," writes Brodie McCabe, who captured this picture at Point Danger in Tweed Heads, Australia. "As a set of waves came through, they followed the swell toward the shore, racing each other for the key position. As the wave started breaking, one pulled off the back so as not to 'drop in' on the other."

Yangshuo, China, was a sleepy village two decades ago, when foreign climbers and cavers began frequenting nearby formations. Today domestic tourists vastly outnumber foreign visitors.

"At 14,000 feet in icy winds this llama was completely at home," writes Esther Buttery, who submitted this photo, taken on Bolivia's Laguna Colorado salt lake, to the Traveler Photo Contest. "It was a different world for me. I'd like to think that we shared a moment."

A mural decorates a wall near a Tibetan Buddhist college in China's Sichuan Province.

"The shafts of light in [this] canyon [were] one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen," says Peter Lik, who took this photo in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and submitted it photo to the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. "It was a surreal feeling being surrounded by the towering cliffs. The only way I could capture this special moment of weeping walls was after an incredibly torrential rain. I knew I had to get to a shallow portion of the river to unfold my tripod. I was drenched from head to toe by the falling water. Mist and rain covered the camera, but I fired a few shots. As I stood in awe of the scene, the sun broke through for a few seconds and cast God’s rays into the side-lit waterfall."

The frozen, fissured surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, seen here in a colorized mosaic image from the Galileo spacecraft, hides a liquid ocean that may hold all the ingredients needed for life.

"A horse is tied in a makeshift stall while Iranian youth gather on the scaffolding to watch the competition during a nomad festival," writes Ali Hamed Haghdoust, a member of our Your Shot community. The festival took place on the outskirts of Kaleybar city in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran.

Haghdoust's picture recently appeared in the Your Shot Daily Dozen.