The Best Photograph In Nat Geo's Contest

The winners of National Geographic's annual photography contest are out. Looking through the archive of this year's submissions, I honestly have no idea how they picked and do not envy that job.

The winning, $10,000 image, taken by Lim Boom Teck of Singapore, shows the eruption of Indonesia's Gunung Rinjani volcano. One of the judges, photographer Joel Sartore, is quoted by National Geographic as saying: "This image best represented the craft of photography. Not only is the light subtle and beautiful, and not only is it a lovely scene, but there's a volcanic eruption going on in the background."

Enlarge this image toggle caption Aaron Lim Boon Teck, Singapore/Courtesy of National Geographic Aaron Lim Boon Teck, Singapore/Courtesy of National Geographic

Winners in the other two categories of "people" and "places" are Chan Kwok Hung and Jana Asenbrennerova respectively:

Enlarge this image toggle caption Chan Kwok Hung, Hong Kong/Courtesy of National Geographic Chan Kwok Hung, Hong Kong/Courtesy of National Geographic