National Geographic's International Photo Contest 2008

National Geographic posted the winners of its 2008 International Photography Contest. All of the images are breathtaking. The photo above, by Silvia Martinez Dominguez of Spain, is an honorable mention winner in the Nature category. From the caption:

Under a beautiful light, a monkey rests on the milennary stones of the Angkor temples, in Cambodia. The image talks about animal behavior, and about the very moving feeling of proximity between us and our nearest relatives in nature.

International Photography Contest 2008

[#1 posted by UglyDeafMuslimPunkGurl , January 5, 2009 10:13 AM]

I love the first photo of the two ladies in Mozambique.

[#2 posted by Anonymous , January 5, 2009 10:20 AM]

This made me realize that at most zoos I have been to, in the northern hemmisphere, monkey island faces south, and there is little opportunity for shade, or photography in the shadows. The north side seems to be the interior enclosure. Is this being done for the monkeys, or the zoo patron shutterbugs?

[#3 posted by Cpt. Tim , January 5, 2009 10:48 AM]

boing boing should start a talk thread for boing boing readers to submit (or just link to) their best photos from 2008.

i'm sure they'll be hard pressed to compete with these. but it would still be fun.

[#4 posted by skeeto , January 5, 2009 11:04 AM]

The Photoshop Disasters blog spotted one of them as being a fraud (not a real photo) an it was later removed by National Geographic: National Geographic: Here's Your Prize Cheaty McCheaterson.

[#5 posted by Cpt. Tim , January 5, 2009 11:24 AM]

wow. that was bad indeed. if you don't understand how light works, you shouldn't be judging a photography contest.

[#6 posted by Anonymous , January 5, 2009 1:43 PM]

here's the official statement from National Geographic:

The International Photography Contest from National Geographic has sparked unparalleled interest from photographers around the world, with some 220,000 submissions this year worldwide. The rules of the competition clearly state that no altered images can be submitted. It has come to our attention that one of the Viewers’ Choice Award winners of the English-language competition might be an altered image. When we asked our panel of photography experts to review it, they believed it to be questionable. To give the photographer the benefit of the doubt, we asked him to send us the source negative, which we have not yet received. For now, we will remove the image from the Web site until the matter is resolved.

[#7 posted by Cpt. Tim , January 5, 2009 3:46 PM]

really? I mean, it's a nice way to phrase it, but the image is straight up photoshopped.

[#8 posted by SoCalian , January 8, 2009 12:24 AM]

I went to Angkor Wat about a month ago, and took some pictures including a couple of the monkeys. This one was just sitting on a step with a bunch a people gathered around. He seemed to be bored by the attention.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SoCalian/AngkorEdited#5275542490433735570