The stunning submissions in National Geographic Traveler's photographer of the year contest
Volcanoes belching lava and ash, lions play-fighting in the African desert and the Northern Lights over an icy landscape - these are the dramatic images that every tourist would love to add to their photo album. Captured at some of the world's best beauty spots, the spectacular snaps reveal the divide between the tranquillity and fury of Mother Nature.
And they are among the most breathtaking shots that are in the running for National Geographic Traveler's coveted photographer of the year contest.
The annual competition celebrates the best in travel photography with entrants submitting snaps from their time in destinations such as Australian Outback, the valleys of Norway and the Great Plains of the US.
Among the astonishing photos is Reynold Dewantara jaw-dropping shot of a young man on horseback as Mount Bromo erupts at Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia. A massive plume of smoke pours from the volcano, filling the sky with black ash.
Another stunning image shows streaks of lightning over Uluru, or Ayers Rock, at Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia. The image is one of several mesmerising submissions from photographer Christoph Schaarschmidt.
Photographers have until May 27 to enter the competition. The grand prize winner will receive a seven-day polar bear photo safari for two in Churchill, Manitoba, in Canada’s Arctic – the self-proclaimed polar bear capital of the world and a popular destination for nature photographers.
Christoph Schaarschmidt snapped this shot at Trollstigen, Norway, as the fog disappeared and a car drove along a winding road
Backdropped by sunlight, an enormous supercell forms over the town of Blackhawk, South Dakota - leading to flash flooding in the state
A wooden shed is caught in winter's icy grip on a frigid night on the top of a hill in Lapland, Finland, as the Northern Lights appear
Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is illuminated by several bolts of lightning as a storm rolls through Yulara, Northern Territory, Australia
Photographer Reynold Dewantara snapped this dramatic picture as Mount Bromo erupted at Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia
Two lions collide - with one leaping into the air - during a play-fight at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa
Thierry Bornier waited a week to get the right conditions before capturing this early-morning shot of a village in the mist at Guizhou, China
During a snowstorm in Bryce Canyon, Utah, a single tree looks stark against the frozen landscape, where visibility was almost zero
Photographer Gaby Barathieu witnessed one of nature's greatest wonders as the La Fournaise volcano erupted on Réunion Island
Doris Landertinger's amazing photo shows a lone springbok grazing in front of a dune at Swakopmund, Erong in the Namibian Desert
