Nat Geo’s Top 10 Photos

Watched Nat Geo last night, and this is what I got! The Nat Geo's top 10 2009 photos!
If I were amongst the Editors, I will definitely get crazy with all beautiful submitted photos and I will definitely get contemplated to choose which one should be featured for the month!

It's Amazon pink dolphins in a very dark fresh water.

(I didn't manage to hear the photographer's story and why Nat Geo Editors chose this picture.)

It's a villager from Yunan Province who hauled a cow to the market.

(I didn't manage to hear the photographer's story and why Nat Geo Editors chose this picture.)

It's dry season in Australia and it became worst when hail continued.

(The photographer said that this scene happened coincidentally. The daughter's hair and covered face, the dad and the boy in the mirror, were all in place. The photographer was sitting inside the truck, using the window frame as her limit, and she had this. Unbelievable? It happened in ONLY one shot. Nat Geo Editors chose this picture because it tells about life.)

It's a dark untouchable cave between three southern states in USA.

(These hardcore cavers risked their life by entering this cave and brought 3 big cameras and used no speed light, but 1880's lamp light. The result was awesome. The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture because there was no way for them to reach this place and looking at this picture has told them the difficulties to reach there.)

It's all about women and Islam in Indonesia.

(The photographer has used the women as the shields and the kid as the playful subject, who is becoming the same as those women at the back, in 15 years time. The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture because they see the unique side of Islam.)

It's about the green nature on the roof of a building.

(Both husband and wife, who are the photographers, had to climb the next building in taking this picture. To add the challenge, it was getting dark and about to rain. They had to switch off all lights in the room, used duck tapes and black sugar paper to cover the glare, and took this picture with "window's frame" as the front lens. The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture because it gave another point of life for the future.)

It's just a boy, one of the hunter gatherer tribe, the Hadza.

(The photographer has been following this tribe and he loves capturing close-up photos. The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture as they saw honesty and genuineness in the eyes of uncivilized boy, and they said, it's perfect.)

It's a global food crisis in Egypt. They had to fight for a bread.

(If I'm not mistaken, the photographer has been to 6 countries to cover on this issue. Out of 30,000 photos, this picture was selected. The photographer was in a very small aluminum shop with windows frame at the middle. His present was not welcomed by the Egyptians, as they thought that he will portrayed only the bad scene in Egypt. The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture simply because it's all about people and life.)

It's all about the grizzly bears looking for salmon.

(The photographer has risked his life by sitting not more than 6 meters away from the bears. He said grizzly bears aren't efficient in catching salmon, so they just stomp their feet and grab any fish they can. He put his cam in the water and controlled the shot from his lappy. There were two shots that he submitted, one with the bear's head on the water, and another one is this. The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture because it took a man's courage to capture this moment.)

(Yeah, I bet for this one to be the first!)

It's all about the tallest tree in the whole wide world, at California hillsides.

(They have to use crossbows to shoot the rope on the tree, climbed up, shoot again, climbed up, shoot again, and continue to repeat the same thing till they reach the highest peak. They tried to hang themselves but the rope kept swinging. So they tied and aligned three cameras, shot pictures at every 3 meters of the tree, anddddd combined them! The Nat Geo Editors chose this picture because it just AMAZING!)

Managed to get few tips from the award winning photographers, from my point of view:
1) It's not about your camera. It's about the story behind the camera.
2) Try to pick one issue/subject, and put your 100% passion into it.
3) Bring viewers to the place, as if they have been there.
4) Great things come with great risks.

So, let's start taking "real" pictures and enter NatGeo 2010 Photo Contest! (It's USD10,000!)

More info and photos at NatGeo.com