First Place Winner: The Independence Day
Image: Marko Korošec
The image above was chosen from 18,000 entries as the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest grand prize winner. Marko Korošec of Sezana, Slovenia captured the image near Julesburg, Colorado and called it "Independence Day," because the cloud formation reminded him of the spacecraft in the 1996 film. Korošec won an eight-day National Geographic expedition to Alaska's Inside Passage for two aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion or the National Geographic Sea Bird.
See all of the winning entries and learn the stories behind the images here. Via Twisted Sifter.
Merit Winner, "Light Source"
Image: Marcelo Castro
Third Place Winner, "Diver in Magic Kingdom"
Image: Marc Henauer
Merit Winner, "The End of the World"
Sean Hacker Teper
Merit Winner, "A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara"
Evan Cole