THE WINNERS OF the prestigious National Geographic Photography Contest have just been announced.

More than 22,000 photographs were submitted in three categories: people, places and nature. The competition was judged by an expert panel looking for both creativity and photographic quality.

The overall winner, Ashley Vincent, will receive prize money of $10,000 and a trip to National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington DC to participate in its annual Photography Seminar later this month.

The winners, honourable mentions and viewers’ choices are republished here with the kind permission of National Geographic. All photo titles and captions were written by the individual photographers.

Grand Prize

The Explosion! The subject’s name is Busaba, a well cared for Indochinese Tigress whose home is at Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand. I had taken many portraits of Busaba previously and it was becoming more and more difficult to come up with an image that appeared any different to the others. Which is why I took to observing her more carefully during my visits in the hope of capturing something of a behavioural shot. The opportunity finally presented itself while watching Busaba enjoying her private pool then shaking herself dry. In all humility I have to say that Mother Nature smiled favourably on me that day! (© Photo and caption by Ashley Vincent/National Geographic Photo Contest)

First in the Places Category

The Matterhorn: The Matterhorn 4478 m at full moon. (© Photo and caption by Nenad Saljic/National Geographic Photo Contest)

First Place in the People Category

Amongst the Scavengers: At the end of the day women are allowed to pick through the dumpsite. (© Photo and caption by Micah Albert/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Viewers’ Choice in the Places Category

Iceberg Hunters: Chipping ice off an iceberg is a common way for the Inuit community to retrieve fresh drinking water while on the land. During a weekend long hunting trip, we came upon this majestic iceberg frozen in place. It was a perfect opportunity to grab enough ice and drinking water for the remainder of the trip. (© Photo and caption by Adam Coish/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Viewers’ Choice in the People Category

Expedition Amundsen: A race that follows in the path of the famous explorer Roald Amundsen brings the contestants to the Hardangervidda Mountainplateu, Norway. 100km across the plateau, the exact same route Amundsen used to prepare for his South Pole expedition in 1911 is still used by explorers today. Amundsen did not manage to cross the plateau and had to turn back because of bad weather. He allegedly said that the attempt to cross Hardangervidda was just as dangerous and hard as the conquering of the South Pole.The group in the picture used the race as preparations for an attempt to cross Greenland. (© Photo and caption by Kai-Otto Melau/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Viewers’ Choice in the Nature Category

Tender Moment: Everyday in mara starts with something new and different and day ends with memorable experiences with spectacular photographs. I was very lucky of sighting and photographing Malaika the name of female Cheetah and her cub. she is well known for its habit to jump on vehicles. She learned that from her mother Kike, and Kike from her mother Amber. Like her mother she is teaching lessons to her cub. Teaching lessons means addition of another moment for tourist. This is one of the tender moment between Malaika and her cub. I was very lucky to capture that moment. (© Photo and caption by Sanjeev Bhor/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Honorable Mentions

Red Fox catching mouse under snow: With his exceptional hearing a red fox has targeted a mouse hidden under 2 feet of crusted snow. Springing high in the air he breaks through the crusted spring snow with his nose and his body is completely vertical as he grabs the mouse under the snow. (© Photo and caption by Micheal Eastman/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Chinese traditional dragon boat racing: Dragon boating is a chinese traditional entertainment. As an acquatic sport to memorise qu yuan, a patriotic poet in ancient china, it is usually held in festivals, which can be traced back to two thousands years ago. (© Photo and caption by 关嘉城/National Geographic Photo Contest)

East of Iceland: Glacial ice washes ashore after calving off the Breiamerkurjkull glacier on Iceland’s eastern coast. During the waning light of summer this image was created over the course of a 4 minute exposure while the photographer backlit the grounded glacial ice with a headlamp for 2 of those 4 minutes. (© Photo and caption by Eric Guth/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Captive: Yayasan Galuh Rehabilitation Center is an impoverished mental health facility based in Bekasi, Indonesia that hosts over 250 patients. Most come from poor families no longer interested in managing their condition, or are unable. Some patients are homeless, deposited after being taken off streets by police. The only medical treatment received is for skin conditions. No assessments, psychotherapy or psychiatric medications is available. Over one third of the patients are shackled in chains. These measures are implemented to those thought to be violent, uncontrollable and dangerous. (© Photo and caption by Wendell Phillips/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Eerie Eiffel: The winter gloomy day worked to my advantage to create this eerie feeling of the famous landmark Eiffel tower. (© Photo and caption by Indra Swari Wonowidjojo/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Predation up close and personal: I was surrounded by thousands of fish that moved in synchrony because of the predation that was happening. It was an incredible experience. (© Photo and caption by Fransisca Harlijanto/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Stilt Fishing: Stilt fishing is a typical fishing technique only seen in Sri Lanka. The fishermen sit on a cross bar called a petta tied to a vertical pole planted into the coral reef. This long exposure shot shows how unstable their position is. (© Photo and caption by ulrich lambert/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Ursus arctos horribilis: This photo of a wild, Alaskan, brown bear digging on a game trail was taken with a home made motion controlled triggering device hooked up to my DSLR. (© Photo and caption by Jason Ching/National Geographic Photo Contest)

12 beautiful images from the National Geographic Photo Contest>

See more entries over at the National Geographic>