Photo of the Day: Best of 2014

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  Soldiering Through

  Photograph by Joey Jdm, National Geographic Your Shot

  Soldiers of the U.S. Army’s Fourth Stryker Brigade Combat Team return to their home duty station at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State after a nine-month tour in Afghanistan.

  Your Shot contributor Joey Jdm, a member of the unit, had always wanted to take a photo from this angle inside a C-17 transport plane. “When I finally got the chance, I asked one of the crew if I could take some photos,” he writes. “I wasn’t a photographer for the unit—I just had my camera at the time and couldn’t resist capturing the moment of a lifetime.”

  This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
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  Knot an Owl

  Photograph by Mauro Mozzarelli, National Geographic Your Shot

  A camouflaged gray owl protects its nest in this Your Shot picture.

  This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.
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  Leap of Faith

  Photograph by Nicole Cambré

  A migrating wildebeest leaps into the low waters of the Mara River in Tanzania. Wildebeests begin their annual migration at the edge of the Serengeti Plains. On their enormous loop following seasonal rains, the more than 1.5 million animals encounter deadly crossings like this one at the Mara, infamous home of the giant Nile crocodile.

  This photo was submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Photo Contest.
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  Going Solo

  Photograph by Jimmy Chin, National Geographic

  Determined to finish a new route, superclimber Alex Honnold dangles from an overhang on Oman's Musandam Peninsula. After pushing as far as possible on the rock, a deepwater solo climber simply lets go.

  See more pictures from the January 2014 feature story “Impossible Rock.”
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  Key to Survival

  Photograph by Matthieu Paley, National Geographic

  The Kyrgyz of the Pamir Mountains in northern Afghanistan live at a high altitude where no crops grow. Survival depends on the animals that they milk, butcher, and barter.

  Here, Ayeem Khan wears boots borrowed from her father and the red veil of an unmarried Kyrgyz girl, to be traded for a white one when she weds. Twice a day she milks the family’s yaks; some milk curd will be dried for use in winter, when yaks give less.

  See more pictures from the September 2014 feature story “The Evolution of Diet.”
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  Light in the Afternoon

  Photograph by John Bragg

  "The town of St. Magdalena, Italy, sits at the base of the Dolomite mountain range, with an amazingly beautiful view during the afternoon hours," writes photographer John Bragg.

  This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.
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  Tottori Sand Dunes

  Photograph by Hideyuki Katagiri

  The Tottori sand dunes—the largest in Japan—rise toward the horizon in the country’s south. The coastal dunes were formed by sand and wind over 100,000 years. In the distance, lighted squid-fishing boats bob on the Sea of Japan.

  This photo was submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Photo Contest.
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  Winter Layers

  Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic

  Having gorged on salmon to lay on fat for hibernation, a grizzly wears a coat of ice in Canada's Yukon.

  See more pictures from the February 2014 feature story “Yukon: Canada’s Wild West.”
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  Burmese Rays

  Photograph by Marcelo Castro

  "In Old Bagan, Burma [Myanmar], a young monk finds a perfect light source to read his book inside a pagoda," says Marcelo Castro of this picture he submitted to the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

  This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.
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  Making Hay

  Photograph by Andrius Jonusas, National Geographic Your Shot

  “My camera is always with me when I jump in a cockpit,” writes Your Shot member Andrius Jonusas, who’s taken to merging his two hobbies—flying and photography. He captured this shot on a flight from Pociūnai, Lithuania, to Leszno, Poland. “My colleague and I were flying to see a day of the World Gliding Championships,” he writes. “This was taken about 50 kilometers [31 miles] east of Olsztyn in the Masurian region of northern Poland.”

  This photo was submitted to Your Shot. Check out the new and improved website, where you can share photos, take part in assignments, lend your voice to stories, and connect with fellow photographers from around the globe.