Amazing photos of cities in the running for prestigious travel photography competition

National Geographic, the official magazine of the National Geographic Society, has been inspiring travel lovers since it was first published in 1888.

It’s full of incredible, dramatic images of our world, so when the magazine holds its annual travel photography contest, you can bet the entries are going to be amazing.

Entries for the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest closed on May 31, with thousands of extraordinary images submitted acrossthree categories: Nature, People and Cities. 

Judges look for “photos that tell the story of a place and travel moments that inspire others to explore our world”. Winners will be announced at the end of June, and one of the category winners will be named the overall grand-prize winner. They will receive USD$10,000 (AUD$13,000), a feature on the National Geographic Instagram and the prestigious title of 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. The other two category winners will each be awarded $2,500 (AUD$3,300).

From June 11-15, you can vote for your favourite photos from each category, and help select the Peoples’ Choice winners.

In the meantime, here are 10 shots from the Cities category, from a shortlist compiled by the editors of National Geographic.

Golden Morning

“It was our first visit to Mandalay and we were very lucky, we got to this mountain in the early morning and had no idea what would happen – the sunrise turned the sky from blue to red, and then an amazing golden sunlight appeared.”

Photographer: Weng Sang Wong. Location: Mandalay, Myanmar

Village of Rainbow

“Choi Hung estate, literally meaning ‘the Village of Rainbow’ in Cantonese, is a neighbourhood with a very vivid paint job in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Look how the drying laundry resembled Emojis!”

Photographer: Haitong Yu. Location: Kwun Tonh, Kwon Tong, Hong Kong

Magic Windmills

“I have been dreaming of these conditions for years and I finally got them! Windmills rising from the fog was a shot I have been wanting to take since forever. I love this place as it is one of the most iconic places from the Netherlands. Being able to capture it with these conditions was magical.”

Photographer: Albert Dros. Location: Kadoelen, North Holland, Netherlands

Precision

“Patience and photography is the same thing.”

Photographer: Jonas Nordberg. Location: Dorotheenstadt, Berlin, Germany

Read more: 11 hacks to help you take amazing travel photos

Memorial

“The Gokoku shrine is a shrine where the war dead from Toyama prefecture and the victims of the Toyama Great Air Raid were celebrated. The fireworks festival is held on August 1 every year since 1947 with the desire of the victims of the Toyama Air raid in August 1945 and the wish of the postwar reconstruction.”

Photographer: Takanobu Kurosaki. Location: Shin-Sogaway, Toyama, Japan

It’s Just Another Day

“During the night, dense fog rises off the Yamuna river and hides the Taj Mahal. At sunrise the marble of the Taj Mahal begins to reflect the growing light, which, filtered by the drifting and dissipating fog reveals the Taj Mahal glowing with increasing beauty. For the people who live nearby it is just another day at the office. For those of us visiting it is a spectacular experience.”

Photographer: Mike Watson. Location: Tajganj, Uttar Pradesh, India

Mt. Illimani Peak

“Mt. Illimani Peak looking over the city of La Paz in Bolivia. The city sits at almost 12,000 feet above sea level. I hiked up to Killi Killi Mirador one afternoon to catch a glimpse on a clear day. The lens compression perfectly captured how small I felt surrounded by these peaks.”

Photographer: Max Attwood. Location: La Paz, Bolivia

The Golden Gate Dream 

“An aerial view of the golden gate bridge in the late afternoon with the Marin Headlands in the background.”

Photographer: Tosin Arasi. Location: Fort Winfield Scott, California, United States

Read more: The French landmark you’re not allowed to photograph

Cooling Off

“A bunch of Village boys cooling it off in an ancient Toorji stepwell built by a queen in Jodhpur when she had public works under her control. The architecture of this stepwell is so unique and the water is so clean that many come to cool their bodies and head back into their busy lives.”

Photographer: Shyam Prasad S. Location: Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

Motorcycle Waterfall

“Motorcycles are very popular in Taiwan because of their low cost and the high density of people. During working hours every day Taipei Bridge has a large number of motorcycles. It looks like a spectacular waterfall.”

Photographer: M. Chak. Location: Taipei, Taiwan

*Captions were written by the photographers and lightly edited for style.