The Winning Photos of Nat Geo’s Travel Photographer of the Year 2017
National Geographic has announced the winners of its prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year photo contest for 2017. The grand prize winner is Mexican photographer Sergio Tapiro Velasco, who shot this incredible photo titled “The Power of Nature,” which shows lightning striking an erupting volcano.
“When I looked on the camera display, all I could do was stare,” Velasco tells Nat Geo. “What I was watching was impossible to conceive, the image showed those amazing forces of nature interacting on a volcano, while the lightning brightened the whole scene. It’s an impossible photograph and my once in a lifetime shot that shows the power of nature.”
Velasco’s striking photo — 1st place in the Nature category — was selected from over 15,000 entries submitted by photographers in 30 countries. His prize includes $2,500 and a 10-day trip for two to the Galápagos Archipelago with National Geographic Expeditions.
Here are the other top photos from the major categories this year:
Nature
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Nature_2nd_Kano-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Nature_3rd_Sinha-600x800.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Nature_HM1_Gessel-800x534.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Nature_HM2_Takafuji-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Nature_HM3_Dewantara-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Nature_HM4_Gross-800x525.jpg)
Cities
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot-TPOY-Cities-1st_Frtiz-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Cities_2nd_Yeung-800x550.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Cities_3rd_De-stroyev-599x800.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Cities_HM1_Hashimoto-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_Cities_HM2_Bochenski-800x533.jpg)
People
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_People_1st_Uyar-534x800.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_People_2nd_Y-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_People_3rd_Bursiel-800x534.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_People_HM1_George-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_People_HM2_Ahmed-800x533.jpg)
![](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2017/08/Yourshot_TPOY_People_HM3_Morgan-800x533.jpg)
You can also find the entire gallery of winning photos on the Nat Geo contest website.