National Geographic’s Most Amazing Photos Of 2011

National Geographic is holding their 2011 Photo Contest right now, and a bunch of the pictures are already online and surprise! They’re ridiculously amazing. As in, borderline ‘too good for a random internet post’ amazing.  

Below, here’s a brief sampling of the phenomenal photos submitted so far:

1. “New Orleans Streetcar”

New Orleans, Louisiana / Photo by Don Chamblee

2. “Is He Still There?!”

The Big Island, Hawaii / Photo by Lorenzo Menendez

3. “Landscape In The Rain”

Bergueda, Catalonia, Spain / Photo by Mihaly Attila

4. “Confronting”

Isla de Guadalupe, Mexico / Photo by David Litchfield

5. “Lone Tree Yellowstone”

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming / Photo by Anita Erdmann

6. “Falling Leaves”

Bruges, Belgium / Photo by Mandy Michels

7. “The Golden Gate”

San Francisco, California / Photo by Reuben Cornel

8. “The Cloud”

Aquila Safari Park, South Africa / Photo by Dmitry Gorilovskiy

9. “Love Of Parents”

Atka Bay, Antarctica / Photo by Claus Possberg

10. “Atacama Sunset”

Salar de Atacama, Chile / Photo by Magdalena Rakita

View the contest in its overwhelming entirety at National Geographic. Seriously, do it.

In conclusion – just a great job all around, humans and Earth.