NGC Stunning Pictures

Picture perfect: National Geographic readers submit thousands of stunning pictures for the magazine's 125th anniversary

By Steve Nolan

Throughout its 125 year history, National Geographic magazine has published some of the most iconic and fascinating pictures ever taken in places both remote and densely populated from all corners of the globe.

As part of its milestone anniversary celebrations, the magazine has showcased the very best of its award-winning photojournalism, telling the story of how the pictures impact our lives by giving an insight and bearing witness to history.

The magazine marked the souvenir edition by inviting readers to submit their own photos and participate in a digital assignment for the publication.

The inaugural assignment on the newly designed Your Shot image-sharing website will be loosely organised around the theme of the October 2013 anniversary issue.

Here are a selection of some of the most stunning pictures out of the thousands submitted from around the world so far.

Night of the lightning: This stunning shot taken by Arizona photographer Rolf Maeder shows the Grand Canyon lit up by fork lightning during a storm

Cloud of tadpoles: Canadian photographer Eiko Jones took this opportunistic shot in a local swamp. He was snapping the lilies when thousands of tadpoles swam into the shot

Kabul balloons: Allen Rooke took this shot while on a winter mission with the World Food Programme in the Afghan capital. He said the sight of the boys carrying the balloons made his day

Best shelter ever: Anati Rao from Bangalore took this beautiful image of an elephant calf sheltering under its mother. One person commented on this picture that the calf is smiling because 'he knows he is loved and safe'

Camp inside Hong Son Doong: After a two-day trek, Ryan Deboodt was so glad to see this camp inside the world's largest cave that he took this stunning image

Perfect catch: New York photographer Wayne Panepinto took this brilliant photo of Lily the sea lion's lunch time at Seneca Park zoo

Meteorite: Noel Kerns from Texas took this long-exposure image of an abandoned farm house near Sanger in Texas

The ice caves: Andrew Inaba took this picture of one of the Big Four Ice Caves at Granite Falls in Washington. The caves are made from avalanche snow hollowed out by water and warm winds

Solitude: Stuart Edwards captured the Ki Monastery is situated high in India's Himalayan region in the remote Spiti Valley. A few hundred Buddhist monks live here permanently, studying and worshiping in probably one of the most serene places in the world

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