Best of National Geographics Bests, 2012

Lucky Bay in Esperance, Western Australia, by Mandy Wils

Arches National Park by Benjamin Cooper

Banff, Alberta, Canada by Victor Liu

Barnowl by Mark Bridger

Between Ladakh and Zanskar, Himalayan range by Vincent Bonnin

Bundi, India by Gianluca De Bartolo

Firefly and moon, Fairfield, Iowa by Radim Schreiber

Dried up delta, N.E. Australia by Mandy Michels

Chapel on Klimsenhorn, Mt. Pilatus in Central Switzerland by Agne Subelyte

Shanghai, China traffic circle by Jonathan O’Shaughnessy

Pacific Northwest Black Wolf off Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound on W. coast of Vancouver Island, Canada by Sander Jain.

Fishermen use fire to draw fish close to the boat and then catch them. By Chang Ming Chih.

Glacier, Juno, Alaska by Rafael Urrutia

Iron and steel bars by Noh Keun Park

Lake Manyara, Tanzania by Sheila Jones

Morocco by SauKhiang Chau

Penquins adrift in snowstorm, Antarctica by Joshua Holko

Luzmila, 12 years old, carries to her house the barley that she harvested by herself in a rural village in the Andes Mountains called Sotopampa, in Peru. Once a year, they harvest the barley and then they consume it during the following year. In these communities of indigenous peoples, children work helping their families. It is very hard for the government to maintain a balance between child labor laws and the ancient traditions of these populations that include some difficult tasks for kids. By Alejandro Kirchuk

Jupiter and moon in Japan by Akira Takaue

Reindeer. By Meniconzi Alessandra

Mongolian girl by Andrew Newey

Northern lights in Norway by Michelle Schantz

Salton sea, Ca by Kim La

Palagan village, Iran near Iraq border by Amos Chapple

Pennsylvania, by Mandy Michels

Oregon coast by Ben Leshchinsky

Turkey, By Melahat Kizil

Hummingbird and bee by Cynthia Meyer

Jamnik, small village in Slovenia. By Janez Tolar

Wallaby, Queensland, Australia by Lisa Clarke

Sunset at Etretat, Normandie, France. By Alexey Kharitonov

Penquins on Falkland Islands by Mariusz Potocki

Filoboletus Manipularis is a fungus which naturally produces a faint eerie glow in the night by a natural process known as bioluminescence, shown in this 3-minute long exposure of these elusive little mushrooms. © Zong Ye Quek

Glacial Cave: Hikers under the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska. When conditions are right, streams melt holes into the glacier. At times they are large and stable enough for exploration. The ice filters out most colors of light except for the blue wavelengths leaving a stunning blue glowing from the ice above. © Mark Meyer

Rolling Coals: I went on a kayaking camping trip on a remote lake in NW Ontario, DeCourcey Lake. When it was time to put the fire out, my friend began kicking the coals down the rocky slope to the water below. I ran down to the waters edge to catch the motion of the burning coals. Little comets streaming to the lake to be extinguished with a hiss. © Christopher Merkley

Once or twice a year fog descends on the city in Dubai, UAE. By Alexey Kharitonov

Snowmass, Colorado by Ron Azevedo

Sunset Cloud Village , Red Land, China. . The reddish brown soil turns redder after rainfall and after farmers plow the land. Peng Jiang

By Yushan Sui

Xiapu, China. Fishermen farm fish, shrimp, and oysters and plant seaweed along this coast area. Peng Jiang