#mcgrory

"Make us travel through your story." -Sarah Polger, Senior Photo Producer, National Geographic Travel

Photograph by Wing Ka H.

Photograph by Reynold Dewantara

How do you become National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year? We asked senior photo producer and contest czar Sarah Polger. Listen in for some tips and visit the editor's gallery for inspiration!

You have until May 27, 2016 to submit your photo for a chance to be named National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year.

"My visual sensibility is rather surreal..I see the world in kind of a warped way. It is difficult to capture that photographically." –Darren Smith

Photograph by Darren Smith

Photograph by Jill Schneider

“The Weekly Wrap” is a look inside the minds of National Geographic photographers and editors. We'll be talking with them about their work, and they’ll share their tips on preparing for assignments.

This week we’re talking to photographer Jill Schneider about her beginnings on Your Shot, and the success she has had since. Also, Darren Smith, curator of the “Photos Get Physical" assignment will share his secret sauce to his assignment.

In the Magazine and Behind the Edit: Faceless Portraits

This month in the magazine the Your Shot community has four photos in print. Two from our Faceless Portrait story and two from Tree of Life. I wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate these four photos and share a few more of my favorite Faceless Portraits that were left on the cutting room floor.

- Marie McGrory, Assistant Photo Editor

Baker’s Dozen: Going Back Home 

In our Baker’s Dozen feature we highlight photographs we love that didn’t quite make the Daily Dozen.

This photo is truly a sight to see. A life lived on the water in Semporna, Malaysia. We see images of places like this often, actually, but there are two elements that make this one more special to me.  The images we see are often houses on a river, the house may be built over water but the edge of the land is near by and often in the frame. Though I am sure the land’s edge is not far out of this frame as well, removing it adds a wonderful mood to the image. The second rather obvious element: the child center frame. To see a person wading through the shallow water provides a real sense of the life style of the Sama Bajau people. This photo opens my eyes to a new, beautiful part of our world. 

-Marie McGrory, Assistant Photo Editor

Weekly Wrap with Jessie Wender

This week Marie and Jessie discuss two beautiful animal photographs that will be printed in National Geographic Magazine this spring. 

Baker's Dozen: Roza Vulf

In our Baker's Dozen feature we highlight photographs we love that didn't quite make the Daily Dozen.

Such a typical beach scene when described-- a family begins to pack up as the sun sets on the beach by their house. But the longer you look, the stranger things feel. The light on that yellow and green house is so special. The perspective (Roza: where are you standing?!) gives it a feel of a toy house or diorama. The dark water is beautiful but confusing. And that window in the top right, I know it's open but it is hard to tell if someone is standing in it. I love the trail of family members slowly making their way back in. The scene is simple and beautiful, bizarre and intriguing. As Erika Larsen would say, "I could live in this photograph for days."

–Marie McGrory, Assistant Photo Editor

Baker's Dozen: Rene K

In our Baker's Dozen feature we highlight photographs we love that didn't quite make the Daily Dozen.

There are a few ways that certain photos immediately pop when I am doing an edit; bright colors, strong composition, high contrast and this: a blank, beautiful, dreamy mystery. Glancing at the thumbnail, I knew I had to see it bigger to better unravel what was going on. Once I got to the photo on the page, I scrolled down to the top through the empty sky which built anticipation. This image pulled me into a dream. I am not sure if the air is harsh and sandy or a nice moist fog, but I am dreaming of it as the latter. Knowing that people are out enjoying it in their bright, but muted striped chairs gives me hope that it is an enjoyable fog.

I look at this photo and I hear a pleasant silence. Visually, the photo is lovely, but to have other senses stimulated, to look at an image and feel the fog, hear the silence...that is really something special.

-Marie McGrory, assistant photo editor

Almost 10,000 images were submitted to the Not Your Average Pet assignment. For this assignment, curator and Managing Editor of Your Shot, Monica Corcoran was looking for a sincere connection between human, and animal. She ultimately chose 14 photos for the final story. Listen below as Monica joins editors Jeanne and Marie to discuss two photos that were strongly considered, but didn't quite make it. 

Photograph by Lynne Carlile Raspet