National Geographic holds an annual "Travel Photographer of the Year" contest, and the 2016 submissions should make for some lively discussions among contest judges. Here are some of our favorites.

1. A Glance Between Trains

Photographer and caption: Douglas Gimesy

"When you get it just right -- the speed of the train, the type of carriage connection (i.e. a clear gap) and the right shutter speed -- you get an image which makes it appear as though the passing train dissolved for the briefest of moments, but long enough to catch an intimate glance of someone on the adjacent platform. This was taken in the Madrid metro. Single exposure."

2. The Spaceship

Photographer and caption: Massimo Rumi
  
"Last December I sailed to Antarctica on a 54 feet long-haul steel vessel. As we entered the Polar Zone this was one of the first icebergs we saw. Sculpted by the wind and waves, majestic in scale and with a dazzling white color with layers of deep blue. The sun makes a quick appearance through a hole in the clouds, just in time for this shot."

3. Children with Painted Faces

Kara children with face painting in a tree along the Ono River Valley, Ethiopia. Photographer: Massimo Rumi

4. Blizzard in the Swiss Mountains

Landwasser viaduct, Grissons, Switzerland. Photographer: Julia Wimmerlin

5. Beast

A supercell hovers over the town of Blackhawk, South Dakota on June 1st 2015. Photographer: James Smart
  

6. Cool Trains

Near Houston, Texas. Photographer: Jassen T.

7. Beneath the Eiffel Tower

Photographer: Alejandro Merizalde

8. Blue Heaven

Japan in springtime. Photographer: Hidenobu Suzuki

9. Morning Prayer

Hindu people at prayer on the Hindu ghats on the banks of the Holy River Ganges (Ganga) in Varanasi (Benares) in the Uttar Pradesh region of northern India. Photographer: Massimo Rumi

10. Urban Jungle

An aerial view of Hong Kong. Photographer: Andy Yeung

11. Bird on Geirangerfjord, Norway

Photographer: Federico Brisson