If there’s one magazine that continuously showcases the most beautiful pictures from around the world, it’s Nat Geo (previously here, here, and here). Its prestigious photo contests attract some of the best photographers, and viewing their stunning shots you can’t help but feel your connection with Mother Earth strengthening. 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest is no different.

The submissions of the competition were closed on the 30th of June but its winners won’t be announced until August. To make the waiting easier, Nat Geo editors have released their favorite entries, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share them. Here are some of the best Nature entries to the contest that are currently battling for the category’s top spots and the grand prize – a ten-day trip for two to the Galapagos Archipelago with National Geographic Expeditions.

More info: nationalgeographic.com

#1 Green Gours Reflection
Reflection of the Green Gours at the Watch Out for Dinosaurs first doline in Hang Sơn Đoòng, the largest known cave passage in the world. You need to do trekking for 2 days before you arrive to this magnificent place. Hang Sơn Đoòng cave is located in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh province, Việt Nam. (Photo And Caption By Ronald Fritz / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#2 Underwater View Of The Winter Lofoten
View of the village Å. Panorama from two shots. Lofoten, Norway. (Photo And Caption By Sergey Lukankin / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#3 Forest Of The Fairy
Shooting in the forest. (Photo And Caption By Y. TAKAFUJI / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#4 Buff Tailed Coronet
I had been to Ecuador the paradise for hummingbirds in the month of January. Hummingbirds flap wings around at a rate of 50 time per second. They feed on nectar from the flowers. Ecuador is filled with rain forests and cloud forests, which make it very conducive for the hummingbirds to make a habitat. When we landed in Guango lodge which is in a high-altitude town called Papallacta. I was surrounded by lot of humming birds the moment I got out of the vehicle. I was awestruck when I saw so many. (Photo And Caption By Hymakar Valluri / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#5 The March
On safari in Zambia, the grass was so tall that it seemed there was no chance to see anything interesting. Then this pride of lions came walking toward us, taking advantage of the road to travel on. They too, seemed they were tired of the tall grass swatting at their faces! (Photo And Caption By Torie Hilley / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#6 Provence, The Summer Haircut
I went to Valensole hoping to get a new angle than the classic view. I knew this was harvest season so I looked for tractors and waited patiently until some started to harvest in a pattern that would create a pleasing composition from above. I just had to start the drone engine and capture the photo against really strong wind. (Photo And Caption By Jerome Courtial / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#7 Wings Toward The Sun
The only sound throughout the swamp on this late spring morning were three geese honking at one another. They gathered at the head of the lake, where a fog bank rolled in just as the sun peaked over the trees to wrap the area in an ethereal glow. As I watched, the goose in the center of the trio pivoted toward the sun and, as if in greeting, arched out of the water and flapped its wings. Shot Info: Canon EOS 5DS // EF 24-105mm f/4L @ 105mm // 1/125; f/16; ISO 200 Taken: 23 April, 2017 (Photo And Caption By Scott Summers / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#8 Infinite Road To Transylvania #6
This is Cheia (DN1A) road that takes you to Transylvania. Yes, THAT Transylvania, the birthplace of the legendary Count Dracula (Vlad Tepes). The legend says that this shot imagines what he might have seen on his nocturnal flights! Nevertheless, it’s a breathtaking view with a magnificent road. (Photo And Caption By Calin Stan / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#9 Major Lightning Storm Canada
Major Shelf Cloud Saskatchewan. (Photo And Caption By Mark Duffy / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#10 Wandering Curiosities
These 8 stags were wandering on the huge snowy field in Hokkaido Japan. When my drone was aproching them, they stopped wandering and then looked up to the unfamiliar flying object with their curiosities. I like 8 stags’ arrangement, silhouettes and shadows. (Photo And Caption By Hidetoshi Kikuchi / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#11 Mother And Cub
I saw a polar bear mother and her newborn cubs in Wapusk National Park, Canada in March 2016. The -35F degree windy weather became even more challenging after sleet coated my camera, lens, and other gear in a solid layer of ice. Luckily, after several days of waiting, the mother cub finally emerged from her den with two three-month old cubs. I made this photo while the mother patiently waited as one cub carefully teetered towards her on icy ground covered in a layer of freshly fallen snow. (Photo And Caption By Baoting (Bob) Chen / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#12 Surveying From A Mountain Stage
It was freezing when we reached the ridge. I pulled on more layers as mountain goats descended toward us. We had been warned about these goats. A hiker had been killed on this trail 5 years previously. We started off again as quickly as we could, and they came closer, surprisingly fast, their eyes never leaving us. As I scrambled down the scree on the other side, I turned for one last look, and saw this large adult watching us from an outcrop of rock, surveying the Olympic Wilderness. (Photo And Caption By Jenny Oliver / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#13 Fire In The White Forest
In Premantura Park (Croatia) a combination of white dust from the ground that settled on the trees and a sunset seen between them leads to a unique view. (Photo And Caption By Aurel Manea / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#14 A Drive To Remember
Aerial view of the Scenic drive and the beautiful Fall colors of New Hampshire. I used a drone to capture the fall colors that cannot be seen from the road. (Photo And Caption By Manish Mamtani / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#15 Powerful Cloud
Mt Fuji is a treasure trove of mysterious shaped clouds. Various forms of clouds appear when a fast air current blows over the Mt Fuji. I stayed in the car during the night at the Inokashira forest road about 0.8 miles above sea level about 25 miles west of Mt Fuji. The small clouds that appeared before dawn grew bigger and bigger. Just before sunrise they had become a huge cloud covering Mt. Fuji. The shadows of them in the backlight were the most powerful masterpieces. (Photo And Caption By Takashi / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#15 Symmetryrtemmys
Cherry blossoms reflected in perfect condition. (Photo And Caption By Hiroshi Tanita / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#16 Salt Addiction
Driving on the road across the Gaspésie National Parc in the winter of 2016/17 I came across a couple of Moose. A calf and his mother were licking the salt off the road, freshly dropped from a salt truck to prevent icing on the road. As I got closer, the calf got spooked and disappeared into the forest but the mother had better things to do than to keep an eye on her offspring: keep licking that delicious salt! Hence I call this picture “salt addiction”. (Photo And Caption By Juan-Miguel Hernandez / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#17 Emperors In The Storm
A colony of emperor penguins brave 25 knot winds and snow at Gould Bay, Weddell Sea, Antarctica. (Photo And Caption By Jose Rosas / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

#18 Thousand Seabirds
The Australasian gannet is a large seabird of the gannet family Sulidae. Their breeding habitat is on islands and the coast of New Zealand, Victoria and Tasmania. These birds are plunge divers and spectacular fishers, plunging into the ocean at high speed. They mainly eat squid and forage fish which school near the surface. Muriwai is one of the mainland colonies for Australasian gannets. There are often more than one thousand gannets at Muriwai Beach, New Zealand. (Photo And Caption By Emilio Pang / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)