Best of the best
National Geographic has published innumerable photos taken by its on-assignment photographers the world over. Now, the society is putting 50 of its best shots on display in a traveling exhibit. Here are nine of the 50 that are on display, including photos of wildlife, aviation and shipwrecks.
[Read the Full Story on the Nat Geo Photo Exhibit]
Seven pears
This photo, taken by Sam Abell in Moscow in 1983, shows the afternoon light falling on a windowsill filled with pears.
Windswept lion
In this 1996 photo, a lion patrols the dry Nossob riverbed in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, a wildlife refuge in South Africa.
City of lights
Every year, Muslim pilgrims visit Islam's holiest site, the Haram Mosque, in the city of Mecca. This photo captures the mosque surrounded by blue and yellow lights in 1965.
[Read the Full Story on the Nat Geo Photo Exhibit]
Titanic endeavor
The Titanic rests beneath 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) of water, but photographer Emory Kristof illuminated it with 10,000 watts of light that were carried on two submersibles in this stunning photo.
Rainy Big Apple
New York City's Broadway is thoroughly soaked with rain as steam billows upward in this photo, taken near Times Square in 1988.
Long exposure
Bruce Dale, who worked for National Geographic for 25 years, mounted a remote- controlled camera on the tail of this jumbo jet, then took a 25-second-long exposure to capture this 1977 photo.
[Read the Full Story on the Nat Geo Photo Exhibit]
Sandy nap
Photographer Joanna B. Pinneo took this picture of sand clinging to an 8-month-old baby sleeping next to its mother in sub-Saharan Mali in 1997.
Balancing act
An Afghan woman wearing a traditional chadri balances a cage with goldfinches on her head in Kabul.
Afghan girl
The iconic photo of the Afghan girl, taken in 1984 by photographer Steve McCurry.
[Read the Full Story on the Nat Geo Photo Exhibit]
Reaching out
A chimpanzee reaches out to touch primatologist Jane Goodall in this 1991 photo. The chimp was behind bars in a cage at a zoo in the Republic of Congo.
