Travel

Winners of the 2016 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest (PHOTOS)

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Grand Prize: "Winter Horseman"
"The winter in Inner Mongolia is very unforgiving. At a freezing temperature of minus 20 and lower with constant breeze of snow from all direction, it was pretty hard to convince myself to get out of the car and take photos. Not until I saw Inner Mongolia horsemen showing off their skills in commanding the steed from a distance, I quickly grabbed my telephoto lens and captured the moment when one of the horseman charged out from morning mist." (Photo and caption by Anthony Lau / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

1/50
Grand Prize: "Winter Horseman"
"The winter in Inner Mongolia is very unforgiving. At a freezing temperature of minus 20 and lower with constant breeze of snow from all direction, it was pretty hard to convince myself to get out of the car and take photos. Not until I saw Inner Mongolia horsemen showing off their skills in commanding the steed from a distance, I quickly grabbed my telephoto lens and captured the moment when one of the horseman charged out from morning mist." (Photo and caption by Anthony Lau / National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

A photograph of a horseman in Inner Mongolia bested thousands of entries from the world and earned Anthony Lau of Hong Kong the prestigious title of 2016 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year.

Lau took the photo, titled “Winter Horseman,” in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China after an early morning hike. He and his travel companions were driving back to their hotel for breakfast when they came across a team of riders showing off their skills.

"The snow was getting heavier, the wind was getting stronger, the morning snow was getting thinner and the light was moving away from its optimal position,” Lau said. "I knew I only had a couple of shots to get the best out of this encounter. With a bit of luck, one of my final attempts managed to capture the moment when one of the riders charged out from the morning mist along with his horses."

Lau also wins a seven-day Polar Bear Photo Safari for two at Churchill Wild–Seal River Heritage Lodge, a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World.

National Geographic Travel photography captures the awe-inspiring diversity of the world’s people, places and cultures. This contest recognizes the most compelling travel photography taken in the past two years, with entries in three categories: Nature, People and Cities.

(MORE: Winners of the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest)

First-, second- and third-place prizes were awarded in each category. Lau’s photo placed first in the People category, while Takashi Nakagawa of Tokyo took top honors in the Cities category for his photo taken at the Ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakech, Morocco and a photo of red foxes in snowy Biei, Hokkaido, Japan shot by Hiroki Inoue of Hokkaido, led the field in Nature. Inoue's photography was previously featured in weather.com.

"We are thrilled to name Anthony Lau as our first-ever National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year," said George Stone, editor in chief of National Geographic Travel. "We were blown away by the entries we received from around the world, and it's clear our passion for visual storytelling is shared by our readers."

Anne Farrar, director of photography for National Geographic Travel, was joined on the judging panel by Corey Arnold, contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine, and Foster Huntington, a photographer and filmmaker.

View the slideshow above to see the winning photos from the 2016 National Geographic Photographer of the Year, as well as selected entries from the contest. Learn more about the contest here.