National Geographic: Photos of the year 2012

For their 24th annual photo contest, National Geographic Traveler magazine received more than 12,000 entries from 6,615 talented photographers in 152 countries around the globe. Here are the winning photos:

Above, Grand Prize Winner: 'The Explosion'. It was this gorgeous image, captured by photographer Ashley Vincent, that took home the grand prize. Here, an explosion of water droplets surrounds an Indochinese tigress named Busaba as she dries off following a dip in the pool at Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo.


The other winners: