Hong Kong’s breathtaking skyline takes on a dizzying effect in the darkness. “It is a forest made by the buildings,” writes Your Shot member Simon Kwan, who made the one-and-a-half-hour journey to the top of Beacon Hill to capture the cityscape.
Photograph by Simon Kwan, National Geographic Your Shot

Photo of the Day: Best of July

Every day, we feature an image chosen from thousands around National Geographic. Here are some highlights from July.

ByAlexa Keefe
August 12, 2014
6 min read

With some photographs, each time you see them, it feels like the first time. As I click through July’s Photo of the Day, I pull the images that make me catch my breath all over again. Seeing them side by side, I notice the similar palette, tone, and compositions, pleased with how this quick pull has created a collection that holds together as a visual whole. And thus a family of chimpanzees from Gombe shares time with a surfer riding a riptide and Bangladeshi children celebrating Victory Day. Welcome to Photo of the Day, Best of July.

a family of chimpanzees in Gombe, sitting together on the floor of the forest grooming each other
Family Time at Gombe

Family Time at GombePhotograph by Anup Shah and Fiona Rogers, National Geographic

Jane Goodall, who turned 80 this year, reflects on her relationships with the chimpanzees who changed her life in the August issue of National Geographic. Here, Sparrow (second from the right, looking up) enjoys a grooming session with two generations of her offspring. At age 56, Sparrow is the oldest chimp in Gombe.

a wooden boat from above, with the reflection of a Venetian building reflected in the water below
A Watery Underworld

Photograph by Halszka Tutaj-Gasinska

A wooden boat floats down a canal in Venice. The Italian city is one of the most visited destinations in the world—its old section receives up to 80,000 tourists a day. This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

a single tree in a desert landscape with many of Dubai's tall skyscrapers in the background
Branching Out

Photograph by Franck Boutonnet

A lone tree on the edge of the city seems to stand as a testament to Dubai’s changing landscape. The burgeoning cosmopolitan metropolis is home to some 2.1 million people. This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

a green scene in Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, at night
Shades of Green

Photograph by Luke Aveil, National Geographic Your Shot

Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, takes on an ethereal quality in the light of a streetlamp, emanating deep hues of jade and emerald. “It reminds me of somewhere magical out of a fairy-tale story, a small piece of tranquility in the middle of a bustling city,” writes Luke Aveil, a contributor to Your Shot. Named after Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, the gardens receive over two million visitors each year.

a surfer riding a wave as seen from above, the water below him is aqua and you can see the green sand below
Surf and Turf

Photograph by Joe Hsu

A surfer rides a wave as it crashes onto the shore at Palm Beach in New South Wales, Australia, giving the ocean an otherworldly appearance. Palm Beach, a northern suburb of Sydney, is home to two Surf Life Saving clubs—one dating back to 1921. This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

people waving flags to celebrate Victory Day in Bangladesh as a plane flies overhead, the people are seen from below, framed by a window and staircase in a building
Celebration

Photograph by Khalid Rayhan Shawon

Local children wave flags to celebrate Victory Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh, as a plane passes overhead. Victory Day, which occurs each year on December 16, honors the victory of the Allied High Command over Pakistani forces in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. This photo and caption were submitted to the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.

Alexa Keefe is the editor of Photo of the Day, a curated look at photography from around National Geographic. The full archive is accessible here.

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