“There was an incident just a few minutes before [this] photo was taken,” writes Your Shot member Kostyantyn Steblovskyy. “Two swans were fighting, as one had attempted to enter the area of the other one.” The defeated swan is seen here, swimming toward a fairy-tale ending on Lake Bled in Slovenia. “The weather was just right to take a picture like this,” Steblovskyy writes.
Photograph by Kostyantyn Steblovskyy

Photo of the Day: Best of October

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

ByJanna Dotschkal
November 10, 2015
7 min read

As the new editor of Photo of the Day, I’ve been getting to know what inspires you—every day. For October, animals and landscapes dominated your favorites, which I’m sure is no surprise to anyone who loves photography and National Geographic. I hope you enjoy my favorites from the month including a peacock outside of his native habitat, a juvenile fox learning to hunt, a stunning eclipse in Norway, and more!

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a fire performer practicing before her performance at the Lantern Fest in Omaha, Nebraska
High Hoops

Photograph by Calla Kessler, National Geographic Photo Contest

At the edge of a field full of expectant festivalgoers, a fire performer practices her hoop routine before her performance at the Lantern Fest in Omaha, Nebraska. Calla Kessler, who submitted this photo to the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest, met the performer and her group “by chance” and was intrigued. “After getting to know them a bit,” she writes, “I asked if I could photograph their practice and stayed with them until dark.”

people enjoying sunshine on Waikiki beach in Hawaii
Shore Having Fun

Photograph by Christine Kaharmen, National Geographic Photo Contest

On Waikiki Beach, the sand appears almost pink in the morning sun, and plenty of early beachgoers dot the turquoise water. The color and energy of the scene wasn’t lost on Christine Kaharmen, who submitted this photo to the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest. “I woke up and went out to my hotel balcony that morning, and Waikiki was already packed with people!” she writes. “[I] love the scene of the beach life!”

a fox jumping in snowy landscape
Dropping In

Photograph by Denis Dumoulin, National Geographic Your Shot

After following a den of foxes in Quebec for an entire summer, Your Shot member Denis Dumoulin knew that the first snowfall would present a unique opportunity to see the animals in a new way. He was right: After a night spent on the ground concealed from their view, he captured this well-earned shot of a young fox learning to hunt. “I [saw] magnificent scenes of training in the mulotage,” Dumoulin says. “All this lasted only a few minutes … [just enough] time to immortalize him.”

the colorful canyons of the Tian Shan mountain range in China
Dreamscape

Photograph by Tugo Cheng, National Geographic Photo Contest

In the northern slopes of the Tian Shan Mountains in China, a river carves its way through a canyon. The Earth’s rocky layers are eroded by wind and water and exposed, transforming the landscape into these colorful terraces.

a peacock sitting on a wall in Austria
Fowl Play

Photograph by Olena Prykhodko, National Geographic Your Shot

A colorful peafowl seems to take in the view on the other side of the wall at Ambras Castle in Innsbruck, Austria. Your Shot member Olena Prykhodko was so astonished to see the bird that she made this photo to remember the moment. “I would never [have] expected to find a peafowl in the middle of the Alps,” she writes, “because they live in warm [climates], and Austria is really cold!”

a solar eclipse in Spitsbergen, Norway
Night in Day

Photograph by Isabelle Bacher, National Geographic Photo Contest

Like a giant, celestial version of a child’s night-light, a solar eclipse gleams over the mountains of Spitsbergen, Norway. But those who witnessed the event were—hopefully—happy not to have slept through it, including Isabelle Bacher, who submitted the photo to the 2015 National Geographic Photo Contest and described the scene as “just magical.”

Janna Dotschkal is the editor of Photo of the Day, a curated look at photography from around National Geographic. Korena Di Roma writes the captions and titles.
See which pictures were featured in our last roundup, Photo of the Day: Best of September.

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