national geographic best of 2011

Below are National Geographic's picks for best photo of the day in 2011. Whether it's the wide open space around the swimming platform in the 6th photo or the eery way the fog was captured rolling in around the skyscrapers of Dubai in the 4th photo, there's something special about each photograph that sets them apart from others out there. Each photo is moving and unique in its own way and I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. Check out other Nat Geo "best of" photos here!

Tinted orange by the morning sun, a soaring dune is the backdrop for the hulks of camel thorn trees in Namib-Naukluft Park. Photograph by Frans Lanting.

Oceanic whitetip shark and diver in the Bahamas. Photograph by Brian Skerry.

n the trail to Goodnow Mountain, a yellow birch appears to be ingesting a boulder left behind by a glacier. Photograph by Michael Melford.

Every year around the month of October, Dubai experiences heavy fog due to the still-high humidity and the falling temperatures. With all the new high-rise buildings (including the tallest in the world, Burj Khalifa) this provides a great photographic opportunity. Photograph by Catalin Marin.

Swimmers jumping off a platform in Lake Superior, Minnesota. Photograph by Nick Otto.

Smaller fish keep their distance when a blacktip reef shark swims amongst them in shallow water in the Maldives. Photograph by Paul Wilkinson. 

This photo was taken during autumn in Hameln, Germany, which is the birthplace of the infamous Rattenfänger—or Pied Piper as we Americans know it. Photograph by Jonathan Manshack. 

The Elephant Festival is one of the most popular festivals in Jaipur and takes place at the famous Chaugan Stadium in March.  Photograph by Marjorie Lang.