10 stunning portraits from the 2015 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

The 2015 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest is nearing its conclusion. Judging by the entries National Geographic is showing off, the competition looks tough.

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In last year's contest, there were more than 18,000 entries to the contest. Photos are divided into four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, and Spontaneous Moments.

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The Yetis of Nepal — The Aghoris as they are called are marked by colorful body paint and clothes. Abrar Mohsin/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Entries for this year's contest are being accepted until June 30th. If you think you've got what it takes, enter here.

The grand prizewinner gets an eight-day trip — the National Geographic Photo Expedition: Costa Rica and the Panama Canal — with airfare for two.

To celebrate the end of the contest, National Geographic has shared some of its favorite entries from the "Travel Portraits" category with us here.

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A Mongolian toddler helps her mother with the laundry by hanging clothes on their ger, a traditional Mongolian tent.

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Toddler helping her mother with laundry by hanging clothes on their ger in Mongolia. Daria Berkowska/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

This man is an Aghori, a secretive Hindu sect of holy men known for eating corpses. They believe doing so will make them ageless and give them supernatural powers. The Aghoris are marked by colorful body paint and clothes.

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The Yetis of Nepal - The Aghoris as they are called are marked by colorful body paint and clothes Abrar Mohsin/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
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A young monk at the Shwe Yan Pyay monastery in Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar. The monastery was built in the 1800s and is richly decorated with mosaics and golden ornaments.

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At the Shwe Yan Pyay monastery in Nyaung Shwe near Inle Lake in Myanmar, I had a chance to photograph this young monk in a temple. James Kao/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

This photo was taken at a Karo village in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia. The Karo are famous for their skill in body painting. Photographer S. Ram found this "make-up artist" applying paint to a young woman with a Pointillism-like technique.

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Taken at a Karo Village in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia. The Karo are famous for their body-paint culture and skill. Away from the crowded village square, I found this "make up artist" focused on applying make-up on a young woman. Using a q-tip as a brush he used a Georges Seurat like Pointillism technique ! The calm focused look of the artist is contrasted by the nervous, perspiring client - perhaps unsure about the results (or my camera :-) S. Ram/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
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This man is a Konyak, a tribe located in northeast India and Myanmar. They are recognized by their tattoos, which they have all over their bodies. Facial tattoos are earned for taking an enemy's head. Until recently, they were regarded as war-loving and often attacked nearby villages to take the heads of opposing warriors. The number of heads hung in a Konyak's house indicated the power of the warrior.

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The Konyak are a Naga people, and are recognized among other Naga by their tattoos, which they have all over their face and hands; facial tattoos were earned for taking an enemy's head. In the recent past, they were known as war loving and often attacked nearby villages of other tribes taking the heads of opposing warriors as trophies to hang in the house. The number of heads indicated the power of a warrior and the tribe and becomes a collective totem Mattia Passarini/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

 

 

This woman is meditating on Kit Mikayi, a rock formation more than 130 feet tall in Kenya.

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Kit Mikayi is a rock formation about 40m high situated west of kisumu, western Kenya. She climbs up the rocks rocks daily to meditate. Allan Gichigi/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
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Every year, the small town of Kaveripattinam in India celebrates the Angalamman Festival. Tens of thousands of devotees converge on the town to worship the "Guardian God," Angalamman. Some worshippers paint their faces to personify the goddess Kali, while others pierce iron rods through their cheeks.

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Angalamman Festival is celebrated every year in a small town called Kaveripattinam in Tamil Nadu. Devotees, numbering in tens of thousands, converge in this town the day after Maha Shivratri to worship the deity Angalamman, meaning 'The Guardian God'. During the festival some of the worshippers paint their faces that personifies Goddess Kali. Other indulge in the ritual of piercing iron rods throughout their cheeks. Aashit Desai/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

Attukaal Ponkala festival is celebrated every year in India. About 4 million women make the pilgrimage to the shrine to pray and make sweet dishes together. The entire city is filled with smoke during the festival.

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Attukaal Ponkala (a Festival in Kerala) celebrated every year about 4 million women comes here to offer prayers and make a sweet dish together. If you are not used to smoke then it will be unbearable to stand here.. the whole Thiruvananthapuram city will be full of smoke. Lal Nallath/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
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A Hamar woman and her son pose near a river in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia.

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A hamer woman and her son in the omo valley of Ethiopia. After walking from our tent along the river bed we met up with this nearby village and the beautiful people that lived there. We felt so Carey Nash/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest

During the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, many people dress up as the Moko jumbie, a stilts walker or dancer.

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The Moko jumbie is a traditional character that is part of one of the biggest and most beautiful street parades in the world in the tiny islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Quinten Questel/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
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