BRAZILIAN WINS OUTDOORS SCENES PICS CONTEST BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

First Place Winner: Brazil Aquathlon

15,000 photographers from around the world entered the 25th edition of the award. The winning photo, "Dig Me River," is by Wagner Araujo and shows contestants at the Brazilian Championship Aquathlon running towards the Rio Negro, in Manaus, capital of the Amazon state.
Photo and caption by Wagner Araujo: "I was in Manaus, Amazonas, during the Brazilian Aquathlon (swimming and running) championship. I photographed it from the water and my lens got completely wet, but there was so much energy in these boys that I just didn't worry about that". —Wagner Araujo

National Geographic Traveler Director of Photography Dan Westergren, one of this year's judges, shares his thoughts on the first place winner:


“This photo really captures my attention because of the peak action it depicts. I love the horizontal tension caused by the main subject on his way out of the picture to the right. Classic photographic rules of composition say that you should not have subjects moving out of the frame, but this shot shows that sometimes the most exciting photo can be made by breaking the rules. I also love the body language of the main subject; he's trying to lean forward but still holding back to get his last breath before plunging into the water. Finally, the addition of the tall buildings along the waterfront makes this more than just a sports picture; it’s also a portrait of Manaus, Brazil.”

Wagner won a ten-day expedition in the Galapagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour vessel. The trip is made in the company of a team of naturalists and offers the chance to get close to unique species such as giant tortoises, sea lions and marine iguanas.

The winning images will be published in the December/2013 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
Location: Rio Negro, Ponta Negra Beach, Manaus, Amazon, Brazil
Category: Outdoor Scenes

SOURCE: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Are you into SAILING?

Amyr Klink (born September 25, 1955 in São Paulo, Brazil) is an explorer and sailor. One of his projects, "Antarctica 360", was circumnavigating the Antarctic continent on his own, in 79 days in 1998.

Klink has written seven books about his voyages, including Between Two Poles about his trip from Antarctica to the Arctic Pole, starting in 1989 and taking 642 days. Klink helped in the construction of the polar vessel used in this trip, named Paratii after the town of Paraty in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
His chronicles 100 Days Between Sea and Sky reports on how he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 100 days on his own by rowing a small boat with his arms in 1984 from Africa to the state of Bahia in Brazil. The food portions in this trip were compacted into packages of lyophilized food, especially designed for him by a food processing company in Brazil.

In 2002, Klink has completed an experimental phase of one of his project "A Trip to China" – a trip around the world through a maritime path that had never been explored before: the Arctic Circle. The project's first phase was successfully accomplished between January 30 and April 6, 2002: Klink and crew left the Antarctic Circle, visiting Margarida Bay in the Bellingshausen Sea (in the extreme south of the Antarctic Peninsula). From there, the ship stopped in South Georgia before returning to Brazil.
Amyr was born to a Lebanese father and a Swedish mother. He moved to Paraty when he was two. Klink is a member of the Royal Geographic Society. He married Marina Bandeira in 1996 and has three daughters.