Grand Prize, and 1st Prize in Nature Category. The power of nature: "Powerful eruption of Colima Volcano in Mexico on December 13th, 2015. That night, the weather was dry and cold, friction of ash particles generated a big lightning of about 600 meters that connected ash and volcano, and illuminated most of the dark scene. On last part of 2015, this volcano showed a lot of eruptive activity with ash explosions that raised 2-3 km above the crater. Most of night explosions produced incandescent rock falls and lightning not bigger than 100 meters in average." (Sergio Tapiro Velasco / 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year)

photograph of an erupting volcano flashing a bolt of lightning awarded him the prestigious title of 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. He also won a 10-day trip for two to the with , in addition to a $2,500 prize.

Velasco took the photo, titled “The Power of Nature,” outside of Colima, Mexico. Before capturing the winning moment, he had been studying and tracking the volcano’s activity for almost a month. Nicknamed “Volcano of Fire,” Volcán de Colima is one of the most active volcanos in Latin America.

The photographer was around 7.5 miles away from the crater when he heard a booming noise. He had just witnessed the biggest volcanic lightning he had ever seen.

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“When I looked on the camera display, all I could do was stare,” Velasco said. “What I was watching was impossible to conceive, the image showed those amazing forces of nature interacting on a volcano, while the lightning brightened the whole scene. It’s an impossible photograph and my once in a lifetime shot that shows the power of nature.”

The photo contest was divided into three categories: Nature, Cities and People. There were over 15,000 entries submitted from photographers in more than 30 countries.

“The quality of the submissions in the 2017 Travel Photographer of the Year contest was wonderfully eclectic,” said Molly Roberts, a judge and senior photography editor at National Geographic. “I was inspired by the variety of locations and creativity of the photographers in their quest to make compelling images.”

View the slideshow above to see the winning photos from the 2017 National Geographic Photographer of the Year, as well as selected entries from the contest. .