An amazing collection of wildlife photographs came together in the 2009 contest sponsored by National Wildlife Federation. These are pictures that touch you with their beauty, inspiration and humor.

The photo at right shows a minke whale descending the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. The picture, by Steffen Binke, won the Grand Prize in the amateur division.
To see a slide show of all 32 winners, visit the Web site of National Wildlife magazine. I hope you can take a few moments to enjoy them.
Other entries were so good that the magazine put together a slide show of 60 honorable mentions that are worth seeing.
If you are a photographer interested in entering the 2010 contest, you will find information on the online magazine’s Web pages.