Beautiful prayer flags fly over a Buddhist restaurant in Cologne, Germany. Photo by Betty Lou Williams.

The winner is…

Dr. Jon Portis, 62, an opthamologist from Honolulu, is the November travel photo contest winner. His photo of a polar bear was taken in August 2017 in a government-protected area of Lancaster Sound in the Canadian Arctic. The traveler and avid photographer came upon this photo opportunity while on a National Geographic-Lindblad Expediton. His photo was taken with a Canon 1D series camera, a 500mm lens and 1.4 x convertor. A practicing photographer since the 1970s, he took a class with famed wildlife photographer George Lepp while in college. “(Back then), I wanted to be a National Geographic photographer and a wildlife biologist,” Portis said. Instead he chose a profession where he would be able to make a living, but he still uses his photography to promote wildlife conservation causes and shed light on the effects of climate change.

From left, Brooklyn, 6; Hudson, 18 months; and Boston Wyman-Yarnell, 8, were amazed by Mount Rushmore on a family roadtrip in July. Photo by Brandi Yarnell.