I have always been impressed by the quality of photography and stories in the National Geographic.
Here is a link to their current Photographer of the Year Competition and entries.
And here is a video about the relationship between the National Geographic photo editors and their Photographers, it is interesting to watch.
If your interested you to see and read more about the photography of the National Geographic more you can visit their main Photo Page
Looking to improve your images, learn to post-process using ON1 Photo RAW It’s amazing how much a little post-processing can improve a digital photo.
Before, After and Other Stuff 