View the full list at the link in our bio. Out of more than 2.2 million photos taken on assignment, 49 were selected as National Geographic’s Pictures of the Year. Photograph by Arturo Rodríguez Canary Islands, Spain. Armando Salazar, an emergency specialist in the Spanish military, steps across sizzling rock and carries a chunk of glowing lava on a pitchfork as he collects samples during a 2021 eruption at La Palma’s Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge.