Licancabur Volcano is shaded by a lucky cloud–at least for photographer Hugo Machado–on the  Chile-Bolivia border.

Chosen by judges as the best “place” picture, this photo appealed to judge Darren Smith because “the cloud performs a delicate balancing act atop the mountain, making the two massive forces of geology and meteorology appear light.

“Clouds are often just garland in mountain photos, but here the cloud is an equal subject, casting shadows which help define the peak.”

Each of the 28 countries that participated in the 2009 contest held a national contest. The local winners were sent to National Geographic Society headquarters for worldwide judging.

Overall winners from among the 208,000 entries were named in three categories–People, Places, and Nature–and two divisions: readers of the English-language edition of National Geographic magazine and readers of twenty local-language editions of the magazine.

Source: National Geographic Magazine