Sun salutations! Lemurs' hilarious yoga-like pose as they welcome the morning sun wins National Geographic's children’s photography award

• Amelia Jane Balls, eight, from Norfolk, won top prize with her photograph Lemurs doing Yoga taken at the zoo
• People winner is Athina Whetstone, 11, for Every Drop in the Ocean Counts. She set up a tripod to take it
• Environment winner is Isabella Hagen-Zanker, 11, from Surrey, for Rubbish View, taken at a historical site

The National Geographic Kids magazine has announced the winners of its 2019 photography competition. 

Some of the jaw-dropping photos show adorable lemurs appearing to do yoga, an elegant woman diving and a poignant overflowing rubbish bin. 

Eight-year-old Amelia Jane Balls, from Norfolk, scooped the top prize with her photograph entitled Lemurs Doing Yoga. 

She entered her picture into the animals category. 

She captured the winning picture while visiting Banham Zoo in Norfolk. Just as the morning sun was rising the lemurs popped out to warm themselves in its rays. 

Amelia was fascinated by their poses and thought they looked like they were doing yoga.    

The competition was judged by award-winning National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale.

'Amelia has photographed a wonderful, decisive moment that is so joyful,' says Ami. 

'She has really captured the essence of these lemurs. Well done!'

Amelia's grand prize is a trip to Morocco, North Africa, courtesy of adventure travel specialist, G Adventures. 

She and her family will be treated to an exciting nine-day tour from the new National Geographic Family Journeys with G Adventures collection, which will see them taking in desert dunes, bustling markets and even visiting a film studio where scenes from Star Wars were filmed.

'I can't believe I've won this competition!' says Amelia. 'I'm so excited to go on holiday to Morocco. I can't wait to see fossils and do stargazing. Thank you, National Geographic KiDS!'

The competition's winner in the People category is Athina Whetstone, 11, from West Yorkshire for Every Drop in the Ocean Counts. 

Athina set up a tripod and used the timer function on her waterproof camera to snap this striking selfie on a beach in Cadiz, Spain. 

She ran in the water and did a handstand hundreds of times before getting the perfect photo.

'I wanted the shot to look like it was taken from inside the sea,' she says. 

The winner of the Environment category is Isabella Hagen-Zanker, 11, from Surrey for Rubbish View.

On a visit to a historical site in Armenia – a 14th century shelter on the old Silk Route from China to Europe – Isabella decided to focus her camera on a more recent use of the site, to show the impact people can have on nature.

The competition's three category runners-up are: Jake Gillanders, 12, for his picture Parade in the Bush (Animals), Yipeng Xu, 12, for Alone on the Lake (People), Emily O'Leary, eight, Butterfly in Lavender (Environment).

Tim Herbert, Editor of National Geographic Kids magazine, revealed: 'We had more than 1,500 entries this year and the quality of submissions was absolutely outstanding. Amelia's fun photo of lemurs soaking up the sun is a worthy winner, but our judge Ami had a really difficult job going through the shortlisted images. There are clearly some brilliant young photographers living in the UK and Ireland. Well done to everyone who entered this year's competition!'