These 11 Amazing Action Shots Are the Best You’ll Ever See

This is as jaw-dropping as photography gets.

For the fourth installment of Red Bull’s triennial Illume action-adventure photography contest, a team of 53 judges sifted through nearly 35,000 images submitted by over 5,000 shutterbugs from around the world.

The top five entries in each of the 11 categories were announced last week, including the winners. The top 275—which you can see here—will be part of a worldwide traveling exhibit tour over the next three years, during which time you can cast your vote for the Public Choice Award.

Although you may just appreciate some of the images for their uncanny timing and artistic beauty—as with Lorenz Holder’s colorful autumn shot of a BMX rider amid trick on a bridge, the competition’s overall winner—others will put butterflies in your stomach and get your heart pounding from their raw energy and emotion.