A VOLCANIC ERUPTION SEEN FROM A SPACE SHUTTLE Photograph by NASA In this incredible capture taken on 30 September 1994, we see a major eruption of Klyuchevskaya Sopka as seen by the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour (mission: STS-68). The eruption cloud reached 60,000 feet above sea level and the winds…
Smithsonian has just announced the 60 finalists for their 11th Annual Photo Contest. The winning entries were selected by Smithsonian editors from over 50,000 submissions by photographers from 132 countries around the world. Ten finalists were selected from the following six categories: The Natural World, Travel, People, Americana, Altered Images and Mobile, a new…
Photograph via THE ARKENSTONE/IROCKS.COM Rob Lavinsky of The Arkenstone (www.irocks.com) brought this fascinating mineral to market, selling it to a buyer for $5,000. The specimen, which Lavinsky describes as Chalcedony on Chrysocolla stalactites (pocket), measures 9 x 7 x 6 cm. It was originally obtained by Frank Valenzuela back in the 1960s from the…
Photograph by LASSI RAUTIAINEN/WILD FINLAND Website | Wild Finland on Facebook | Lassi Rautiainen on Facebook In this remarkable capture by Lassi Rautiainen we see an unlikely friendship between a bear and a wolf. The two were spotted in the wilderness of Northern Finland where Rautiainen organizes wilderness trips for photographers and nature lovers…
Broken Mirror/Evening Sky is the newest series from New York based artist Bing Wright. This new body of work marks Wright’s first return to color photography in almost a decade. Bing recently completed a solo exhibition at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City; he is also represented by the James Harris Gallery…
CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN KYOTO Photograph by T. KIYA on Flickr For three weeks starting from the vernal equinox (around March 20), cherry blossoms in Kyoto (known as sakura in Japan) begin to bloom. The annual event is wildly popular in Japan as people flock to popular blooming locations all over the country.…
Photograph by BNPS via Daily Mail The Daily Mail has a fascinating feature on David Latimer and his soon to be 54-year-old bottle garden that he started on Easter Sunday back in 1960. Using a ten gallon carboy, Latimer poured in some compost, a quarter pint of water and carefully lowered in a spiderwort…
At the end of every quarter the Sifter highlights the top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day‘, culminating in an epic Top 100 at the end of the year (check out the ‘Top 100 POTDs for 2013‘!). It’s hard to believe we’re already 1/4 of the way through 2014. I can’t wait to see what…
SPRING EQUINOX IN CHICAGO Photograph by niXerKG on Flickr In this perfectly timed photo we see the setting sun in Chicago during Spring Equinox on 20 March 2014. Taken by Flickr user niXerKG, who dubbed the photo Chicagohenge, he says you can see the setting/rising sun in the streets of Chicago that…
SCHLEGEIS LAKE, AUSTRIA Photographer Unknown via l0v4 on reddit Located in the Zillertal valley underneath the famous Olperer mountain hut, is the beautiful Schlegeis Lake in Tyrol, Austria. Like Zillergründl, Stillup, Durlassboden and Gmünd; Schlegeis is one of the five artificial lakes in the Zillertal valley. According to the official tourism site…