After the positive reception from last year’s Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2011, the Sifter promised to highlight the top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day‘ at the end of every quarter, eventually culminating in an epic Top 100 for 2012. That time has come! Below are the top 100 POTDs for 2012.…
DREAMING OF THE TIGER Photograph by Sh1019 on Wikimedia Commons This beautiful sculpture entitled, Dreaming of the Tiger, is located in Hupao Spring (Tiger Spring) in Hangzhou, China. Located in the mountains between West Lake and Qiantang River, Hupao can be found at the foot of Daci Hill about 5km southwest of…
CHICAGO FROM AFAR Photograph by Robert Elves on Flickr In this stunning capture by Robert Elves we get a different view of the city of Chicago. I was personally surprised to see so much greenery! With one of the most incredible skylines in the world, this distant view of Chicago is reminiscent…
VALLEY FOG IN YOSEMITE Photograph by David Kingham on 500px In this beautiful capture by David Kingham we see the famous ‘Tunnel View’ in Yosemite National Park, California. For many of the park’s visitors, this is one of the first views they see as they enter Yosemite Valley. While the valley only…
THE ROLLER COASTER SUBMERGED BY SANDY Photograph by Stephen Wilkes | Prints available The following is from Stephen Wilkes, who has offered limited edition prints of this photo as part of the Art for Sandy Relief Project in collaboration with TIME’s photo editors. All net proceeds from print sales go towards six…
A DESERT OASIS IN LIBYA Photograph by George Steinmetz In this jaw-dropping aerial by George Steinmetz, we see the volcanic crater of Wau al Namus (‘hole of mosquitoes’) in southern Libya. Steinmetz says of the photo: “This massive (and apparently dormant) volcano can be easily be seen in satellite views of Southern…
FIGURE 8 ALGAL BLOOM FROM SPACE Photograph by ESA In this Envisat image acquired on 2 December 2011, a phytoplankton bloom swirls a figure-of-8 in the South Atlantic Ocean about 600 km east of the Falkland Islands. Different types and quantities of phytoplankton exhibit different colours, such as the blues and greens…
PINE CONES BURNING IN A FIRE Photograph by Joshua Hubert In this red-hot close-up, photographer Joshua Hubert literally stuck his camera into the fire to get the shot. Submitted by the photog earlier today to Reddit, Hubert explains: Yes. I did need to stick my camera into the flames to get this…
SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT AT NIGHT Photograph by Andrew Choy In this fantastic capture by Andrew Choy we see the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at night. The photo was taken from a cessna plane on November 16, 2005. It was a finalist for the Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year in 2006.…
THE DURDLE DOOR LIMESTONE ARCH Photograph by Saffron Blaze Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset, England. While open to the public, it is privately owned by the Welds, a family who own 12,000 acres (50 sq. km) in Dorset in the name of…