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A wonderful afternoon on the beach waiting for the pelicans to land, then they did it a nice row.

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These are two wild stallions from the McCullough Peak's herd of wild horses, which is located just outside of Cody, Wyoming. I expected them to fight but they went back to grazing after a minute of posturing. The peaks area is pretty desolate, with little in the way of water supply and a lack of trees. The main staple for their grazing is sagebrush.

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Jack Hills, AustraliaThe oldest material on Earth which has yet been dated by man is a zircon mineral that is

4.4 billion years old and comes from a sedimentary gneiss in...

17 June 2009 07:00:00

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(Not from NG)

A lion stands guard over the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater.

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After a long day of meetings, I made it up to the peak just before dusk to shoot the

glittering city of Hong Kong, China, just before it plunged into night.

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No bigger than a quarter, a Glaucus nudibranch preys on toxic Portuguese men-of-war, appropriating their stinging cells for its own defence. Camouflaged in blue and silver,

this sea slug was caught off Hawaii but drifts in mild waters worldwide.

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Zambia: The 355-foot drop of Victoria Falls just inches away, a swimmer stands at the lip of a hidden pool—an eight-foot-deep divot in the riverbed drock—accessbile only when the

Zambezi river runs low.

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Czech Republic—It takes a microscope to make a handful of carrot seeds look like a swarm of bristling space invaders. There are about 450,000 of these Daucus carota

seeds in a single pound.

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This photo of a caper flower was taken on the Datca Peninsula in Turkey.

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This is a shot of three eagles fighting over a fish in Homer, Alaska, from March 2008. You can see the fish at the top of the image flying by itself, but it was caught in its fall by another eagle.

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I was at Uxmal, taking a moment to catch my breath and to change lenses, when an iguana slothfully crawled up the steps I was sitting on. It dutifully stayed in one place

long enough for me to shoot this image, which I feel encapsulates two of the most charming aspects of the Yucatan area; the wildlife and the fantastic ancient

architecture. I made sure to shoot at a low aperture, to really make the iguana the focus of the shot, rather than part of a landscape.

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Experimentation with "firewire," which is a homemade firework using steel wool and a long bit of wire, on Tybee Island, Georgia. Lighting the steel wool on aflame and

spinning it around his head, a friend sprayed a fantastic shower of sparks completely around himself while standing safely in the middle. The photograph is an account of

the act and a visual play on contemporary man and fire.

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This photo was taken in Antigua, Guatemala. On each note is the message, "Te amo,

Cristina."

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I came across this shot while driving in the late afternoon in central Utah. The landscape had been dry desert until we turned a corner and found these lush fields

and grazing cattle. The beauty of the sky struck me. When we left, within two minutes it was desert again.

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This image was taken in the small beautiful nation of Palau, located in Micronesia.

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This least tern chick was photographed on Lover's Key State Park. I left the bird small in the frame to show just how vulnerable these birds really are.

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Baobab trees silhouetted against a moonlit African sky at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, in July 2008.

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Tree and cloud in Andalucía, Spain

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I was walking in Griffith Park, which was still a wasteland of dirt and ash after last year's fire. But the jimson weeds were flourishing, and this flower was just starting to curl up at sunset.

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This photo is taken at the top of the 83 meter high Rock Fort, the only outcrop in the otherwise flat land of the city of Trichy in Tamil Nadu, India. I awoke for the climb at sunrise, in order to

capture the colours from the sun radiating over the hazy city. Looking back down, we see one of many decorative Hindu temples in the area of the Rock Fort.

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I took this photograph at the stunning Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England.

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I took this photo in the Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska. The cliffs there are thousands of feet high. I was looking at the tops trying to make out the tiny trees and waterfalls in the

distance through the clouds. I took this photo with a telephoto lens just as a goose crossed in front of the clouds, which were in front of the cliffs. My favourite part is the tiny little waterfall in

the left corner.

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View of the Matterhorn

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This is a photograph of bear tracks in the mud taken on a walk across the expansive Controller Bay, Alaska.

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This was taken high above the clouds on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania at sunrise. The clouds reminded me of someone breathing in the frigid air. It was a crisp morning that defined the

words: peaceful, beauty, and amazement.

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Fish love

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This is a photo of a red deer on New Zealand's South island. I was on a road trip through the South Island trying to visit all of the "Lord of the Rings" location sites and experience the beauty

of the country.

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This cutie stopped just long enough to smile for my camera. The common name is the bleached earless lizard. Its colour is adapted to the unique white gypsum dunes of the White Sands

National Park in New Mexico. White Sands, New Mexico, was placed on the tentative list of World Heritage Sites on January 22, 2008.

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Horseshoe Bend is a magnificent, timeless sentry overlooking an incredible panorama that includes the Colorado River. Located south of Page, Arizona, near Lake Powell, the jewel-

coloured river nestles 1,100 feet below its popular overlook. The sheer enormity of Horseshoe Bend can take ones breath away, but seeing it through the mellow blaze of sunset is

indescribable.

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On Valentine's Day in 2007 an ice storm glazed Maryland, afterward I drove around Edgewater to view the beauty and damage. Just before I

took this shot, the sun made its first post-storm appearance.

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Thermal features of the West Thumb Geyser Basin during the winter at Yellowstone National Park

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This image depicts the life of a cherry blossom tree; they bloom for a month and fade away in no time. And you are already waiting to see them next year.

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This moon dance was part of a cultural event presentation in Xiamen, China. The photo was taken with a Canon Powershot 550.

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The incredibly beautiful snow leopard, Panthera uncia, is indigenous to the mountains of Central Asia. Their dense coats and snowshoe-like paws are ideally suited for their cold, dry, rocky native environment. These shy, elusive cats, when fully grown, weigh up to 120 pounds and nose to tip of their very thick, furry tails measure up to 7 and a half feet long. Sadly, these phenomenal cats

are an endangered species. This photograph was taken on a private reserve in Kalispell, Montana.

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A spider made its web 94 stories high outside a window of the Hancock Observatory Deck in Chicago, Illinois.

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This photo of the main temple in Angkor Wat, Cambodia, was shot during a rainy-season flash downpour.

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Dark storm clouds approach a steaming pool of intensely (and naturally) blue water. This pool is part of a geothermal oasis surrounded by a vast expanse of desert at Hveravellir, in the Kjolur

region of central Iceland.

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Blackpool Tower, Blackpool, England, backlit at high tide during a ferocious winter storm.

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This was shot at the ocean entry of the Pu`u`O`o vent on the Kilauea Volcano, which is close to Kalapana on the big island of Hawaii in July 2008. The conditions were perfect as the offshore

wind blew the smoke, fumes and steam out to sea. The noise was indescribable as the hot lava hit the cold ocean water. At one time, the steam was under so much pressure it resembled a

shuttle lift off.

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Adventurous tourists view Niagara Falls, Canada, at mid-level amid rain and spray.

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During harvest time in the Annapolis Valley my wife and I found ourselves walking through a you-pick garden. We came across a flowering cabbage and I was amazed at the designs it

offered, I took a few shots and carried on. Later that evening when I was playing around with the photograph, I accidentally made it too dark when I looked away to check something. When I

looked back this was my result; a beautiful spiral galaxy full of bright little stars.

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A traditional dry stonewall separates woodland from open pasture on the edge of the fells above Ullswater, Cumbria, United Kingdom.

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A snowy owl hunts for mice on a cold winter day.

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This photo was taken on Mt. Sahale in the North Cascades National Park. I had to work really hard for this photo, as the hike was long and hard. The "Old Man" as I liked to call him actually

gave me a mean look and made me get out of his way so he could get a drink of water. This part of the park is the best place to see a variety of wildlife in my opinion.

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On a rainy day I stepped out into my mother's garden and took this picture of her white irises.

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Key Monastery near Kaza, Himachal Pradesh, India

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A forgotten village sitting on top of a mountain in a dreamy landscape that could only be reached by driving higher and higher up grievous mountains that touch the tips of the clouds

called "Catelluccio."

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A beautiful afternoon in the Sharjah and a beautiful Arabian mare hesitates before crossing a dune.

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My favourite drive in the United States is Highway 1, which hugs the California coast south of Santa Cruz for about 80 miles or so, boasting some of the most dramatic coastline scenery you'll

ever see. This photo was taken there.

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This photo shows a Lionfish swimming in the blue waters of Fiji.

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This was a once in a lifetime shot for me. I have gone to Africa three times and had never seen a male and female together looking so regal.

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This shot was taken at Oxbow Bend near the Grand Teton Mountains. Mount Moran is in the background. Early morning light struck the trees with the sky darkened with smoke from fires

and early morning clouds, which gave the rest of the scene a gray tone which allowed the changing foliage to stand out.

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This was a wonderful scene in August of 2007 at the Thorny bush Game Reserve in South Africa. I used my Canon 30D with my 100-400 lens. The mother was always watching for trouble.

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We were visiting Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada when I noticed this very well camouflaged dragon fly at one of the stopping points on the driving tour.

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This is a picture of Mount Bromo, on the eastern part of the Indonesian island of Java, around daybreak. The fog makes it seem almost a dream, and a scene, which brings to mind something

almost prehistoric. This picture was taken on August 2, 2008.

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Morning fog over Brickell Avenue, Miami, Florida

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I came across an octopus on a dive sometimes referred to as a "black water hang." It is three miles off the coast of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

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This was a colourful fall day up in the Adirondacks in New York.

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Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, in the autumn is a wonderland. One day the forest explodes in colour, and the following day a strong wind will come and strip it bare. This was the one of

the last days of colour.

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These are the endless flowing lines made by the rice terraces in Soka, Bali. This is a view instilling absolute peace; surrounded by mountains, sea, and rice paddies. No tourists, no crowds, only the women who were farming, the local satay cart, who served us lunch, and some children

playing with kites. It was quite a dreamlike day.

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When you swim with humpback whales it's not their size that overwhelms you but their beauty. You want to stay in that moment forever. These three humpbacks came over to me to check me

out. They put on a beautiful dancing display that makes your heart stop and you wish for the moment to never end. When they were done ten minutes later they took off, but they left me

with amazing memories. This photo was taken in Tahiti, French Polynesia.

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A stingray cruises past as the sun is setting. This photo was taken in Tahiti, French Polynesia.

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Wide ReceiversThe Atacama array, seen here in a rendering, will collect data from within the clouds of dust and gas that gave rise to stars, planets, and galaxies. “It will enable us finally to penetrate cold, dark

regions of the universe,” says project scientist Richard Hills.

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Mantled in winter white, 9,176-foot-tall Mount Ruapehu (foreground) reigns over Tongariro National Park. Conical Ngauruhoe and broad Tongariro beyond shed their snow cover when

summer comes, but the cold lock on Ruapehu never breaks, making Crater Lake one of the most active volcanic crater lakes perpetually surrounded by snow and ice in the world.

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As plankton swarms accumulate, mantas come to feast. The total Maldives population is estimated at 10,000 individuals. Three are following one behind another, chain feeding (at left). These mantas may soon swirl into a spiral formation for cyclone feeding—behavior rarely seen

outside of Hanifaru Bay.

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Tanzania—After two weeks of in-mouth incubation, a school of perhaps 200 cichlid fry—each less than half an inch long—swim free of their mother, searching for a plankton meal in the

cerulean waters of Lake Tanganyika.

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A volcanic boulder rests above Upper Tama lake, a crater below Mount Ngauruhoe. The volcano has exploded more than 70 times since 1839. Throughout the park, officials urge visitors to

know likely paths of volcanic mudflows and to leave when eruption threatens.

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When Legadema was only a few days old, her mother spent as much time with her as possible. Those first few days may be critical for any young animal to imprint on the smell and look of its

mother, even though leopards become independent surprisingly quickly. These are solitary cats, which you can sense from the very beginning.

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Hooked without a permit, a Dorado—sold as mahi-mahi—was caught on an illegal longline off Mexico. With thousands of baited hooks, longlines extend for miles, often snaring fish

unintentionally, notably sharks, as well as hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, marine mammals, and seabirds every year. In longline fishing, eventually discarded by catch makes up

nearly 30 percent of the take.

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A blue-eyed triplefin, small as a matchstick, guards its territory with an aggressive pose.

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With a stream of bubbles, a male humpback whale tries to entice a female swimming below him.

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Wings outstretched, talons flared, and ears tuned to the faintest scrabbling of a rodent hidden under winter's white carpet, a snowy owl in Quebec Province, Canada, prepares to pounce.

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Pollen grains decorate the crown of a male velvet-

purple coronet resting on a bromeliad in Ecuador, evidence of the bird's

value as a reliable pollinator. Hummingbirds spend almost 80 percent

of their waking hours perched like this to

conserve energy. During chilly nights they can also

enter torpor, a state in which their body

temperature can drop more than 40°F (22°C),

curbing their need for food until dawn.

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Jumeirah Beach Residence rose in just 36 months, its concrete poured by labourers working day and night. Some critics are questioning the speed of change and a lack of planning: The towering

apartment complexes stand like a wall, cutting off the rest of Dubai from its coast.

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Vivid as the flowers that fuel their hovering flight, hummingbirds, such as this steely-vented variety in Colombia, do more than dazzle the eye. Beneath the pretty plumage these tiny

dynamos are marvels of micro-engineering.

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A foreign worker stacks fish traps near the Burj al Arab—the world's tallest hotel and icon of the new Dubai. In a generation, the city's rulers have transformed this once sleepy fishing port into a

hub of the Middle East.

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Texas catches the sun and Chihuahua lies in shadow along the twisting border line of the Rio Grande. The river cuts its path between thick bands of volcanic rocks, left behind by massive

eruptions to the north and south between 27 and 32 million years ago. An outcrop on the Texas side, in Big Bend Ranch State Park, shows distinct bands of light-coloured tuff, remnants of

ancient ash falls.

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This toxic flatworm's vivid markings spell danger to potential predators along Hawaii's coral reefs.

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The town of Binche, in Belgium, Mardi Gras - The face of parade character "Gilles" is an internationally protected trademark. Only parade marchers may buy the wax masks.

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This colorized scanning electron micrograph shows pollens—Bermuda grass in green, maple in red, and ragweed in yellow—at roughly 3,000 times their itchy, sneezy life size.

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Getting a good look at the condition of a live human heart was once impossible without invasive surgery. This organ is, in fact, a museum specimen. But dramatic advances in computed

tomography now provide detailed scans in ten scalpel-free seconds.

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Feather duster worms—leathery hideaway tubes are secretions of mucous-coated silt; pulled from its tube, this worm's body uncurls to about four inches (ten centimetres).

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Disturbed by the sound of distant gunfire, a bull elephant bolts from his pool—aware, perhaps, of the dangers that surround him.

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A history book of the early Jurassic period, the sandstone formations of the Coyote Buttes were massive dunes 180 million years ago. Formed from the sandy sediments

of the eroding Appalachians, far to the east, the dunes were then repeatedly submerged by inland seas.

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In a safe place during dry season, elephants slake their thirst in a Zakouma National Park water hole. When the rains come, many will leave the park for better forage, putting themselves at

greater risk of death by ivory poachers.

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Spix's disk-winged bats, Thyroptera tricolor, have suction cups that enable them to grip the inside of a smooth furled leaf and scuttle in and out of its protective confines.

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Its image mirrored in icy water, a polar bear travels submerged—a tactic often used to surprise prey.

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Comet McNaught exuberantly trumps the New Zealand town of Ashburton's electric glow. Discovered by Australian astronomer Robert McNaught in 2006, the comet put on the brightest

show of its kind in 40 years.

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In Svalbard, Norway, a kittiwake glides over an iceberg's jagged maw. Fragments of glaciers and ice shelves, bergs are floating oases for birds, seals, and other wildlife.

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Sparkling like underwater fireworks, this six-inch-wide (15 centimetres) Olindias jellyfish at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium displays an extravagantly curled and coloured armament of

tentacles loaded with stinging cells.

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A red bird of paradise, Paradisaea rubra, spreads its wings elegantly in a New Guinea mountain forest.

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A glittering, feather-swathed dancer rides a huge hummingbird in Rio de Janeiro's Carnival parade competition. She is one of thousands of Beija-Flor samba school members who captured

the 2007 championship.

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Hard at play less than five miles (eight kilometres) from central Sydney, surfers off Bondi Beach relish a perfect day: five-foot (1.5 meters) waves and no wind. The sport was introduced to

Australia in 1915 by Hawaiian legend Duke Kahanamoku.

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Feeding in shallows off the Panamanian coast, these starfish sailed ashore on the translucent tides.

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After grazing, these Brahma cattle thread through the rain-loosened Paraguayan marsh back to corral.

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Finland—On a window in Kotka, a slightly battered mosquito sits silhouetted against a mosaic of water drops, each reflecting spring sky and the crayon colors of nearby buildings.

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shifting flock of flamingos assumes a whimsical shape in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Trinity