Just picture it

"National Geographic's International Photography Contest attracts thousands of entries from photographers of all skill levels around the world every year. While this year's entry deadline has passed, there is still time to view and vote for your favorites in the Viewer's Choice competition."

Vote for your favorites in the Viewer's Choice competition.

So why this image?

I guess its the wanderlust in me. Having stood beneath the mists of Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders) as the Zambezi pours itself over the basalt precipice ... I can sense the majesty of the moment for the schoolkids in this photo of Iguazu falls. How it will leave them the richer for having been there.
The planet's a special place, isn't it?

There is something incredibly powerful about this image.
The primal instincts of lions .. at play .. doesn't look too different (to my eye) to that of lions hunting.

But to Lion Whisperer Kevin Richardson, its all part of a lifetime's love.

Kevin has always shown an interest in all types of creatures large and small and from an early age at just 3, was breeding crickets under his bed and keeping a pet toad called “Paddajie”. He grew from a young boy who cared for so many animals that he was called “The Bird Man of Orange Grove” in his home town to an adolescent who ran wild and, finally, to a man who is able to cross the divide between humans and predators. As a self-taught animal behaviorist, Richardson has broken every safety rule known to humans when working with these wild animals. Flouting common misconceptions that breaking an animal’s spirit with sticks and chains is the best way to subdue them, he uses love, understanding and trust to develop personal bonds with them. His unique method of getting to know their individual personalities, what makes each of them angry, happy, upset, or irritated-just like a mother understands a child-has caused them to accept him like one of their own into their fold.

Watching the inaugural Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix, at Yas Marina track, today, I was mesmerised by the way the entire 'skin' of the main structure changed colours, pulsing and glowing in the fading light.
A little bit of homework, and I discovered that the 'structure" was the Yas Hotel, set in a truly breathtaking location (half on land and half on water), overlooking the marina and positioned on the Yas Marina Circuit itself.
From the outside, the incredible gridshell can be seen for miles around and mimics the throw of a local fishing net. It's visually stunning.
A little bit more homework, and I discover that the roof is a massive array of LEDs, a total of 208,800 LEDs being used on the project making it one of the largest LED projects in the world.
What can you say?

1/200 sec at f/10, ISO 100
200m, (200-400mm, f/4.0)

"Earlier this week, 1.5 million people filled the streets of Berlin, Germany to watch a several-day performance by France's Royal de Luxe street theatre company titled "The Berlin Reunion"."

An absolutely astonishing theatrical performance, the Reunion show featured two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess.

The storyline of the performance has the two separated by a wall, thrown up by "land and sea monsters". The Big Giant has just returned from a long and difficult - but successful - expedition to destroy the wall, and now the two are walking the streets of Berlin, seeking each other after many years apart.

Astonishing. Lest we forget.

Photographer Birte Person captured this spectacular shot of a rare Bengal Tiger at feeding time, doing the closest thing it could to hunting, at Singapore Zoo.

This is just one of those images that blows you away! It reminds me of this another stunning shot of a Tiger underwater, which I have dug out of my Posterous archives.

--

"White tigers are almost extinct and most of those that survive are in captivity. In the past century only 12 have been spotted in the wild.

They are neither an albino nor a separate subspecies. Instead, they are a genetic hiccup, which happens naturally once in every 10,000 Bengal tiger births.

The result is a tiger with white fur, black stripes, blue eyes and a pink nose.

Bengal tigers are fully grown at two to three years of age and live for up to 15 years in the wild. Males weigh 200-230 kilograms and are up to three metres in length. The females are 130-70 kilograms and up to 2.5 metres long."

The 2009 winning photographs from Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk 2009 have been selected. There were over 900 Photo Walks, over 32,600 walkers worldwide, and 10s of 1000s of photographs!
The best in show & Grand Prize winner is this delightfully candid shot entitled “Can’t stop smiling” taken by Bossakorn Buena in Amphawa, Thailand.
South African photographers turned out for the day in venues across the country, with Photo Walks being hosted in the following cities:
Bloemfontein, Free State
Cape Town (Waterfront), Western Cape
Cape Town, Western Cape
CBD, Eastern Cape
Durban, KwaZulu, Natal
Johannesburg 2 , Gauteng
Johannesburg, Gauteng
Kempton Park, Gauteng
Potchefstroom, North, West
Stellenbosch, Western Cape
That's a nice spread of places, with potentially riveting material to capture on the day.
My own take on the Saffer results?
The winning images in each of the SA locations struggle to sit alongside the overall winning images. Which is a bit disappointing.
We have the 'graphers. We have the colours. We have the subjects.
Sadly, we didn't do justice to our talents in capturing those compelling, though provoking, jaw-dropping, or plain visually delightful shots!
But congrats to the winners. I love the concept, and can't wait to tackle the 2010 version!

Engineering on an awesome scale ... The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power dam is seen from above Cheryomushky, Russia on August 20, 2009. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Engineering on an awesome scale. Its pretty impressive stuff. Particularly when things go right.
But when they go wrong, destruction on an awesome scale is the result. Even the best risk mitigation processes aren't fail-safe.

"On August 17th, near Sayanogorsk in south central Russia, a catastrophic accident took place in the turbine and transformer rooms of the hydroelectric plant of the Sayano-Shushenskaya dam. The exact cause is still under investigation, but what is known so far is that a tremendous amount of water from the Yenisei River flooded the turbine room, causing at least one transformer explosion and extensive damage to all ten turbines, destroying at least three of them. 74 workers are known to have lost their lives in the accident, while one remains missing. Additionally, 40 tons of transformer oil were spilled into the river, killing an estimated 400 tons of trout in two fisheries. Investigators plan to release findings in two months, as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for a nationwide infrastructure inspection."

The Pilanesberg National Park is situated on the eroded remains of an extinct alkaline volcanic crater - one of only three in the world.
Forever associated with Sun City, the Park consists of numerous hills, wooded ravines and grassed open plains, a very picturesque setting. A wide diversity of eco-types makes a beautiful home for more than 35 species of large mammals, the sought-after "Big Five" and more than 300 bird species.
Sometimes we forget the little guys though. I watched this young Vervet tackle the Spring buds on a warm day in Manyane. So intent. Focused. Living in the moment. He knew I was there. But he let me be. Keeping half an eye on me, as I snap'd away, and he snacked away.
It was a refreshing moment.
As it should be.

"Mongolia (the independent nation), and Inner Mongolia (a neighboring autonomous region of the People's Republic of China) share a common history and geography, and have both evolved in recent years, centering much of their growth on their famous culture."
"Mongolia is a young democracy - its 1990 revolution less than 20 years old now - formerly a Soviet-backed communist republic, and much earlier ruled by many different dynasties back to Genghis Khan in 1206."
"Inner Mongolia continues to undergo a cultural shift as ethnic Han Chinese now make up nearly 80% of the population, and efforts at retaining Mongolian culture are being undertaken."
I just keep getting blown away by how little I know about this planet, in spite of how small it has become.