National Geographic's Photo of the Day (selects from May and June)

National Geographic's Photo of the Day team selects an image to be posted online every day. These images can come from staff NatGeo photographers or from online submissions from amateur or professional independent photographers. Take a look below at some incredible shots from May and June. Some of these jumped out at me from the simple beauty of the image, while others struck a different chord: the Apples, Baku image reminded me of a past season of the “Amazing Race” during which the contestants had to search through a car like this one to find the one marked apple. The Eastern Screech Owl photo is such an incredible study in the combination of textures and patterns: the soft feathers of the owl mesh perfectly with the hard, cracked bark of the tree in which it’s sitting.



MAY 1, 2013
Photograph by Alex Coppel, My Shot
This Month in Photo of the Day: The Stories Behind Your Shots
"During my summer holidays I spend a few weeks at a beach house on the South Coast of New South Wales in Australia. I am a professional photographer but have a real love affair with underwater imagery, so I look forward to this time of year. Instead of shooting the surfers above the water on the waves I would allow them to fly past me underwater, just to see them passing through the wave as it breaks. Sometimes they come a little too close…" 
—Alex Coppel


MAY 9, 2013
Photograph by Gunjan Sinha, Your Shot
"The day began as any other storm-chasing day in the Canadian Prairies. My girlfriend and I followed this particular storm from its birth and observed as it formed this gorgeous shelf structure eight hours later, at the end of the day. The photo was taken just southeast of Fillmore, Saskatchewan, along Highway 33. I used my Pentax K200D camera with f/5.6, 1/200-second exposure and a basic 55mm lens to capture this unforgettable moment." 
—Gunjan Sinha


MAY 18, 2013
Photograph by Rodolphe Holler, Your Shot
"My home is Tahiti and I am a dive guide working on board private megayachts, joining my clients anywhere in the world for unique dive experiences. I was cruising New Caledonia with one of my clients, around the small Loyalty island of Ouvea. While we were diving over a beautiful untouched reef, I noticed this crinoid in the distance because of its unusual colors. When I got closer, I realized the high photo potential of this beautiful creature. Sea feathers are quite common around New Caledonia, but it was the only time I had come across this amazing, colorful specimen." 
—Rodolphe Holler


MAY 21, 2013
Photograph by Erik Andre Juriks, Your Shot
"The snow made me treat myself to some side streets while looking for photo opportunities on my way to work, this bitterly cold morning in Baku. The rapidly changing capital of Azerbaijan always has something in store. Just outside the centuries-old Taza Bazaar, I came across the unlikely sight of an old Soviet-era Volga brimming with golden winter apples. The strange beauty of the scene brought back childhood memories of apples carefully picked and stored in the basement of our home in Norway, and the apples turning sweeter as the months of winter went by." 
—Erik Andre Juriks


MAY 26, 2013
Photograph by Tim Grams, Your Shot
"Common redpolls visit Anchorage every few years in large numbers. So many that they will crowd out the usual winter residents that visit our feeders—black-capped and boreal chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos. The large flocks inspired me to try a different perspective. I used a plate of regular glass for the bottom and cut clear acrylic for sides and support. I fastened the visible portion of the feeder to a simple wooden tripod that I built, then supported my camera on a photo tripod beneath the feeder. I used a wireless trigger to release the shutter on the camera. It took four to five hours to build, and I refined it several times. The images were taken in our backyard in Anchorage, Alaska."
—Tim Grams


JUNE 10, 2013
Photograph by Graham McGeorge
Masters of disguise. The eastern screech owl is seen here doing what they do best. You better have a sharp eye to spot these little birds of prey. Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, U.S.A."


JUNE 24, 2013
Photograph by Dana Clemons
"I was photographing the sunset over Reykjavík Harbor, Iceland, near sunset (around 11:30 p.m.). While sitting there with my tripod waiting, I turned around and saw this beautiful abstract reflection in the windows of the office building behind me."


JUNE 25, 2013
Photograph by Shen Xinhang, National Geographic Your Shot
"Marble 17-arch bridge at the Summer Palace, China"


June 27, 2013
Photograph by Francisco Mingorance
"The fennec, or desert fox, is a canine mammal species of the genus Vulpes, which inhabits the Sahara Desert and Arabia. This is the smallest species of the family Canidae."

See my previous post for more eye-opening images.
All text and photos are copyright NationalGeographic.com and the photographer who took the photo. Follow the linked title of each image to see the source NatGeo page.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Capturing Natural Spirals

Image
Water is so interesting. The two little hydrogen and one little oxygen molecules flow together in solid (ice), liquid (water), or gas (vapor), and can also pick up traces of sediment or leftovers, depending on which environment it runs through. When water is cast off from something, it can behave in different ways. See my  previous post for some odd water behavior. Below are some examples of photographers capturing water being cast off in a logarithmic spiral: spiral from here photo by Arvin Rahimzadeh photo by Cody Slinger photo by Naveen Shunmuganathan via thisiscolossal  and flickr Photographers also have captured paint, milk, coffee, and other liquids demonstrating this phenomenon. See their incredible photographs below. photo by Manon Wethly   via thisiscolossal  and junkculture photos and video by Fabian Oefner See more photos on  thisiscolossal
Read more

Half and Half

Image
With recent technology and engineering, artists are able to show the world a different perspective on everyday complex objects. As a deli sandwich would look when sliced in half, these photos show the interwoven or stacked components of the object.  DSLR Camera AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm Nikon D3 As much as it pains me to see such an expensive piece of equipment rendered useless, it is as fascinating as seeing beneath the skin of a human body .  Leica Lens Leica Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50mm Leica Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50mm Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux M ASPH via tokyobling  and  demilked Golf Balls These images were taken by photographer James Friedman  as part of his series " Interior Design ." "Curiosity led me to cut my collection of golf balls in half to see what the cores looked like. To my surprise, what I found inside inspired me to consider that I could discover, in the unlikeliest of places, elegant formal qualities and surprising meta
Read more

Paris: The Jewish Quarter, Louvre Courtyard and A Phallic Eiffel Tower

Image
Good morning! Bonjour! Today we went to a small cafe in Bastille called  Cafe Truc , which literally means Cafe "Stuff." It was so cutely decorated and we enjoyed a traditional French breakfast here: croissant, pain du chocolat, tea, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. On our way to the Jewish quarter, we passed a museum with the sculpture below. The exhibit was showing all kinds of street sculpture and I recognized this from an article that was shared with me years ago. It reminded me of the other Bruno Catalano sculptures that were debuted in 2013. Pigeon taking a bath. Under the arches on the Place De Vosges: We made it to the Temple Des Vosges, which is an Orthodox shul in the middle of Paris. We were informed that the seats are full every Shabbat, and they have weddings and other special events there regularly. There was also a reception hall that had hand-painted walls with scenes from the Bible: Afterwards, we continued on to the Rue De
Read more