nationalgeographicdaily:

Spirit Bear
Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia
Photo: Paul Nicklen

In a moss-draped rain forest in British Columbia, towering red cedars live a thousand years, and black bears are born with white fur.

“Paul Nicklen is a master at getting closer. He gets close enough to take this beautiful forest with this beautiful bear, eating a salmon, and make it all come together in a photograph that captures your imagination. I feel like I’m there. I can almost smell that forest, the bear. This is Paul’s home. This looks like a photo he took in his backyard of a dear friend.”

—Chris Johns, Editor in Chief

nationalgeographicdaily:

Cenotes, Chichen-Itza, Mexico
Photo: Jack Paulus

Caves can be very hard to shoot. Challenges include locating the spot with the most interesting elements and the need to return to a certain place over and over. In this shot, the combination of the warmly lit stalagtites and stalagmites, the intense turquoise of the water, and the curious stone “jetty” create a dynamic and intriguing setting. (You don’t always have to bring along flashes, as caves open to the public are often lit to highlight the most dramatic rock formations.) As with most successful photographs, there’s a single element that makes this one captivating: the shaft of light coming down from the roof of the cave. Sometimes you have to go back again and again to capture that remarkable detail that makes the shot sing. It’s the light beam and the circle of light on the water that gives this image an almost religious quality.

ladder-to-the-stars:

Bajerski Jean-Pierre Le Laki

(via gingerhaze)

culturalcrosspollination:

Sayyida Rugaya Mosque

(Source: glorious-silence, via pyrosauce)

nationalgeographicdaily:

Tree, Arches National Park

Photograph by Bill Keaton 

Was photographing one of the arches in Arches National Park when this tree caught my eye.  It was an overcast evening, and I set up and waited for a break in the clouds for a few rays of sun.

nationalgeographicdaily:

Deer, Japan

Photograph by Angie Sin

Deer in Nara, Japan, are revered as holy messengers of God and are allowed to roam freely.  They are well known for their bowing gestures for food.

nationalgeographicdaily:

Sea Nettle, Arctic Ocean

Photograph by Emory Kristof

A leader and technical expert in deep-ocean photography, National Geographic photographer Emory Kristof pioneered the use of robot cameras and remotely operated vehicles, including the preliminary design for Argo, the submersible that found the Titanic.  Kristof is known for bring the technique and technology of shallow-water photography to the deep, introducing the world to such specimens and this ten-foot-long (three-meter-long) sea nettle found by a remotely operated vehicle in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean.

nationalgeographicdaily:

Sunrise Skyline, Bagan

Photograph by Cynthia Dial

Known for its more than 4,000 temples in a 26-square mile space within a dusty, flat plain, the best times to experience the serenity and scope of Bagan are at dawn and dusk.  After heading from my hotel’s cozy bed and climbing in the dark with my camera and tripod to set up on a ledge of Minyeingone Pagoda, this was my reward-the unlayering of Myanmar’s ancient city of temples.

bove:

norge (by Isa Soul.)

sooner961:

Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick

The Fundy Coastal Drive: The bay boasts the world’s highest tides, rising as much as 48 feet in six hours, sculpting the area’s pockmarked coastline with unique hiking opportunities.

St. Andrews-By-The-Sea: This charming village, just 30 miles from the Maine border, boasts a choice of aristocratic accommodations.