Out Of The Blue, Into The Ground

(images via: Ross Sea and Highly Allochthonous)

The word fulgurite is derived from “fulgur”, which means “thunderbolt” in Latin. That’s just part of the story, though, as the real action begins once the bolt hits the ground. The average lightning bolt packs up to a gigajoule of energy – enough to power an all-electric home for about a week, or around 300 kilowatt-hours. When a strike enters the ground it makes its presence known by vaporizing soil & sand along a downward, branching path that may be up to 20 feet long. Temperatures of up to 50,000 degrees blast sand (silicon dioxide) into a hollow tube lined with what is essentially glass: a fulgurite.

(image via: Heavenly Scent)

It’s estimated that around 16 million lightning storms occur on our planet each year, with most of these storms shedding multiple lightning bolts. Though conditions have to be just right for a fulgurite to form, the sheer number of bolts hitting sandy soil over countless centuries has resulted in innumerable fulgurites (or pieces thereof) scattered in and on the ground.

Fossilized Lightning

(image via: Arran Museum)

Archaeologists working near Corrie Village on the cost of Scotland’s Isle of Arrran in 1966 made an astonishing discovery: a fossilized fulgurite! Judging from the age and nature of the surrounding sandstone, the lightning strike which created the fossil fulgurite occurred some 250 million years ago at the end of the Permian Period. Though our planet has changed much since that ancient era before the dinosaurs even appeared, the fundamental physical processes that drive the hydrological cycle, including lightning, obviously have not.

(image via: Duneguide)

The Corrie Village fulgurite fossil was likely formed when lightning struck the crest of a sand dune and radiated into the dune, vitrifying and hollowing out a glass tube of unknown length and depth. Deserts in Scotland? A quarter of a billion years ago, what is now the British Isles existed as part of Pangaea, a huge super-continent with vast, desert-like interior regions.

Mother Nature’s Litter Box

(image via: Discovery Channel)

The easiest fulgurites to fond and recover are those that have formed recently in loosely structured sand. The shifting sand makes the fulgurites both easy to see and relatively uncomplicated to remove. One might compare the occurrence of fulgurites in dune fields to a cat’s litter box, except on a much larger scale.

(images via: Smithsonian NMNH, About.com: Geology and Stoneridge Engineering)

Expanded human activity in previously isolated desert regions such as the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and the Australian Outback, has helped make fulgurites less rare for collectors to acquire and at the same time, lowered their cost.

Lechatelierite, or “Lightning Glass”

(images via: NATURE Geoscience, Grey Moon Glassworks and Beading Gem)

The glossy, glassy interior lining of many fulgurites is actually a form of natural glass called Lechatelierite. In some cases the tube may be completely plugged with glass. People have worked Lechatelierite into jewelry since prehistoric times and it can be quite beautiful as the examples above right clearly show.

(image via: Cristales Curativos)

It’s possible that ancient societies noted the connection between lightning, sand, and the glass inside fulgurites; then set about artificially melting sand to make the first glass.

Man-Made Fulgurites, Part 1

(image via: Celestial Monochord)

In early May of 2006, something odd caught the eye of a pedestrian making his way along the concrete sidewalk past the corner of Colfax and 24th in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the discoverer, “The scar was something like 3 meters long and in about 5 segments, each about 2 cm deep and up to about 5 cm wide… On closer examination, I found the edges of the scar almost completely encrusted with black glass, some of which was easy to pick loose.”

(image via: Communication Overtones)

Though the characteristics of the scar have much in common with those of classic fulgurites, the horizontal structure of the scar and its location directly beneath power lines hint at a more prosaic yet still electrical origin.

Man-Made Fulgurites, Part 2

(images via: Cabinet Magazine and Explore Magazine)

Downed power lines are one thing; artificially triggering lightning to make DIY fulgurites is another thing entirely. That’s exactly what artist Allan McCollum has done, however, not one but some hundreds of times in the summer of 1997. The results range from slim glass tubes no larger than soda straws to the Mother Of All Fulgurites, a fork-tailed monster over 17 feet deep that the Guinness World Book of Records has recognized as the world’s longest.

(image via: Allan McCollum: The Event)

McCollum conducted his fulgurite experiments in cooperation with the University of Florida’s International Center for Lightning Research and Testing and their base of operations was at the Camp Blanding national guard base near Starke, Florida. During what was referred to as The Event, lightning was attracted by way of small rockets launched two to three thousand feet into overhead storm clouds – with each rocket spooling out an ultra-thin copper wire that kept it grounded and directed any provoked lightning. Ben Franklin would be proud!

Other Glass Acts

(images via: Paleoastronautica and Tektite Source)

Besides lightning strikes, there are a couple of other ways to create glass from sand. Both methods involved the application of extreme force resulting in exceptionally high temperatures. The first is a meteorite impact, such as the one that created the Kebira Crater on the Libya-Egypt border nearly 30 million years ago. A huge area was showered with melted sand, which when cooled took on an ethereal yellow-green hue. So-called Libyan desert glass was prized by the ancient Egyptians, and a worked piece is prominently displayed in the center of an ornate breastplate designed for King Tut.

(image via: Paleoastronautica)

Glass can also be created by ground or near-ground level atomic explosions. The first such atomic bomb explosion took place on July 16, 1945 at the White Sands Proving Ground near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Known as “Trinity”, the test measured 20 kilotons and left a large area at Ground Zero covered with greenish glass. Dubbed “Trinitite”, the glass was (and still is) mildly radioactive yet is much coveted by collectors and souvenir hunters.

One Strike, You’re Out

(images via: Majorly Cool and Viatouch)

(image via: ETF)

Meteorites, atomic blasts… suddenly lightning bolts are looking a lot better, though you still don’t want to be too close when one arcs down from the sky. The somewhat sphincter-ish impact spot above shows where lightning struck the ground – beneath the center there’s likely a fulgurite. Taking the anatomical analogy slightly further and to take this article to its logical “end”, here’s a video of some Fulgurite Endoscopy:

Fulgurite Endoscopy, via Cleanmonk

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All of your instincts may be screaming for you to avoid looking down at all costs, but when you’re this high in the air, the view is just irresistible. Whether you’re clinging for dear life to a rickety wooden rainforest observation tower or staring straight down through a glass floor at city streets thousands of feet below, frighteningly tall spires and lookouts give us humans a look at our environment that our ancestors would never have imagined possible.

CN Tower, Toronto, Canada

(image via: shidairyproduct, ilkerender)

Do you trust a piece of glass about the thickness of two fingers to keep you from crashing thousands of feet to the ground below? Toronto’s CN Tower, which stands over 1,815 tall, offers stunning 360-degree views of the city – and a stomach-turning view straight down to the street through a glass floor.

Forest Tower, Schovenhorst Estate, Netherlands

(images via: Arplus.com)

The thoroughly modern Forest Tower is just as visually stunning as the views it provides of the conservation area at the Schovenhorst Estate in the Netherlands. The design includes spaces and features for various activities including peepholes, a climbing net and even a small performance space.

Willis Tower Skydeck, Chicago, Illinois

(images via: Charlotte Speaks)

If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to float 110 stories over Chicago, the Skydeck at the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower is the closest you’re likely to get. With a glass floor and glass walls on three sides, these “glass balconies” provide unparalleled views that will give the acrophobic nightmares.

Bird Watching Towers, Ecuadorian Amazon

(images via: JackMaryEtc)

There’s no way to enjoy the birds of the Amazon quite like observing them from one of Ecuador’s many extremely tall bird watching towers – if you’re brave enough to climb them. But finally getting to the top and finding it twisted from the wind and held together with a string, like one traveling couple did, might be enough to sway your confidence in the structure’s sturdiness.

Eureka Skydeck, Melbourne, Australia

(images via: EurekaSkydeck.com)

Like the Willis Tower Skydeck, Eureka Skydeck 88 in Melbourne, Australia offers views you just can’t get anywhere else in the city. But, it’s not for the faint of heart. 940 feet above the ground, “The Edge” is a glass cube that juts out nine feet from the building. It’s the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere.

Korkeasaari Lookout Tower, Helsinki, Finland

(images via: arcspace)

The shell-like wooden Korkeasaari Lookout Tower at Helsinki’s Korkeasaari Zoo mimics the large natural enclosures that the animals are held in, and is made of 72 long curved wood battens fastened with over 600 bolted joints. Ville Hara’s concept for the tower was the winning entry in a competition to design an innovative, artistic tower for the zoo.

Blackpool Tower ‘Walk of Faith’, Lancashire, England

(images via: Wikipedia)

With a design inspired by the Eiffel Tower, the 518ft Blackpool Tower in Lancashire, England was constructed in 1894 after Blackpool Mayor John Bickerstaffe visited the Great Paris Exhibition. Among its most popular features is the “Walk of Faith”, a glass floor panel added in 1998.

Burj Dubai Observation Deck, Dubai, UAE

(images via: Dubai Chronicle, WeeklyDrop)

Set to become the world’s tallest free-standig structure, Burj Dubai will feature a 124th-floor observation deck called ‘At the Top’. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls will provide unobstructed views of the city, but anyone who’s not paranoid about being swept away by a gust of wind can venture out onto the open-air deck. This mixed-use tower is set to open in late 2009.

Killesberg Tower, Stuttgart, Germany

(image via: structurae)

This double-helix shaped tower in Stuttgart, Germany features what are essentially two gigantic intertwined spiral staircases suspended by cables around a central support. Getting to the top is no easy feat, but the reward is great.

Shanghai Expo Tower, China

(image via: Expo 2010)

A 495-foot tall chimney at the oldest power plant in China is getting a dramatic makeover for the World Expo 2010. It is set to be transformed into an observation tower called the “Expo Harmony Tower”, its exterior wrapped with tracks and cars similar to a rollercoaster to transport passengers to the top. The entire former high-pollution plant is being revamped into an eco-friendly attraction that uses electricity generated by tide, wind and solar energy.

Glasgow Tower, Scotland

(images via: Wikipedia)

The tallest tower in Scotland is also the only tower in the world that can rotate 360 degrees from its base to its top. It’s shaped like an aerofoil, or an airplane wing seen in cross-section, and has computer-controlled monitors that turn it in the wind to reduce wind resistance.

Green Observation Towers Concept

(images via: HumanShelter.org)

Could we replace smokestacks with eco-friendly, green power-generating towers that also serve as public spaces with observation decks? Designer Michael Jantzen thinks so, and has created several designs that would do just that. The Wind Turbine Observation Tower has five wind-activated segments that rotate in different directions to produce energy, while the Eco-Tower is a public gathering space equipped with seven platforms and a custom wind turbine.

Cheongna City Tower, South Korea

(images via: Bustler.net)

South Korea is getting a new landmark tower that will serve as the cultural hub and centerpiece of a large new town development. The 1,476-foot observation tower appears to jut sharply into the sky like an inverted icicle, with the second-highest observation deck in the world. It’ll also be pretty high-tech, becoming the world’s first “invisible tower” with a skin system that uses optical cameras to capture the views from the opposite wall and project those images on each part of the skin. This effect will make the tower itself seems to disappear when you’re inside, leaving nothing but sweeping views.

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Fulgurites: High-Glass Digs Where Lightning Goes To Die

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Kebira Crater Field, Egypt and Libya

(images via: RST, Meta-Religion and Robert Kenneth Johnson)

Archaeologists over the centuries have wondered where the ancient Egyptians came by the beautiful yellow-green glass found in their most exquisite royal jewelry. The answer, it seems, is outer space… by way of a huge meteorite that blasted the Sahara sands into glass many thousands of years before the pyramids were a glimmer in Pharaoh’s eye. Out in the trackless wastes where the borders of Egypt and Libya meet lies an eroded crater and around it; pebbles, nuggets and boulders of translucent glass created when the interplanetary visitor slammed into the sands, instantly vitrifying them.

(images via: JAXA)

It’s estimated the Kebira Crater Field – more than one crater has been discovered – is about 28.5 million years old, with the largest intruder measuring about 3/4 mile (1.2 km) across. The energy released must have been in the order of 100,000 megatons.

Fraser Island, Australia

(images via: Travelblog and Rieckborn)

“If you were marooned on a desert island…” now what’s up with that? All those Crusoe types didn’t have much of a “desert” to contend with (beyond the beach, anyway), just the opposite in fact: lush tropical vegetation, forests of palm trees and so on. Where are the real desert islands? One candidate is Fraser Island, just off the eastern coast of Australia near the city of Brisbane. At 76.5 miles (123 km) long, Fraser Island is the world’s largest “sand island”. It does boast rainforests but they grow in sand, not soil. The surrounding seas are said to be rife with hungry sharks and deadly jellyfish, so you’d might as well stay on shore… listening to your selection of Desert Island Discs.

(image via: Elvis Payne)

What an actual Desert Island might look like – taken in or around Dubai by Elvis Payne, this timeless scene of a lone palm on a blindingly white sand beach gives one pause… and gives one minimal shelter from the searing Persian Gulf sun.

Monument Valley, Utah, USA

(images via: Wikipedia, Vegas-Dreaming, Norman Koren and Azgenweb)

Any Hollywood Western worth its oats was filmed at least partially in Monument Valley. Situated on Utah’s southern border with Arizona near the Four Corners, the area is resplendent in contrasting shades rust red and blue-gray derived from different layers of rocks eroded over millions of years. Even in black & white, the valley is magnificent – some of the more spectacular buttes have been named, The Mittens, the Totem Pole, the Eye of the Sun and the Ear of the Wind arch.

(image via: Flickr: Nature’s Best)

Monument Valley is located on the Navajo Nation Reservation and the Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii (Valley of the Rocks). Though extensively eroded by wind and water, the iconic buttes and mesas in the valley look much the same today as they did when the ancestors of the Navajo first set eyes on them many millennia ago.

Atacama Desert, Chile

(images via: Go Chile, Travel By GPS and Grassroots Adventures)

Sheltered from the rains by the Andes and influenced by coastal inversions created through interaction with the chill Humboldt Current, Chile’s Atacama Desert is widely recognized as being the driest desert in the world – 50 times drier than California’s Death Valley! The regions extreme aridity has allowed mummies left by the ancient Incas (including “Miss Chile” above) to exhibit a remarkable degree of preservation.

(image via: A Byte of News)

The Atacama may be both isolated and hostile to humanity, but that doesn’t mean it remains untouched by the hand of Man… literally. This monumental sculpture of a human hand rising out of the desert sands was created by Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal and stands 11 feet tall. “Mano de Desierto”, or Desert’s Hand, is located about 46.5 miles (75 km) south of the city of Antofagasta, Chile.

Namib Desert, Angola and Namibia

(images via: Wikipedia and Trees Never Meet)

Hundreds of miles south of the Sahara lies one of Africa’s oldest and most beautiful deserts, the Namib. Like the Atacama, the Namib Desert’s exceptional dryness results from an offshore cold current that induces the constant descent of dry air. Currently the Namib receives a mere 1/2 inch of rain annually and it’s been this way for the better part of the last 55 million years. The Namib is in many ways a “living desert”, constantly changing its appearance due to huge roving dune fields driven by howling desert winds.

(images via: Namibia Safari and Grandpoohbah)

Where it meets the South Atlantic ocean, the Namib is often obscured by thick, impenetrable fogs that bring some moisture to the hardy plants and animals that live there. The fogs have also been the bane of seafarers for centuries, leading to innumerable shipwrecks and the forbidding name, Skeleton Coast.

Tabernas Desert, Spain

(images via: Rezoom and Getty Images)

A desert, in Europe? It’s not only more likely than you think, it’s actually there, in Spain. The Tabernas Desert in the Spanish province of Almeria is cut off from humid winds off the Mediterranean Sea by several long mountain ranges and receives a searing 3000 hours of sunlight annually. The area receives about an inch of rain every year, most of which arrives in the form of sudden downpours that have caused picturesque erosion and rugged badlands.

(image via: Cuellar)

The Tabernas Desert has often been used for location shooting of so-called Spaghetti Westerns including The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone’s 1966 masterpiece, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

(image via: Trekearth)

Far north of Almeria in the province of Navarre, Las Bardenas Reales is another Spanish desert so distinctive that it’s been selected to be a UNESCO World heritage site.

Empty Quarter, Saudi Arabia

(images via: Virtual Tourist, Duneguide and Stylefrizz)

The Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, is one of the most forbidding deserts on earth. Daytime temperatures approaching 131°F (55°C ) and sand dunes towering 1,100 feet (330 meters) high make the Empty Quarter no fit place for man or beast.

(image via: Platform Zero)

The Rub’ al Khali was not always such an extreme environment and in ancient times a series of desert oasis’ allowed trading caravans to traverse its wide open plains. Rumors of “lost cities” have echoed through time and several have been found using high-tech imaging equipment aboardthe Space Shuttle and NASA’s Landsat satellites. One such city is Ubar, the “City of a Thousand Pillars”, estimated to have thrived from 3,000 BC until the first century AD.

Khongoryn Els (”Singing Sands”), Mongolia

(images via: Duneguide and Boston.com)

The Singing Sands of Khongoryn Els are located in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park in southern Mongolia. The dunes really do “sing” – the movement of trillions of tiny sand grains against one another under pressure of the wind results in sounds variously described as roaring, booming, barking and even squeaking. The sound is only audible under certain conditions with the size & roundness of the grains, the humidity of the sand, and the sand’s silica content being the most relevant.

(image via: 123People)

Khongoryn Els isn’t easy to get to – which is part of their attraction – and the area is home to rare wildlife such as the Gobi Camel and the snow leopard.

Death Valley, California, USA

(images via: UND, Destination360 and Marc Adamus)

No post on amazing deserts would be compete without mentioning Death Valley. Aptly named for its lack of water and sweltering heat – the temperature at Furnace creek reached 134°F (56.7°C) in 1913 – Death Valley is the lowest point in North America and the second-lowest in the world.

(image via: George Bell)

The depth of the valley produces a convection oven effect on hot days with superheated air becoming trapped within the valley and circulating into any shaded areas.

(images via: Mystic Bren and Gconnect)

By all accounts the most mysterious part of Death Valley is The Racetrack, a flat dry lakebed that features dozens of “sailing stones” of various sizes at the ends of tracks sometimes hundreds of feet long. The tracks are sometimes straight, occasionally sinuous and in some cases reverse themselves. These aren’t mere pebbles either: one sailing stone, dubbed “Karen” by researchers, weighs over 700 pounds!

Antarctica’s Dry Valleys

(images via: Ross Sea and GDargaud)

Deserts, technically, don’t have to be hot; just dry. A series of valleys near Antarctica’s Ross Sea have been virtually ice-free for 2, 3, perhaps 12 million years! On “warm” summer days, glacial rivers flow into ice-covered lakes, freeze solid at night, then flow again the next day. Mostly though, ice and snow sublimates directly into the exceedingly dry air blowing out of central Antarctica; to the point where glaciers dry out before reaching the sea. These so-called “katabatic” winds have sculpted rocks in the Dry Valleys into bizarre shapes somewhat resembling the arches and hoodoos of much hotter deserts. The Dry Valleys are so unlike more typical earthly environments that researchers consider them suitable analogs for studies of Mars.

(image via: Virginia Butler)

The extreme dryness of the air and the lack of rain or snowfall in the Dry Valleys acts to preserve any organic matter for startlingly long periods of time. Freeze-dried by the katabatic winds and then slowly sandblasted away, the corpse of the seal above will someday be worn completely away though that could take thousands of years!

Our planet is blessed (or cursed, depending on one’s point of view) with an abundance of deserts, each offering unique environments and scenic vistas that are in many cases, out of this world. The 10 amazing deserts described above are, to mix metaphors, just the tip of the iceberg and you can expect a future showcase to disclose more of the hot, the dry and the sandy!

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Outdoor photographers rely on a great eye to relay the picture they see in their heart and want to share. They travel the globe to capture images of gorgeous wildlife and lovely landscapes, using time-tested techniques and tremendous talent to touch our emotions with their recorded moment of time. Here are 14 of the best and the brightest contemporary outdoor photographers and 37 of their breathtakingly creative images.

Pam Wood

(image credits: Photography by Pame)

Pam Wood is a freelance photographer who offers a vast selection of photos from around the globe. She has a quest for capturing the world at its best with her camera, her quest is to capture the magic of moment in time. Wood hopes her pictures make people laugh or smile, while encouraging us to do what we can to preserve our planet for future generation to enjoy. “This is an incredible planet we all live on. Let’s celebrate life!” Her photo of a tiger underwater was one of the finalists in the Natural World category of Smithsonian magazine’s 6th Annual Photo Contest.

Galen Rowell

(image credits: Mountain Light)

Galen Rowell was an internationally beloved freelance photographer and global adventurer. His life was tragically cut short when a private plane with his wife and two friends crashed near his home. He offered worldwide wisdom on the environmental impact being wrought upon people and their lands. Some of his works include wild horses in Patagonia, Argentina, and a rare 360-degree rainbow over Na Pali Coast, Kauai Island in Hawaii. He captured another rainbow, many in fact, this one over Hidden Peak, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan. The next to lower right is called, Stormy Sunset over Evolution Lake. In the bottom right, Star streaks over South Gasherbrum Glacier in Pakistan.

Curious Expeditions – Michelle Enemark and Dylan Thuras

(image credits:Curious Expeditions)

Aptly named Curious Expeditions, these photographers, Michelle Enemark and Dylan Thuras, travel the world snapping shots of bizarre yet beautiful places. The top photo is of beautiful Rose Valley, Göreme. Göreme, an area with fairy chimneys, is in Cappadocia, Turkey. The deep valleys and soaring rock formations are volcanic rock that has slowly eroded away to create strange “Fairy Chimneys”. The locals had believed them extraordinarily magical places that only fairies could have created. Ancient people hollowed out the fairy chimneys to carve out homes, chapels, and tombs from the soft inner rock. They also tunneled to create underground cities, some going down eight stories. The bottom picture is a fairy chimney hotel which is also located in Göreme.

Patrick Smith

(image credits:Patrick Smith)

Sometimes nature can take your breath away with her beauty. Patrick Smith has enormous talent taking photographs. The top picture is called Big Sur, Portal of the Sun. It was the winner in the 2009 Nature’s Best Ocean Views competition. Smith says, This sea arch opening in a cliff face at Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur allows large waves to come through at high tide before a big storm. The waves often fill the entire portal to the top, and the portal becomes a giant water shotgun! The Tufoni formations in the rock are incredible and should be seen in person.” The bottom photo is of Trinidad Beach which is north of Eureka, California. At high tide, the amazing cloud layers and intense colors are spectacular.

James Neeley

(image credits:James Neeley)

James Neeley takes stunning photos, making it easy to see why landscapes are usually devoted to nature without mankind polluting the frame. At Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, buffalo still roam and graze on Antelope Flats as seen at Moulton Barn shortly before a storm broke loose. The top right photo is of Lower Antelope Canyon, also called The Corkscrew. It is a hot destination for photographers like James Neeley who titled this picture Nature’s Abstraction. On the bottom left, the lake has a majestic backdrop of the Teton Range in the morning light. There is no mistaking Monument Valley landscape for any other spot in the world. It once stood synonymous for the Wild West. The iconic sandstone buttes have been a famous landscape in media genres since the 1930s.

Stuck in CustomsTrey Ratcliff

(image credit:Stuck in Customs)

Trey Ratcliff is the creative photographer behind Stuck in Customs. He captured this stunning shot in the final hours of daylight, the rugged peaks near the southern tip of Argentina and the edge of Chile, just a glacier away from Antarctica. He stayed there watching icebergs float by until the last morsels of dusk remained. To capture this moment in time, Ratcliff stated, ‘I started on one edge of these rugged peaks and moved around to this side, to get the view from the glacial lake. The spiked mountains there are Cerro Torre, and I was very lucky to see them without cloud cover. I understand they are covered up 90% of the time, so to have crystal clear air was fortunate. The glacier there, which presents on the right but really goes back behind many more mountains, is called “glacier grande”.’

Mario Bertocchi

(image credits:Mario Bertocchi)

Photographer Mario Bertocchi possesses an uncanny knack for capturing captivating moments of time and stunning landscapes. Promise of a new day is the title of the top photo. After a morning storm, a rainbow shimmers over the Teton Mountains. There are no foothills along the Tetons, making the view dramatic as they rise sharply from the surrounding terrain to about 7,000 feet. In the bottom landscape, the rugged coast and steep terraces of Cinque Terre National Park overlook the sea. Cinque Terra is located on the Italian Riviera and is made up of five villages. This view is of Riomaggiore.

ZooBorns

(image credits:ZooBorns)

As their name implies, ZooBorns specializes in baby animals born in zoos. Many of their photos are taken outside, but taking pictures of newborn animals sometimes takes them indoors as well. They share their photographs online and hope you see something that brightens your day. Part of their mission is to help people learn about the need to protect these adorable animals in the wild and the ways in which accredited zoos and aquariums contribute to this cause.

National Geographic Photographers

(image credits:National Geographic, National Geographic Travel)

Per-Andre Hoffmann

(image credits:Per-Andre Hoffmann)

Professional photographer Per-Andre Hoffmann has been called a “magician of light”. Although he travels around the globe to find the perfect moment and capture it, these images were taken near where he is based, Makati City, Philippines. The top left photo of the starfish was captured at Palawan, Philippines, which was once named as the best island destination in East and Southeast Asia by National Geographic Traveler. The top right picture is of the Mayon volcano that erupted in 2007. The bottom photograph is of the famous Manila Bay sunset.

Jason Bradley

(image credits: Bradley Photographic)

Jason Bradley had wanted to be a marine scientist. As an aspiring researcher, photography was a vital tool. Becoming a photographer was an afterthought for Bradley. He adores nature and most of his freelance photos are marine related. He is an expert at capturing underwater shots and has many galleries showcasing his works.

BONUS SHOTS Pam Wood

(image credits: Photography by Pame)

Pam Wood is an unbelievably talented photographer. Although she also snaps landscapes, her animal shots are extraordinary. From Rainbow Flamingos to the bottom lion cub that she titled, Yummy, she showcases her skills. Expect to see more and more great pictures emerge from Pam Wood.

BONUS Patrick Smith

(image credit:Patrick Smith)

Patrick Smith calls this photo Maelstrom. He risked his life to snap this shot in Kauai, Hawaii. He states, “I had this near-death experience on my last trip to Kauai! This lava-ledge is 20 feet above the sea, and I suppose the incoming wave is twice that height. This is not the Sprouting Horn near Poipu and it is not Queen’s bath! It is called the Mokolea Lava Pools.”

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In most parts of the world, when a bridge is needed it is built from wood, steel or concrete. But in Cherrapunji in northeastern India, the locals are much more patient. They simply coax nearby trees to grow into natural bridges. The process takes many years, but the result is completely natural, surprisingly strong, and looks like something out of a wonderful fantasy world.

The Ficus elastica is a type of rubber tree with extremely strong roots. This tree species is unique because, in addition to its primary root system, it also grows a secondary set of roots part of the way up its trunk. This secondary set of roots helps the trees thrive in inhospitable and difficult locations. It also makes them the ideal material to use for building natural, living bridges over the many rivers and streams in the Cherrapunji area.

Cherrapunji is often credited as being the wettest place on earth. Because of the terrain all of this moisture has created, the Ficus elastica has had to develop its unusual root system, and the people who live in the area have had to adapt to the constant rainfall. By making their bridges out of living plants that were already in place, they have created a very cool environmentally-friendly solution that has produced no non-organic waste and required very few resources.

The bridges are made by using a root-guidance system. Betel nut tree trunks are hollowed out and used to surround and contain young, thin roots from the Ficus elastica trees. The roots are then guided to grow over the body of water. When they reach the other side, they are allowed to take root in the dirt there. The guidance system can be removed, and nature takes it course to produce a beautiful, strong, functional natural vegetation bridge.

(all images via: Atlas Obscura)

It can take upwards of ten or fifteen years for the root bridges to really take root and become strong enough to use, but they are certainly worth the wait. Some bridges can support fifty people at a time, and some of the bridges still in use today are over 500 years old. Once the Western world was alerted as to their existence, the local people have had to work to preserve the traditional root bridges. The practice of growing living bridges continues to this day in the area, as a new bridge is currently being grown there.

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Jellyfish Lake, Palau

(images via: Ah Boon)

Most people first learned about Jellyfish Lake while watching Survivor: Palau or Survivor: Micronesia, in which a trip to swim in a secluded lake full of stingless jellyfish was the prize for winning a reward challenge. Rewarding it was – and is, if you’re ever in Palau! The lake is on Eil Malk, one of Palau’s Rock Islands and formed around 12,000 years ago, when geologic uplift raised the island sufficiently above sea level that water was trapped in its central depression. Here’s a short video taken at – and in – Palau’s Jellyfish Lake:

Diving Jelly Fish Lake in Palau, via Talk.pa

(image via: ECheng)

Millions of jellyfish live in the lake, subsisting via a symbiotic relationship with algae they host within their bodies. El Nino events which occur roughly once every decade tend to raise the lake’s temperature and this can cause severe die-offs of the jellyfish population – but the tough li’l guys always bounce back.

Mono Lake, California, USA

(images via: Art.com, Earth From Space and E.J.Peiker)

Mono Lake, located near the California-Nevada border east of Yosemite Nat’l Park, is superlative in a great many ways. Considered to be “hypersaline”, the lake has no outlet and evaporation over tens of thousands of years has concentrated salts and minerals to extremely high levels. Even so, life thrives at Mono Lake – as many as 6 trillion brine shrimp (yes, “Sea Monkeys”) provide migrating birds with a crucial food source and anchor an ecological niche found nowhere else. Mono Lake, with its trademark tufa towers and the look of what Mark twain called “the loneliest place on earth” has inspired generations of artists, photographers and filmmakers.

(image via: The Living Moon)

The above photo perfectly captures the near-surreal atmosphere surrounding Mono Lake; a combination of the otherworldly tufa formations, the ethereal high-altitude skies and the soothingly familiar rippling surface of the lake itself.

Diego de la Haya, Costa Rica

(images via: Costa Rica Tourism & Travel, Travelblog, Selling CR and TravelExperta)

Diego de la Haya is a crater lake that fills one of the 5 main craters of 11,260 ft high Mount Irazú. The lake has been known to change its color from its usual brilliant green to gray, pink, or red depending on the type of gas released by underlying volcanic activity inside the mountain.

(image via: Sanchiri)

Mount Irazú last erupted from 1963 through 1965, with the initial blast coinciding with President John F. Kennedy’s arrival in Costa Rica for a state visit. The volcano is very active, having erupted 23 times since historians first noted a major eruption in the year 1723.

Lake Nyos, Cameroon

(images via: Water Encyclopedia, Environmental Graffiti and Dibussi)

Usually “before & after” photos show an improvement in the subject but that’s not the case with Cameroon’s Lake Nyos. The lake’s sickly, greenish-yellow hue is visible evidence of a deadly 1986 eruption of carbon dioxide that killed upwards of 1,700 people by suffocation. Scientists believe that an underwater rockslide tipped the delicate pressure balance that had kept CO2 dissolved in the lake. Once gas bubbles formed and rose, the pressure was reduced, much like popping the cap on a shaken bottle of soda.

(image via: Pagesperso-Orange)

Could the August 21, 1986 disaster at Lake Nyos happen again? Perhaps not – thanks to several outgassing “autosiphon” pipes sunk vertically into the lake like, well, soda straws. The international Nyos Organ project has succeeded in reducing the Lake Nyos’ CO2 levels and has also done the same at nearby Lake Monoun, scene of a similar event in 1984 that killed over 30 people.

Lake Baikal, Russia

(images via: Baikal Adventure and Chargelife)

Lake Baikal is the Queen of lakes, holding more fresh water than all of North America’s Great lakes combined! It’s also the world’s oldest lake, 25 million years or so, and around 2,500 unique species (such as the Nerpa, or Baikal Seal) are found in and around Lake Baikal – and nowhere else. This presents a problem… global warming is threatening to change the environment at Lake Baikal, and change is not a good thing to the uniquely adapted plants and animals who call it home.

(image via: Daily Galaxy)

A rocky outcrop standing out from Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal symbolizes the rugged beauty and echoing isolation of this magnificent lake that holds 20 percent of the world’s fresh water.

Loch Ness, Scotland, UK

(images via: Solar Navigator, Naturephoto and Pibburns)

As Scotland’s second-deepest loch (lake), Loch Ness is estimated to hold more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Both the loch’s depth (754 feet) and constant murkiness (due to peat in the surrounding soil) have contributed to the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Some say that what has occasionally appeared to be a prehistoric plesiosaur is merely the occasional sunken log floating to the loch’s surface but we know better, don’t we?

(image via: Modern Mechanix)

Though the first “reported” mention of the Loch Ness Monster dates from St. Columba’s encounter with it in the 6th century AD, modern reports date from the early 1930s and didn’t always depict the creature actually in the lake, er, loch. The above illustration was composed to complement a 1934 article about a motorcyclist who claimed Nessie crossed his path during a midnight ride. Was alcohol involved? Neither the rider nor Nessie are telling.

Dead Sea, Israel/Jordan

(images via: Standing With Israel and GSI)

The Dead Sea, regardless of its name rooted in ancient origins, is a lake with some very odd characteristics. Like Mono Lake and other hypersaline lakes, the Dead Sea has only one main inlet – the Jordan River – experiences minimal rainfall and has no outlet save for evaporation. It is also exceptionally low: at 1,385 ft below sea level, the shores of the Dead Sea are the lowest dry areas on earth. How low can it go? Step into the Dead Sea itself and you’ll find its deepest point 1,240 feet below the surface.

(image via: Travelblog)

The waters of the Dead Sea are over 8 times as salty as ocean water, though the “salt” in the seas are 97 percent sodium chloride… only 30.4 percent of the Dead Sea’s salts are NaCl with the rest being potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and various bromides. With an average salt concentration of 33.7 percent, the Dead Sea is unusually dense and thus allows people to float much easier due to the property of natural buoyancy.

Lake Toba, Indonesia

(images via: Wayfaring and SkyscraperCity)

Located in northern Sumatra in Indonesia, Lake Toba is one of the most serene and silent places one could visit… 73,000 years ago, not so much. Lake Toba, you see, is a water-filled caldera formed after the largest volcanic eruption to occur in the last 25 million years. In the aftermath of the eruption, the Indian subcontinent was buried beneath an average 7 inches of ash and the entire planet entered into a “volcanic winter” for approximately 6 years.

(image via: The Travelrag)

The eruption of the Toba super-volcano had severe human consequences as well. It’s estimated that the population of Homo Sapiens was reduced to just a few tens of thousands, and that tribes living east of Sumatra migrated to Australia in an effort to escape the disaster.

Aral Sea, Russia

(image via: Think Twice)

Once one of the world’s largest lakes, the Aral Sea has become the poster child for environmental mismanagement. We can blame Soviet central planning for this one; though the present governments of successor states Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have to share the blame for their reluctance to repair the damage. In a nutshell, a grand scheme to convert the wider region into a cotton-growing center saw the rivers which formerly fed the Aral Sea dammed and/or diverted to provide irrigation. Without incoming water, the sea began to evaporate, becoming progressively saltier and ever more polluted with agricultural runoff. The disappearance of the Aral Sea – over the course of a single human generation – is a shockingly sad story chronicled by orbiting satellites and spacecraft.

(images via: Global Vacations and TAMU)

Today the situation has somewhat stabilized though only the northern part of the lake (the North Aral Sea) stands a reasonable hope of survival over the long term. Effects on the region’s climate are mainly negative – reduced rainfall stunts non-irrigated crops while fierce westerly winds blow powdered pollutants and acrid, salty dust over urban and rural areas, contributing to a massive health crisis among the people living there.

Lake Vostok, Antarctica

(images via: LDEO-Columbia and Discover)

Deep beneath nearly 12,500 feet of Antarctic ice lies, improbably, a lake – Lake Vostok. Approximately the size and shape of Lake Ontario, this most isolated lake somehow manages to stay liquid while being totally deprived of sunlight for tens of millions of years.

(images via: Daily Cognition, Fabristol and Atomic Rockets)

A Russian expedition has been trying to drill down into Lake Vostok to sample the water and any possible bacteria it may contain. Perhaps more than just bacteria have managed to survive – lakes in caves often host specialized plants and animals who have evolved and adapted to survive extremes of heat, cold, darkness and pressure. Since it’s likely Lake Vostok had a varied and viable ecosystem when Antarctica began to freeze over 40 million years ago, one wonders what, if anything, has survived in its depths… and if so, will those lifeforms take kindly to being disturbed?

Our planet’s lakes have always been a source of fascination mixed with an undercurrent of fear – who can say what lurks unseen beneath their placid surfaces? Perhaps this combination of appreciation and anxiety is what draws us to lakes. According to Dr. Seuss, Luke Luck likes lakes… do you?

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Freelance photographers roam the planet in search of that perfect moment in time. Some of these artist use their cameras to share with us hidden natural delights. There is magic in that moment that can awaken our spirits to also love that split millisecond of space, time, and beauty. Freelance photographers take us underwater, across the sea, out in the middle of nowhere to bring us breathtaking landscapes and spectacular wildlife. Here are 10 world-class freelance photographers and 36 photos of their famous works.

George Lepp

(image credits: George Lepp)

George Lepp is well-known outdoor and nature photographer. His stunning images reveal his environmental responsibility and passion for natural beauty. He captures landscapes and animals with his camera before sharing them with the world. Lepp also writes about his biological and photographic knowledge. The above photos are of a Colorado landscape, tulip fields, a leopard, and hippos in Africa.

Jim Zuckerman

(image credits: Corporate Fine Art)

Wildlife, nature, and travel, a far cry from most doctor’s lives, but that is what Jim Zuckerman started off to be in his career before changing over to a photographer. He started a love affair with photography when he was 20. Like many of the artists featured here, he is a multi-published author and world traveler. His works cover a wild range of topics, but pictured above is a seahorse, a Morpho butterfly from Peru, a vicious piranha, a close encounter with a snarling leopard in Namibia, a giant katydid from Papua, New Guinea, and sparing elk from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

Jonathan Blair, Robert Turner, David Muench, Nevada Wier

(image credits: Crocodile Fotos, Crocodile Fotos, theg2gallery,Muench Photography, Nevada Wier, Nevada Wier)

Jonathan Blair was first published in National Geographic Magazine, before his photography took him into adventure stories and underwater photos. The top left picture is called, Exclusive Dining: “The vivid mottlecah eucalyptus lures Australian honey possums, one of two mammal species that live only on nectar and pollen.” The top right is Blair’s of Saunderskill Stream. Robert Turner is an avid conservationist who began as a documentary filmmaker before shifting his skill to photography. He searches out perfect natural lighting as in the woods pictured above. David Muench has more than forty books of landscaping photography. He also works with other photographers in workshops. The bottom left photo of Muench’s is called, Extreme Sierras. Nevada Wier is yet another award-winning freelance photographer. She specializes in very remote corners of the globe and the cultures that inhabit them.The two bottom right photos are hers; she snapped the Galapagos Sea Lions off of Espanola Island and the misty sunrise was captured in Myanmar Maurk.

Jason Bradley

(image credits: Bradley Photographic)

Jason Bradley had wanted to be a marine scientist. As an aspiring researcher, photography was a vital tool. Becoming a photographer was an afterthought for Bradley. He adores nature and most of his freelance photos are marine related. He is an expert at capturing underwater shots and has many galleries showcasing his works.

Dennis Nigel

(image credits: Dennis Nigel)

Dennis Nigel is a wildlife photographer. His works include anything African, wildlife, scenery, people and culture. He offers over 70,000 images on his site as well as extensive photo tips. At top left are cheetah cubs, the picture taken at Kapama Game Reserve, South Africa. Below that image is a meerkat captured at sunset as well a lions all snapped in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. At the top right is Parson’s Chamaeleon, an endangered rainforest species photographed in Madagascar. Nigel also specializes in landscapes, in freezing the moment forever with his camera and then sharing with us the beauty of our natural world.

Pam Wood

(image credits: Photography by Pame)

Pam Wood is a freelance photographer who offers a vast selection of photos from around the globe. She has a quest for capturing the world at its best with her camera, her quest is to capture the magic of moment in time. Wood hopes her pictures make people laugh or smile, while encouraging us to do what can to preserve our planet for future generation to enjoy. “This is an incredible planet we all live on. Let’s celebrate life!”

Galen Rowell

(image credits: Mountain Light)

Galen Rowell was an internationally beloved freelance photographer and global adventurer. His life was tragically cut short when a private plane with his wife and two friends crashed near his home. He offered worldwide wisdom on the environmental impact being wrought upon people and their lands. Some of his works include wild horses in Patagonia, Argentina, a rare 360-degree rainbow over Na Pali Coast, Kauai Island in Hawaii. He captured another rainbow, many in fact, this one over Hidden Peak, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan. The next to lower right is called, Stormy Sunset over Evolution Lake. In the bottom right, Star streaks over South Gasherbrum Glacier in Pakistan.

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Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA

(images via: Amazing Nature and Encyclopedia Britannica)

Mammoth Cave is one of the oldest and most well-known cave complexes in the USA. It’s also the longest cave system in the world with 365 miles of subterranean passageways. Having been made a national park in the summer of 1941, Mammoth Cave was discovered by American settlers in the late 18th century but was known to local native tribes for thousands of years. Highlights of Mammoth Cave include a giant sinkhole called Cedar Sink, and rather self-descriptive features dubbed Grand Avenue, Frozen Niagara and Fat Man’s Misery.

(image via: CardCow)

The above postcard showing the Hindu temple and Onyx Temple formations in Mammoth Cave must be very old, as the reverse indicates the sender should affix a 1-cent stamp.

Lascaux Caves, France

(images via: Darci Adam and HubPages)

The cave complex at Lascaux, in the Dordogne département of southwestern France, host some of the most magnificent prehistoric cave paintings yet discovered. Rendered in natural pigments and estimated to be 16,000 years old, the many hundreds of images in the caves depict some of the Ice Age creatures that were sources of fascination – and food – for the early modern humans who inhabited the area.

(image via: NationMaster)

The largest images located in the spectacular Great Hall of the Bulls measure up to 17 feet in length! Though we all can enjoy these incredibly lifelike depictions of paleolithic life by way of the Internet, it’s unfortunate that the caves themselves are now virtually off limits to tourists and even researchers due to a destructive fungus that has attacked the paintings. Even when removed, the damage is obvious and, at the present time, irreparable.

Galos Salt Caves, Chicago

(images via: TIME, DayLife and Nelswadycki)

Deep beneath Jolly Inn Banquets in Portage Park, Chicago, colored lights illuminate a scene few would expect to set their sights upon. Once an East European secret, the benefits of salt cave siestas have arrived in suburban Chicago. At Galos Caves visitors relax on incongruous lawn chairs, surrounded by salt stalactites and breathing in salt-saturated air while recorded seaside sounds soothe the psyche.

(image via: The Thief)

So-called “salt therapy” has legions of adherents who abide by the healing properties of natural salt. Whether it’s the salt itself, the iodine compounds within it or just the relaxing atmosphere inside a salt-lined cave, who can say? Well, owner Ewa Chwala can say – watch her do just that in the following video:

A visit to Galos Spa, via johnandmaddie39

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, USA

(images via: Encyclopedia Britannica and Life In The Fast Lane)

Carlsbad Caverns is perhaps the most spectacular “classic” natural cave complex in the USA. Discovered accidentally by Jim White in the late 1890s, the cavern complex includes the Big Room, the second-largest cave chamber in the world. This huge, echoing natural limestone chamber is nearly 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) long, 625 feet (190.5 meters) wide and 350 feet (107 meters) high. Unlike many limestone caves, Carlsbad Caverns was carved out not by underground streams or mild carbolic acid but by strong sulfuric acid formed due to the close proximity of oil and gas deposits.

(image via: National Park Service)

Young local cowboy Jim White discovered Carlsbad Caverns from a distance when he espied from horseback what appeared to be a “volcano” of bats spiraling out from the cave entrance. At its peak, the population of bats residing in Carlsbad Caverns was estimated to be in the millions.

Ice Caves, Antarctica

(images via: WebEcoist and Wikimedia)

Antarctica’s Mount Erebus is, literally, the hottest thing in Antarctica and when piping hot meets icy cold, strange things happen. One result of Erebus’s steam heating are towering ice fumaroles and spacious ice caves.

(image via: World Oceans)

Then there is the oddly named Erebus Ice Tongue, a glacier that flows down the mountain’s flanks and into the frigid Ross Sea where interaction with waves and sea ice creates temporary ice caves of stunning beauty.

Kartchner Caverns, Arizona, USA

(images via: Terrain and University of Arizona)

Kartchner Caverns, which runs for over 2 miles beneath the desert sands around Benson AZ, was sealed off from the surface for about 200,000 years until one day in 1974, Randy Tufts and Gary Tenen became the first human beings to set foot inside. The cave system, which was designated Kartchner Caverns State Park in 1999, is exceedingly fragile and its existence was kept secret from all but a few until proper guardianship could be put in place to protect the exquisite formations inside.

(image via: California Literary Review)

The spindly formation above, called Soda Straws, is composed of hollow tubes that incessantly drip from the cavern ceiling. Each drop deposits a minuscule amount of minerals onto the end before falling to the cave floor. Considering that each “straw” grows by just 1/10 of an inch per CENTURY and the longest straw in the cavern is just over 21 feet long, well, you could do the math but I’ll make it easy by saying the Kartchner Caverns straws have been growing undisturbed for a good couple hundred thousand years!

Thylacoleo Caves, Australia

(images via: MuseumVictoria, Western Australian Museum, TV and Film Guy and Paleochick)

In 2002, an expedition from the Western Australian Museum set out to investigate reports of large skeletons in several caves out in the country’s forbidding desert wasteland, the Nullarbor Plain. Among the remains of dozens of extinct Australian megafauna dating back over 500,000 years were the first complete skeletons of Thylacoleo Carnifex – the Marsupial Lion – ever discovered.

(image via: BeingFrank)

Thylacoleo must have been a terrifying predator to behold, and having one drop in on you while exploring an Australian desert cave would rate rather high among any caver’s list of “what’s the worst that could happen”.

Cave Of The Swallows, Mexico

(images via: Rockhoppers Daily Grind and Kayak Huasteca)

At 1,200 feet deep, the Cave Of The Swallows (Sotano de las Golondrinas, in Spanish) in central Mexico is deep enough to, er, swallow the Empire State Building. It’s also conical in cross section with the base wider than the top. The cave was only explored recently, in the 1960s.

(image via: CHW)

Here’s a MUST SEE video narrated by David Attenborough showing what have to be the world’s most insane BASE jumpers leaping into the Cave Of The Swallows. Once you’ve done this (and lived), what else is there?

Sotano De Las Golondrinas, via garydelarosa

Cave Bacon

(images via: 1Sock, Trip Advisor, UT Grotto and California Literary Review)

No, not Bacon Cave, Cave Bacon… because face it, what self-respecting internet posting these days doesn’t pay homage to that most versatile (and delicious) member of the Pork food group? In any case, “cave bacon” is another, tastier word for layered flowstone formed by the incremental deposition of water-borne minerals along a repeated route. Variations in surface rainfall, mineral balance and other hydrological cum speliological phenomena can affect both the speed and the content of the water moving over the flowstone, leading to layering effects that remind some (heck, ALL) of bacon.

(image via: Diamond Caverns)

Imagine falling into a cave and, after several fruitless, foodless days have passed, finding THIS hanging over your head? Found in Kentucky’s Diamond Caverns, the calcite drapery formation above stimulates both imaginations and appetites along the New Discovery Passage.

Cave Of Crystals, Mexico

(images via: Environmental Graffiti, Life In The Fast Lane and CubeMe)

One of the world’s most magnificent caves is also one of the newest to be discovered. In April of 2000, miners at the Naica Mine in Chihuahua, Mexico, stumbled onto a vast, water-filled cave while exploring for lead and zinc. Upon pumping out the mineral-rich, extremely hot water from the underground space, the miners were amazed to find a fantastic lattice of gigantic Selenite crystals measuring up to 40 feet long and weighing as much as 55 tons!

(image via: Mystic’s Thought Garden)

Here’s a short video on the Cave Of Crystals:

Cueva de Los Cristales, via johnnygbc

Since the hot supersaturated solution flooding the Cave Of Crystals (or Cueva de los Cristales in Spanish) has been drained, the crystals will not grow any larger. On the bright side, the cave’s 43°C (109°F) plus temperature and 90 to 100 percent humidity ensures that unprotected intruders won’t stay long.

Through the modern technological marvels of video and photography, Earth’s deepest, darkest secrets are at last being revealed. In the case of these truly amazing caves, however, exposure only magnifies their mystery and wonder!

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How can earthly locales look so utterly extra-terrestrial? Production teams scouting out locations for films set on other planets need look no further than these 15 bizarre, alien-like landscapes, which seem entirely removed from the nature found on Earth. From rivers in Spain that run blood red to a legendary place of underground rock cities and ‘fairy chimneys’ in Turkey, these locations seem to have come straight out of science fiction.

Giant’s Causeway, Ireland

(images via: touristnorthernireland, Wikimedia Commons, wanderingwhistler, kyz)

Visitors have been puzzling over the bizarre hexagonal basalt columns at Giant’s Causeway along the Causeway Coast of Ireland since the area was first documented in 1693. The columns, which resemble ancient paving blocks, were originally part of a volcanic platueau 50 to 60 million years ago.

The Wave, Arizona, US

(images via: Wikimedia Commons)

Images of The Wave, a sandstone rock formation in Arizona, often inspire cries of “Photoshopped!” when they appear online, because they look so incredibly unreal. Strange undulating forms seem to have been carved into the landscape, creating what looks like a natural skate park of sorts. Approximately 190 million years old, The Wave is made of Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone that calcified into rock from sand dunes in vertical and horizontal layers.

Dry Valleys, Antarctica

(image via: Dark Roasted Blend)

It seems strange enough that there are areas of Antarctica that get almost no snowfall – but the landscape itself of these ‘Dry Valleys’, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound, is like some kind of twisted, desolate film set. Vast stretches of sand, seal skeletons, rocks eerily sculpted by wind and steaming ice fumaroles (volcanic gas vents) make this place seem like it can’t possibly be real.

Rio Tinto, Spain

(images via: Wikimedia Commons)

The blood red Rio Tinto, a river originating in the Sierra Morena mountains of Andalusia, Spain, gets its unusual hue from its high iron content. A site along the river has been mined for copper, silver, gold and other metals for over 5,000 years. However strangely beautiful it may be, this river is actually an environmental disaster due to heavy metal contamination and mine leaks. Though it’s been on hiatus for 10 years, a recent increase in copper prices has prompted plans to reopen it in early 2010.

Black Rock Desert, Nevada, US

(image via: National Geographic)

The Black Rock Desert of Nevada is a rather mystical place, with its brilliantly colored geysers, dry rock bed and dramatic mountains. So, it’s not too surprising that this place was chosen as the setting for Burning Man, an annual festival known for its emphasis on disengaging from reality.

Cave of Crystals, Mexico

(image via: National Geographic)

It looks like a microscopic image of crystals – until you see the tiny little man standing amongst them. Mexico’s Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) is home to some of the world’s largest known natural crystals, measuring as much as 36 feet long. Geologist Juan Manuel García-Ruiz said the crystals have thrived for millenia in the very unusual environment of the cave, where the temperature stays around 136 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

Spotted Lake, Canada

(image via: Spot Cool Stuff)

About a mile north of the border between Washington State and British Columbia, Canada, you’ll find what’s sure to be the weirdest body of water you’ve ever seen. The Spotted Lake – known as Klikuk in the indigenous language – divides itself into a strange patchwork of white, green and yellow pools in the summertime. The ‘walkways’ in between the pools are actually made up of salts, titanium, calcium, sulphates and other minerals.

Tessellated Pavement, Mauritania

(image via: Wikipedia)

It may be hard to believe that the extremely straight, geometric rectangles that form at Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula of Tasmania aren’t man-made. But, this ‘tessellated pavement’ is a natural phenomenon – a rare erosional feature formed when sedimentary rock fractured through stress on the Earth’s crust. As the rock dries out at low tide, salt crystals form on the surface, wearing it away and leaving just the joints behind.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

Driving across the world’s largest salt flats – Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia – can feel as if you’re about to disappear into nothingness. The way the sunlight reflects off the vast expanse of salt makes the sky seem to blend into the landscape. Alien-like piles of salt piled into cone shapes by workers, waiting to be collected and processed, enhance the feeling that you’re in a very unique place. Salar de Uyuni contains about 10 billion tons of salt, with only about 25,000 tons extracted every year.

Cappadocia, Turkey

(images via: Life in the Fast Lane)

The rocky lunar landscape of Cappadocia, Turkey is truly one-of-a-kind. Tunnels rigged with booby traps and vast underground cities carved by the Hittites 3,000 years ago are just a few highlights of this strange place, where houses are carved into the rock and so-called ‘fairy chimney’ rock formations dot the volcanic tufa rock land.  This area, located 200 miles south of Ankara, is claimed by some to have magical magnetic healing powers.

Vale de Lua, Brazil

(images via: Amnemona, Wikipedia, Clauamorim)

It’s not hard to feel as if you’ve left the planet Earth when visiting Vale de Lua, Brazil. This ‘valley of the moon’ is the most-visited area of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, located on the Chapada dos Veadeiros, an ancient plateau thought to be about 1.8 billion years old. Its rock formations, eroded by the waters of the San Miguel river, are among the oldest in the world.

White Desert, Egypt

(images via PhotoTravels.net)

Towering chalk rock formations stand like gigantic mushrooms in the White Desert, sculpted by the sandstorms that have whipped through the area for millennia. Located in the Farafra Oasis of Western Egypt, this bizarre landscape is a popular area for camping and tourism.

Blood Pond Hot Spring, Japan

(images via: Travel Photo Gallery)

Literally called “hell” in Japanese, the Blood Pond Hot Spring in Beppu, Japan certainly doesn’t look too inviting. High iron content turns the waters a deep, unsettling red, and the effect is magnified by the steam that rolls off the surface.

Stone Forest, China

(images via: ChinaPictures.org)

“If you have visited the Yunnan province of China without seeing the Stone Forest, you’ve wasted your time”. That old local saying hints at the grandeur of this attraction, a 400-square-kilometer stone wonderland where tall rock formations tower overhead like trees. The Stone Forest was formed over millennia as the sea, which once covered the area, gradually retreated, slowly eroding the bedrock.

Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves, Austria

(images via: Wayfaring.info)

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Travel, vacations, holidays, we want to remember the fun times forever so we take lots of pictures. We want that moment in time, that feeling of happiness, to stay with us for as long as our memory and senses stay intact. Yet we take photos to help us recall the good feelings and the wonderful times with as much detail and emotion as we had at the moment we snapped the shot. However, sometimes when people travel to a place or to an event, something thrilling or chilling happens at that moment. Some photographers act upon sudden impulse in that moment of tension or of fright to capture that image. Travel photographers can influence the world with their snapshot of time, be it beautiful and breathtaking or be it heartbreaking devastation. The entire globe can witness the second in time due to the photographer’s quick aim and shoot. This is travel photography and here are 46 snapshot moments around the world.

Snapshots

(image sources: Andrew Castellano)

How could you go to the Caribbean and not take pictures to capture the moment and the memory? The top left photo is called The Edge of the Earth and it was taken from Saint Martin. Mount Kilimanjaro is an inactive stratovolcano in Tanzania and as pictured on the right it is the highest peak in Africa at 19,331 feet. Camping is a wonderful way to travel, to get away from it all and get a clear view of the sky. You can recline back and stare at the unobstructed universe until you are in awe and everything will come into perspective. The camping picture is called Out of This World and was captured in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. On the bottom left is Kagbeni, Nepal and of wheat with the mighty Himalayan mountain in the background. The photo on the bottom right is of Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. There are 16 lakes ranging from blue to gray, azure or turquoise like in the travel picture.

US History

(image sources: The Big PictureThe Big Picture)

Some photographers travel for the specific reason to photograph a great event or to capture for the world a historical moment of time. Such was the case at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The dark swarms on the ground that resemble ants are huge crowds of people who traveled to take their own photos and be present in Washington D.C. to see the new president sworn into office. This image was shot by GeoEye Satellite down at the National Mall and the United States Capitol on 1/20/09. In the bottom photo, another historic moment was recorded. A Marine helicopter carrying former President George W. Bush departed from the East Front of the U.S. Capitol as President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife wave goodbye.

9/11

(image sources: Free Republic ,Prison Planet,The Big Picture)

Some moments, however, are quick reflexes to capture the chilling event be it by a traveler or by a person on the scene of devastation. 9/11 was such a day when some photographers were fast despite their fears to photograph New York’s World Trade Center attack and collapse. It was their sudden impulse that allowed the rest of the world to share in those terrifying tragic moments. It was their snapshots that help us to remember the moments of infamy that will live on forever through their images.

Tropical Paradise Philippines  & Ondoy

(image sources: Per-Andre Hoffman ,Fabulous Philippines ,Chacknam Travel & Tours ,The Big Picture ,The Big Picture ,The Big Picture )

Manila in the Philippines offers some of the most stunning and famous sunsets anywhere on the globe. This tropical paradise is full of adventures to be had, gorgeous sites to see and to photograph, as well as sweet-natured people. Pagsanjan Falls, 299 feet high, also has caves behind the falls to explore, a great place to swim, to take photos and have endless hours of fun. The Chocolate Hills are an unusual geological formation, a natural phenomena, in Bohol with about 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills spread over more than 20 square miles. From the sea to across the island, you would be happily taking snapshots to savor those moments forever. For all the wonderful reasons to visit the Philippines, what if you were a tourist over the last few weeks?

Worse yet, what if you lived there when first Ondoy, Typhoon Ketsana, and less than a week later Supertyphoon Parma hammered at your homeland? There has been a minimum of $500 million worth of damages to crops and infrastructure. There are more than 10,000 people homeless or otherwise dislocated by floods and landslides. These numbers will only climb as many places are isolated and not yet reached. There is an unholy lack of food, supplies and assistance as disease spreads more disaster and death. But wait, two more storms are clashing and combining, and Quedan is swinging back around to pummel the tropical paradise yet again. Yes, these moments in images have also been captured and shared with the world, but the world is doing little to help. How many more thousands will die? The people and conditions are in dire straights. If you can in any way assist or donate, please contact the Red Cross International Response or GMA Kapuso Foundation.

Enticing Tropical Islands of Samoa like Paradise on Earth

(image sources: Daily Mail,The Age,Daily Mail,Metro,Metro,Metro)

If you long for a tropical paradise, look no further American Samoa and Western Samoa. Samoa has some of the most enticing islands in the South Pacific, offering you thousands of opportunities to photograph deliriously lush undergrowth and idyllic sun-baked beaches above ground, or lava tubes below ground. Strap on a mask and go for a dive to capture even more stunning pictures like multicolored coral and marine life in the enchanting shallow waters of lovely lagoons. Waterfalls and swimming holes and rainforests will add to your rapturous time and keep you snapping shots to hold the moments in your heart and captured to share with friends. As a picture taking tourist there, you may think you have found tropical paradise on Paradise Beach.

But on September 30, a massive earthquake measuring 8.3 on the Richter scale shook the islands. Almost immediately, giant waves at least twenty feet high, a tsunami, crashed over the Samoa Islands. Damages are everywhere on this previous tropical paradise and blessed ecosystem. There is extensive destruction; crops were destroyed and properties demolished, graves of loved ones long-buried were swept out of the ground and washed away. More than 180 people have been killed. Thousands are homeless and hungry, displaced and grieving their missing loved ones. Thousands need help, and although American Samoa is receiving some help, Western Samoa is desperate. If you can find it in your heart to help, to donate, please contact the American Red Cross.

Sumatra Earthquakes

(image sources: toursfor2 ,IBRAHIM AHMAD WORLD ,The Big Picture,,,)

Pandang is a lovely place, green and beautiful as in the top row of photos. On September 30th, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck offshore of the town of Padang in Sumatra, Indonesia. Buildings collapsed and landslides swallowed up entire villages (middle left). The next day another quake registered a 6.6 magnitude and toppled more buildings, caused more landslides, fires (middle right) and deaths. The aftershocks continued and the Indonesian government said 609 people were confirmed dead but that is expected to rise to over thousands. Thousands more are still missing. The search for survivors has been called off in Padang, but now the focus is on helping the living. Children are homeless and hungry (bottom image). If you are interested in finding out how you can lend support, please visit Red Cross International Response.

Alien-like Landscapes in Göreme Cappadocia in Turkey

(image credits:Curious Expeditions)

The top photo is of beautiful Rose Valley, Göreme. Göreme, an area with fairy chimneys, is in a town called Cappadocia, Turkey. The deep valleys and soaring rock formations are volcanic rock that has slowly eroded away to create strange “Fairy Chimneys”. The locals had believed them extraordinarily magical places that only fairies could have created. Ancient people hollowed out the fairy chimneys to carve out homes, chapels and tombs from the soft inner rock. They also tunneled to create underground cities, some going down eight stories. The bottom picture is a fairy chimney hotel which is also located in Göreme.

Volcano

(image sources: Per-Andre Hoffman ,Dr. George P.C.,BBC)

While out and about on your traveling adventures, taking pictures for your memories or to document an area’s culture, people, landscape or customs, a true travel photo captures and expresses the feeling of place and of time. Both professionals and amateurs snap pictures during their travels, but there are times when having a camera at the ready can get a different type of once-in-a-lifetime-shot. Erupting volcanoes are such an opportunity. On the top left, a Mayon volcano erupts and the image was captured in January 2007. On the top right, pyroclastic flows blow up and out as the dome collapsed at Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat in November 1997. In the bottom image, red hot lava, rocks, and ash spew from the Philippines’ Mayon volcano in 2000. Although some people travel to get these amazing shots, some people are simply close by and have enough wits about them to remember to point and shoot.

Water and Romance

(image sources: Per-Andre Hoffman ,National Geographic ,Tropical Living ,André Pipa,Lucie’s Photography ,Weeks Photography)

In the upper left, Palawan in the Philippines was once named as the best island destination in East and Southeast Asia by National Geographic Traveler. A Belize sunset can be breathtakingly beautiful as well as romantic. There is a wonderfully diverse society and cultures in Belize as well. Bali, an Indonesian island, is another hotspot for lovers and water lovers. If you can maintain enough sense of mind to carry your camera, you will not be disappointed in capturing those moments to cherish. Sometimes the roaring of the wind and the waves thundering ashore, the spray on your face, can thrill you or even fit your tumultuous mood like at Adraga Beach, Sintra which is the middle right photo. On the lower left, pictured is a far northwest island in Scotland called Neist Point. It’s known for the lighthouse perched a mile away and on the edge of a cliff. This spectacular headland is a wonderful place for bird and whale-watchers. Or lastly, for a truly memorable moment of time to capture with your camera, try celebrating New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam.

City of Love

(image sources: SHI Symbol International’s Weblog ,Café Crem,Photo Galleries ,Photo Galleries )

The Eiffel Tower is an icon for both Paris and France. The 19th century iron lattice tower is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It is the single most visited paid monument anywhere on the globe and like the other millions of people who travel to see it, have your camera ready. Paris is one of the world’s most captivating cities. Their high style and other landmarks and museums are not to be missed. Additionally, Paris may be the most romantic city in the world, the city of love. Far on the other side of the globe, is Sydney, Australia, where the United Nations ranked it as the 2nd best place in the world to live. Australia is said to have some of the best living standards in the world. Like Paris, there is no other place in the world quite like Sydney. There are iconic beaches, rich culture, and Sydney is ranked first in the Asia Pacific for quality of life. Sydney will offer you many reasons to take travel photos, from the grand spectrum of outdoor delights to the pleasures to be discovered and enjoyed at Sydney Opera House.

Desert or Waves

(image sources: Doc Tony ,s0ulsurfing, Lucie’s Photography)

Remember, whether you are enjoying a stunning sunrise or sunset, feeling wild and tumultuous as the turbulent sea, or crossing sand dunes by caravan when visiting Morocco, have your camera ready to rock. Travel, take in the sites, enjoy, but above all else . . . be ready to point, aim, and shoot. Perhaps your travel photography might make a picture perfect postcard or even capture a moment of despair and human tragedy to share around the world.

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