The
Serra da Leba Road near Lubango (Huíla, Angola). This is Serra da Leba,
a landmark in Angola. A road built in the 70's, it's been in the
country's postcard images for decades, but all shots were taken by day.
I wanted something different and tried a night shot. But it seemed
impossible: pitch dark, foggy, altitude of 1,800m (5,000ft). I wanted
no more than 60sec of exposure, max, to avoid digital noise. But a car
takes a few minutes to climb or descend this section of the road. The
fog was dense and blocking the view! Suddenly the fog cleared, a few
cars went down, others went up, they met in the middle in under
60sec... Painting done! (Photo and caption by Kostadin Luchansky) #

A
Llama stands at the crest of a hill as the sun sets behind it at Chavín
de Huántar, Peru. (Photo and caption by John Palmer Gregg) #

Fallen
Angel. A legionnaire from the French Foreign Legion's 2REP (Foreign
Parachute Regiment) sits in an armored personnel carrier en route to an
operation near Badpash Kusa Kala, Afghanistan on June 16, 2010. (Photo
and caption by Steven Greaves) #

Foot
and Thistle, Mountain Gorilla of Rwanda. I was fortunate to visit the
rare and endangered Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, February of 2010. This
young gorilla had fallen asleep with a thistle grasped in his foot. The
thistle is one of their food sources. They learn to extract the pith
from the spine-defended inedible stem. This particular gorilla
demonstrates syndactyly of the third and fourth toes, a common
congenital malformation also found in humans. (Photo and caption by Jim
Edwards) #

Lightning
Crashes. A lightning bolt strikes the antenna of The Center building in
Central Hong Kong during a storm on September 13, 2009. (Photo and
caption by Michael Siward) #

Oasis. (Photo and caption by Nam In Geun) #

Me'enit
Boy, Southwestern Ethiopia. One of our neighborhood friends, Sintiyu,
looking on. A rare opportunity to see him undistracted by the camera,
and absorbed in his family. (Photo and caption by Stephen Murdoch) #

Moths to Light. Moths attracted to a light in front of my home. (Photo and caption by Steve Irvine) #

Surva,
the International Festival of the Masquerade Games held in the town of
Pernik, Bulgaria is the biggest event of this type not only in Bulgaria
but on the Balkan Peninsula as well. It promotes variations of ancient
Bulgarian customs that are still alive today. These are an important
part of the Bulgarian folklore tradition and are meant to be performed
by single men and women. With its competitive nature, the festival is
not only a venue but also a contest for the living vessels of this
tradition, namely the Kukeri and Survakari. (Photo and caption by Orlin
Ognyanov) #

Ki
Gompa. This picture was taken when I visited the Buddhist Monastery of
Ki. Ki is a tiny village in the middle of the Himalayas, and next to it
is Ki Gompa (Ki Monastery). I lived with the monks for about a week,
and this picture reflects the peaceful, almost heavenly atmosphere that
characterizes this place. The Monastery is almost 4,000 meters high,
and I had to climb almost 500 meters more to get this panorama. This
place is a touch of heaven. (Photo and caption by Natalia Luzuriaga) #

Haunting
Glimpse. An encounter with an elusive Canada Lynx is said to be a rare
privilege. I am honored to have had the opportunity to see a Lynx up
close and personal. As I photographed this beautiful cat, I felt
transfixed by its wild, untamed, haunting eyes. This is a once in a
lifetime chance that I will cherish forever. (Photo and caption by
Janet Chester) #

Suradita
Village, West Java, Indonesia. Children playing with their roosters.
Actually it was not a real cockfight because the roosters didn't wear
blades on their feet. Children like to play this game because they
almost never have toys in their life. (Photo and caption by Ario
Wibisono) #

Silhouetted
against the headlights of their engine, Firemen attempt to put out a
blaze caused by a gigantic natural gas line explosion near San
Francisco in September of 2010. The fire destroyed 37 homes, and
resulted in seven fatalities. (Photo and caption by Josh Edelson) #

Power of childhood. City: Lençois; Estate: Bahia; Country: Brazil. (Photo and caption by Rodrigo West de Magalhaes) #

North
Atlantic seals enduring winter storm. It was already -1 and with a
strong wind it was colder still, Had to position myself so as to shield
the camera from the wind to keep the image sharp the snow was being
blown horizontally away from me. (Photo and caption by Eric Garnett) #

Great
Blue Heron with fish. The largest and most widespread heron in North
America. When foraging, they stand silently along riverbanks, lake
shores, or in wet meadows, waiting for prey to come by, which they then
strike with their bills. (Photo and caption by Linh Dinh) #

A
walk along the river bank. This photo was taken in Zhenyuan, Guizhou
Province, China this summer. I was taking a walk along the river bank
of Wuyang in the mist of a late afternoon shower. Refreshing smell
after rain was mixed with the aroma from nearby food stands. In the
distance, kids were playing and laughing. The tranquil and harmonious
life of the local people reminds me of the joyful time I grew up in a
similar small town in Southwest China. (Photo and caption by Fred Wang)
#

Heavy
load. One morning in August, I was on my way to pick up the newspaper.
Everything was moist and wet, and I spotted this little fly on a small
white flower, just outside my bedroom window. Two hours after I shot
this picture I went outside again, and the fly was still sitting on the
same flower - still not able to fly. (Photo and caption by Audun Wigen)
#

Table
Mountain. I took this picture in June 2009 while I was just outside of
Cape Town, South Africa. I was working at a kids camp and took a quick
shot of the sun setting over Table Mountain as we were headed in for
dinner. I was in such a rush to capture the sunset while trying to keep
an eye on a bunch of kids on the playground that I didn't even notice
the boy in the right edge of my viewfinder. It wasn't until I was back
home in Tennessee that I discovered the huge impact of this picture.
The duality of the not-quite-teenage boy and the 260-million-year-old
mountain in the same shot absolutely amazed me. (Photo and caption by
Quinn Ballard) #

Herring
Gull with Guillemot Chick. Taken on the Farne Islands, Northumberland,
UK, the herring gull circled around the guillemot colony three or four
times before dropping in and picking up this chick with the guillemot
colony watching. (Photo and caption by Ron McCombe) #

Pyramid mountain. Maelifellssandur volcanic dust desert in Iceland. (Photo and caption by Sukru Mehmet Omur) #

Giraffes
at Savannah. Unusual perspective shot depicting two giraffes and a tree
in Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Niko Saunio) #

After
the Crash. My dear friend, Laura, fell from the sky. The helicopter she
was traveling in crashed into an open, dry field and burst info flames,
killing three of the six passengers on board, including the pilot.
Laura survived, but barely. She was burned, crushed, and near death.
She broke 45 bones. She was pulled from the burning wreckage by her
hair. To this day, she still cannot walk. While there wasn't a part of
her body that was unharmed, her spirit and determination to live a
full, happy life remains stronger than ever. This image taken in a
lush, green field is meant to signify her rebirth. (Photo and caption
by Judy Starkman) #

Cloud and ship. Ukraine, Crimea, Black sea, view from Ai-Petri mountain. (Photo and caption by Yevgen Timashov) #