Shaman Kings
Photo and caption by Mariusz Potocki
King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) resting on the beach.
- Photo location: Falkland Islands
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Fall River Tornado
- Photo and caption by Blake Knapp
- This tornado touched down in Fall River County, SD in the evening of June 22, 2012. Fortunately its path traversed open grasslands and damage was minimal, with no injuries. Almost as dangerous was the 5-6″ hail that accompanied the tornado.
- Photo location: Fall River County, South Dakota
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Glowing Tide
- Photo and caption by Matt Smith
- “Glowing Tide” A bio luminescence light show phenomenon was put on for a few privileged onlookers in Stanwell Park, NSW, Australia. It was like an underwater lightening storm as bolts of electric blue light shot vividly across the surface of the breaking waves. I shot it for a couple of hours with no other photographers in site.
- Photo location: Stanwell Park, NSW, Australia
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Crown Jellyfish
- Photo and caption by John CorneCrown
- jellyfish
- Photo location: Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Photo and caption by Krisztian Singler
- On top of Vértes Hill, Hungary – a seedy pulsatilla. I had been planning to make this backlight composition though I visualized in the last golden rays of the setting sun. Sadly, that year neither the clouds nor the lights subserved this plan – in good lights I could not be there and when I was present, clouds shrouded the sun. On such a night I was packing to go home when the sun sparked through the clouds giving this unrealistic reddish light to the flowers. I decided, it is well worth a photo.
- Photo location: Csákvár, Hungary
- Photo and caption by David Koester
- In the highlands of Iceland often you think you just arrived on another planet. This surreal aerial view I have taken above the region of Fjallabak. The dark volcanic landscape is contrasting with bright green patterns and forms of lichens growing there.
- Photo location: Fjallabak, Iceland
- Photo and caption by Lorenzo Menendez
- While snorkeling in Kua Bay, on the Big Island of Hawaii, we were visited by a number of Green Sea Turtles. My entire week i had seen nothing but rain, but on this day the sun finally broke through for about 40 minutes. I positioned myself close to where the the waves were braking and waited, this turtle was caught in the wave an asit broke it created all this whitewash and the turtle came bursting through…..it was like something out of an action movie.
- Photo location: Kua Bay, Kailua Kona, Big Island, Hawaii
- Photo and caption by HelmutIgnat
- Even just for a fraction of a second, the wings of a whiskered tern look like a protection umbrella for her chicks. Scene from Vacaresti area, proposed by NG Romania to become an urban nature reserve.
- Photo location: Vacaresti area, Bucharest, Romania
- Photo and caption by Mohammed Yousef
- shot of four Giraffes
- Photo location: Kenya
- Photo and caption by Roger Borgelid
- A rather fearless Caracal lurking through savannah grass, curiously and kittenish following my camera, just outside Naankuse, Namibia.
- Photo location: Naankuse, Namibia
- Photo and caption by KIM LAC
- Picture capture a pair of Blue Heron guarding their nest at sunset.
- Photo location: Salton Sea, California
- Photo and caption by Robert Schell
- This male Dickerson’s Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus dickersonae) is posturing to the approaching photographer as he protects his mate (background). This species bright blue coloration makes them highly visible to avian predators against the red rocks of the Sonoran granite.
- Photo location: Bahia de Kino, Sonora, Mexico
- Photo and caption by Austin Cronnelly
- We stumbled across this small nest while hiking Zebra canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It was humbling to see new life in such a vulnerable environment. One good rainstorm could wash the nest and eggs away in a flash flood.
- Photo location: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
- Photo and caption by Radim Schreiber
- In the Czech Republic where I grew up, I only saw fireflies a couple of times, and they were very small and dim. When I came to the United States, I was shocked and thrilled to see the abundance of fireflies and their amazing glow. Fireflies are also known as lighting bugs. I was happy to capture this scene with a glowing firefly and a distant moon behind stems of grass.
- Photo location: Fairfield, Iowa, USA
- Photo and caption by Cynthia Meyer
- Male Rufous Hummingbird guarding his territory from a bee. The salmonberry bushes were just beginning to blossom and the flowers were few and far between. Both wanted what little nectar there was. The photo was taken in April, shortly after the first of the hummingbirds arrive from their winter homes.
- Photo location: Tenakee Springs, Alaska, USA
- Photo and caption by Roeselien Raimon
- The weather forecasts sent out a weather alarm, advising people not to go out. So I took a train, hoping to find lots of snow and some foxes. I hardly couldn’t see a thing due to heavy snowfall, let go take a decent picture, which made me wonder if this had been a good idea at all… But when I finally found a fox in this completely white world, I knew I made the right choice. She was just sitting there, as if everything would get back to normal, if she would just let it wash over her. Despite the cold it was somehow funny to see another creature that looked exactly the way I felt.
- Photo location: The Netherlands, Noord-Holland,vogelenzang
- Photo and caption by Cain Pascoe
- An aerial shot taken over Lake Innes. Previously a fresh water lake, now opened to the sea via Lake Cathie.
- Photo location: Lake Innes Reserve, NSW, Australia
- Photo and caption by Jean Tresfon
- Cape gannets are renowned for their incredible diving ability, often hitting the water at almost 100kph with their dives taking them over 10m down. During the 2011 Sardine of the South African coast we were lucky to find a baitfish shoal of red-eye round herring in clean water a few miles offshore. Predation activity was intense with common dolphins herding the fish into a tight ball, while the cape gannets rained down from above. In this instance two gannets had grabbed the same fish and a monumental tussle ensued before the successful bird made off with its prize.
- Photo location: Offshore from Port St Johns, Wild Coast, South AFrica
- Photo and caption by kai clemen
- It was a treat to be so close to these curious and often comical little birds.
- Photo location: Latrabjarg, Iceland
Avalanchers 