25 Mind-Blowing Aerial Photographs Around the World Rano Kau volcano in Rapa Nui National Park, Easter Island, Chile – Photograph by YANN ARTHUS BERTRAND For me, the allure of aerial photography is the unique perspective it gives. The world feels so different when viewed from above. It always gives me a newfound appreciation for this pale blue dot we call home. In my opinion, there is no better aerial photographer than Yann Arthus Bertrand. His volume of work is incomparable, and he has an incredible eye for the interesting and provocative. 2. Photograph by YANN ARTHUS BERTRAND 3. 4. 5. Born in Paris, France on March 13, 1946, Yann Arthus-Bertrand is a world-renowned photographer specializing in aerial photography. Upon his return to France, he published in 1981 his first book Lions, first release of a series of 80 books. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND continued… In the 90s, under the patronage of UNESCO, Yann embarked upon his most ambitious project: creating an image bank of the Earth seen from above. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
News The Sisters of the Valley is a highly unusual ‘order’ of cannabis-growing nuns, made up of only two members – Sister Kate and Sister Darcy. Their ‘abbey’ is a three-bedroom house on the outskirts of Merced, California, where they actually cultivate weed in a garage. Although they aren’t members of any religious order, Sister Kate and Sister Darcy call themselves nuns. They dress modestly – in long denim skirts, white collared shirts, and nun’s habits – and for the past one year, their self-determined spiritual quest has been to heal illnesses with the help of marijuana. Using cannabinoids (CBD, the medicinal component of weed that is not psychoactive), they have been making tinctures and salves in their kitchen and selling the products through their Etsy store. “We make CBD oil which takes away seizures, and a million other things,” said Sister Kate, who originally set up the business and later took on Sister Darcy as an apprentice.
The Best in Bird Photography: 50 Crystal Clear Bird Shots Bird photography is among the most popular types of nature photography. This is no surprise, considering the fact that they live all over the globe, they can be very colorful and come in different shapes and sizes. Immortalizing birds in photos can be quite challenging – specialized skills and equipment are required – but the outcome is definitely worth it all the effort and investment. Today’s 50 images showcase is dedicated to the ones that love nature, to the photographers that want to get inspired and learn more in this field of art, or simply to the ones that love beauty. The Wall Puffins Flying above Dover Pelican Mirror Lesser Kestrel The Last Drop Colourfull Spring The Hunter The Mask The Flying Fortes Every Day is Sushi Day… Air Born Widowbird Confrontation The Scream Gotcha! Gaze Bombycilla Garrulus The White and the Blacks Red-Footed Falcon Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Spring Lots of Colors The Dancing Bird Bird Toucan Bird Love Bird – Yellow Yellow Bird Follow Me! Birds – Africa Alive Cold Birds Love on Brach
Ancient People Are Still Awesome: Centuries-Old Japanese Tsunami Warning Markers Saved Lives - Culture "High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants," reads the centuries-old stone tablet above. "Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point." This marker, and several more like it, some more than 600 years old, "dot the coastline" of Japan, according to a report in The Canadian Press. One, in the coastal town of Kesennuma, gave instructions: "Always be prepared for unexpected tsunamis. But in the tight-knit community of Aneyoshi, where marker pictured above still stands, the wisdom of their ancestors saved the homes and the lives of the tiny village's inhabitants. Everybody here knows about the markers. Image via the Star-Telegram; story via @stevesilberman.
Photoshop Light Effect Tutorials I’ve selected various Photoshop tutorials that I’m liking at the moment for light effects, some have quite cool techniques on how to achieve the end result that can be applied to a million different designs (try and experiment with them), check them out below. You might also enjoy: Design a Vista Styled Wallpaper Windows Vista Aurora Effect Design a Vibrant Blackberry Inspired Ad NoPattern “Jumper” Effect Mysterious Lighting Effect How to Create Brilliant Light Streaks Creating a Mac-Type Background Luminescent Lines Create a Glowing Light Painting Effect Abstract Dust And Spray Effect Make a dreamy abstract background Digital Bokeh effect Abstract Lines Background Abstract Light Rays Drawing an Abstract Lightbulb How to create 3D abstract circles Comments Do you have any favourite tutorials that you have seen for light effects?
Creepy, Crusty, Crumbling: Illegal Tour of Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans [75 Pics] Hurricane Katrina killed this clown. According to the photographer, “An abandoned Six Flags amusement park, someone spray painted ‘Six Flags 2012 coming soon’ on the wall above the downed head. But they were clownin.’ Welcome to Zombie Land kids! Chained dreams of fun at Six Flags New Orleans, abandoned Jazzland – that’s what Six Flags opened as “Jazzland” in 2000. Some photographers can see past the lifeless amusement park’s decay and desolation, showing us that there is still a chance the place could be cheery and not cheerless. Like a Bad Dream. Just in case you don’t know the scoop on what Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans and Six Flags, this photo is of New Orleans, LA, on Sept. 14, 2005. Unlike the bleak amusement-less park above, some photographers can still see and share with us the echo of magic in the abandoned theme park Six Flags – even 6 years later in 2011. Once upon a time, Six Flags was filled with children’s laughter – but now it’s sad, silent, and surreal.
Summer Festivals - Alan Taylor - In Focus Summer weather brings people together outside to enjoy music festivals, county fairs, carnivals and religious observations. I've gathered here some recent images of these celebrations, including a flaming horseman in Kyrgyzstan, Bastille Day in France, a German fun park inside a former nuclear power plant, and much more. [39 photos] Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate Choose: A girl on her father's shoulders looks through a maze of sunflowers growing in a field during a three-day sunflower festival in the town of Nogi, Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo, on July 24, 2011. A monk wearing a mask performs a dance on the first day of two-day festival in Hemis Gompa, 45 km (28 miles) southeast of Leh, on July 10, 2011. Roy Johnson, from Etna, California, rides Strawberry Alley for a score of 68, placing him 4th after Thursday night's July 28, 2011 rides at the Last Chance Rodeo in Helena Montana. A Kyrgyz rider performs during a traditional folk festival near Son-Kul lake on July 21, 2011.
25 Magnificent Pictures of LIONS Jan 27, 2011 Photograph by Natalie Manuel The mighty lion is the second largest cat in the world (tigers are the biggest), with some males weighing more than 550 lbs (250kg)! Residing in both Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, these magnificent creatures are a sight to behold. With no natural predators, these big cats rule the land they roam. Please enjoy these 25 stunning photographs of the magnificent LION. Photograph by Piet Flour Photograph by Ken from MD Photograph by Mats Grimfoot Photograph by Jessica Whitehead Photography Photograph by Jay Peg Photograph by Woxys Photograph by Woxys Photograph by Woxys Photograph by BriDesign Photograph by Safari Partners Photograph by Nikolai Zinoviev Photograph by Shlomi Nissim Photograph by Safari Partners Photograph by Natalie Manuel Photograph by Louis Despres Photograph by H-E Photography Photograph by Oetzy Photograph by Soren S. Photograph by Shoggy Photograph by Yury Prokopenko Photograph by Safari Partners Photograph by Lotte Blachfeldt Photograph by JonesCrusher
41 Nicest Photoshop Photo Effects [Photoshop Tutorials] Looking at how powerful Photoshop can be in terms of photo editing, it’s probably not important if you suck at taking photographs or being labeled an amateur photographer. As long as you picked up a couple of Photoshop photo editing skills, it will still impress those who sees it. So the next time you want to publish some photos online, consider editing them so they look more impressive. Here’s a compilation of 41 Nicest Photoshop Photo Effects you can take into reference. Full content after jump. Mental Wave Explosion EffectHow to create a crazy explosion, like a mix of Magneto’s ability with Peter Petrelli’s power.
High speed liquid splash photographs {Part 2} Posted on October 11, 2011 in Photography If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook or Twitter . Thanks for visiting! Rate this Post (1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ... So... Check this out on our Partner Network BEST of BTS | photography by Angus R Shamal A self portrait of Stanley Kubrick with his daughter, Jack Nicholson and the crew @ the set of The Shining. A selection of some of the most awesome Behind-the-scenes shots I’ve seen from some famous movies found at aintitcool.com. Back when set designs were huge and hand made, when special effects where mechanic and photographic and film stars were risking their lives on the set. on the set of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis — the actress inside the Maria robot taking a breather. The Empire Strikes Back - filming the Crawl. Rebel Without A Cause — James Dean, Natalie Wood and director Nicholas Ray. Sesame Street Requiem for a Dream — Jennifer Connelly strapped into a SnorriCam. The Gate (1987) — Giant special effect set. © Craig Reardon The Birds (1961) — Tippi Hedren with Hitchcock. Rio Bravo — Hawks and Angie Dickinson set of Alien. Ghostbusters. Superman on the set of Mothra (1961) - special effects director Tsuburaya Eiji Dr. Tron (1982) — David Warner and Bruce Boxleitner fuck around in costume.
High Speed Liquid and Bubble Photographs by Heinz Maier It never ceases to amaze me: just when I think I’ve seen every possible permutation of an artform or technique—be it figurative sculpture, stop motion animation, or in this case, high speed photography—somebody comes along and manages to do something radically different. German photographer Heinz Maier says that he began taking photographs less than a year ago in late 2010. He claims to not know what direction he’s heading in just yet, right now he’s experimenting with macro photography, mostly insects, animals, and these delicate high speed water droplets. Personally, I think he’s found a great direction. There are so many things happening here to make these photographs simply outstanding: the lighting, the colors, the occasional use of symmetry in the reflection of water, let alone the skill of knowing how to use the camera itself. It’s hard to believe these aren’t digital.
20 Captivating Photos Shot At Exactly The Right There are some things in life that make me feel dated (notice I didn’t use the word “old” LOL). For example, sending a fax, writing in cursive (with a pen) and talking on any phone with a cord (and twirling it around my fingers) are all things that kids born in 2011 might never have the opportunity to experience. I remember back in the days when people would say, “I wish I had my camera with me today, I could have taken some great pictures.” Now that practically everyone has a smartphone, we all have our cameras with us everywhere we go. That is evident in these photographs taken at exactly the right moment. The photography we see these days is phenomenal. Sometimes “at the right moment” photography is achieved with high-speed photography, and sometimes it is achieved from just being in the right place at the right time.