Pictures of the Week: April 21-27

I think this week's picture of a woman looking at the optical illusion at the Optikpark in Rathenow, a city in eastern Germany, is just an incredibly amazing photo. It really looks like an animated image, but it's not. It's just a photograph -- a photograph that produces a "wow" moment. It's what I strive for each and every week for Pictures of the Week. Sign up for the weekly gallery alert, and that way you automatically will be sent an email as soon as next week's photo gallery goes live.

 

Were you as intrigued by this image as I was, or did you find another more compelling image in the gallery? Check out all of this week's photos, and don't forget to vote, by going to: Pictures of the Week.

 

-Lee

Calling All Student Photo Insomniacs

When I was a photo student, we were always encouraged to enter contests to get a sense of our own abilities and to be inspired by what others were doing. 

 

Back in the day, we shot film, developed it, had to make prints in the darkroom, had to make 35mm transparencies of those prints, find slide pages, edit on light tables, then package, label and buy stamps to ship the images … oh those good old days of building perseverance. Technology has come so far since then, making the creative workflow more productive with less.

 

This week, Apple will further demonstrate its commitment to education, inspiration and creative expression by reaching out to the community of photography students. Apple will host and sponsor a one-day immersive contest called the Insomnia Photo Festival and is inviting students to submit original works. This Friday, April 27, at 5pm EDT, Apple will post an assignment for student photographers to shoot. The photography is to be judged by respected professionals in the field. Winners will receive prizes selected from Apple’s highly acclaimed product line. So for those of you waiting to convert from PC to Mac, this just might be your chance. Check out the the details in the above links and get ready to get started. No excuses.

 

-Ronald Beverly

Did You See That?

A Chicago Bulls blimp lands on the crowd after losing power during the second half of Game 1 of their NBA first-round playoff game against the Miami Heat in Chicago, April 21.

 

I remember when I was still shooting sports, sitting courtside for basketball games and staring at the little promotional blimps that would fly around the stands during timeouts and halftime. Somehow, they never managed to crash one, until now ... oopsie.

 

Check out more of this week's best sports photos at  AOL Sports: Did You See That?

 

-Mike Heffner

Pictures of the Week: April 14-20

I had a difficult time deciding which of these two images to include in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery:

 or ...

Ultimately, I decided to go with the photo of the plane "mimicking" the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Hill in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I never realized just how much an airplane looks like a person with their arms outstretched. Almost like the Vitruvian Man. Maybe I missed the plane reference in The Da Vinci Code.

 

Do you agree? Or do you prefer the image of the planes racing past the statue, directly in line with the outstretched arms? Check out all the photos in our Pictures of the Week gallery, and don't forget to log your vote for the top image.

 

- Lee

Amazing Dubai

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates, or states, each with its own unique character, personality, and ruler. Among the seven, Dubai is unquestionably the hottest travel destination.

 

UAE is wealthy and warm with expansive beaches and beauty. UAE makes it's wealth by oil. With the average current market prices of $60 to $70 a barrel, the Emirates are making a lot of money. Geologists, though, predict the oil beneath Dubai will be gone within 50 years. 

 

Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum, knowing his country's oil days are numbered, has set upon an ambitious plan to convert his Emirate into the world’s number one travel destination. Architects with no-holds-barred, spectacular ideas are being given green lights to build to their hearts' desires. Dubai is more than the Vegas of the Middle East, it is quickly becoming a major spectacle in the world.

 

The seven-star hotel, Burj Al Arab, constructed in the shape of a giant sailboat, is lavishly styled with 114 domes covered in mosaic. It has over 1,000 crystal chandeliers and its own heli-pad extension on an arm that is more than 1,000 feet above the city. It often converts into the world's most unique tennis court or par-3 golf hole. 

 

Another building, the Burj Dubai, to be completed in 2008, is expected to be the tallest building in the world at an estimated 162 stories high. 

 

David Fisher, an Italian-Israeli architect, has dreamed up a 68-story combination hotel, apartment and office tower where the floors would rotate 360 degrees and the tower would change shape each week (above, left). The Burj Al Arab lights up UAE at dusk (right).

 

What is impressive about UAE is both the stunning architecture of the buildings and the apparently endless number of cranes, like those being used  to build "The World Project" by Nakheel, which will consist of 300 small islands positioned to form the shape of the world and should be finished next year.

 

I think what the UAE is doing is very innovative, productive and inspiring.  They are taking massive creative risks in architecture and large scale landscaping -- I mean they are making their own islands!  There is not a doubt in my mind that one day I will go see this place for myself and that my camera will be right next to me. Check out the Amazing Dubai photo gallery and experience this truly amazing land of plenty! 

 

- Cassandra Shie

Did You See That?

Deputy Mattie Houston and Pam Mardis are photographed by James Grant at the casket of Eddie Robinson, former football coach of Grambling State University, at the university's assembly center in Grambling, La., April 11.

 

I'm not sure why, but there's something slightly odd about treating a celebrated coach lying in state more like a monument. Eddie Robinson's impact in Louisiana was incalculable -- after all, it's not every day someone gets a state funeral -- but the photo op just feels strange.

 

Check out more of this week's best sports photos at AOL Sports: Did You See That?

 

- Mike Heffner

Pictures of the Week: April 7-13

The photo of the Taiwanese veterinarian's severed arm in the jaws of the crocodile caused much debate about whether it should be included in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery:

 

 

Some on our staff thought that the image was too gruesome and that it was not even a great photo. Others thought that it was gross, but interesting. Ultimately, I decided that it deserved a place in this week's gallery, that it was a significant news event, that the image, though unpleasant, immediately gets your attention, whether you had heard about this fairly well publicized event or not. In fact, I think the photo is interesting and even well composed. It is a photo that demands you to look at it and wonder: Is that real? How did it happen?

 

In short, it is a provocative, newsworthy photo and the best part is that it had a relatively happy ending. The arm was recovered and reattached, and although two shots were fired at the crocodile in the rescue workers' effort to retrieve the arm, it appears the croc was not wounded and was unharmed.

 

So what's your opinion? Were you drawn in or repelled by the image?

 

To see all of the photos and to vote on the the image you think is the best, please go to Pictures of the Week.

And don't forget to sign up for the weekly alert that I send out each week as soon as I publish the newest gallery.

 

-Lee

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Did You See That?

Cleveland Indians outfielder Trot Nixon sticks his tongue out to catch snowflakes before the Opening Day game against the Seattle Mariners in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 6.

 

Proof that men playing a boy's game can still act like little kids ...

 

Check out this week's best sports photos at AOL Sports: Did You See That?

 

And revisit the best sports photos of 2006 at Did You See That? - 2006 In Review - AOL Sports, which recently won a second place award in the National Press Photographers Association's Best of Photojournalism 2007 contest in the Photo Galleries/Sports (over 2 Million page views/month) category. Judges said, “Second place went to a well-edited selection of sports photos of the year, in which we couldn't find a weak image. Well thought out and well edited.”

 

Good stuff indeed.

 

-Mike Heffner

Pictures of the Week: March 31-April 6

I never cease to be amazed by the images produced by the Hubble Space Telescope. It's like having a camera mounted 380 miles above the earth peering out into space.

This week's image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 shows clusters of hot young blue stars along the spirals and the center bar area of new star generation. It is an extraordinary image of an object that is 60 million light-years away. What do you think? Is it out of this world or would you have chosen another image?

See the rest of the images at Pictures of the Week.

- Lee