Natures Best Photography

I went to an amazing event last night at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. It was a reception for the Natures Best Photography, Windland Smith Rice International Awards Exhibition 2007. The photography presented is simply spectacular. If you live in the Washington, D.C. area or plan to travel there, you absolutely must stop in and see this exhibit on the second floor of the museum (right next to the Hope Diamond exhibit).


Outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

The Natures Best photography exhibit officially opened Oct. 30 and will remain in place through April 27, 2008. Presented are 60 awe-inspiring, award-winning images from the annual Nature's Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition. Also featured are photos by the Conservation Photographer of the Year, Howard Ruby. This is perhaps the finest collection of nature photographs housed in one space. Many of the award-winning photographers stood by the images they had shot that were on display and talked with those attending about their photography and how they made their images.



As you walked through the gallery, it was impossible to pick a favorite. There was a mesmerizing shot of a lizard's eyes ...



... three somewhat menacing-appearing buffalo plowing through the snow, looking like they were about to run down the photographer ...



... there was an endearing shot of a two-toed sloth and a wonderfully colorful shot of a Mandarin duck as well as an interesting shot of a fox buried halfway in snow, digging for a snack of some sort. If I had to pick a favorite, though, I think it might be the shot of Nevada's Fly Geyser by Rodney Lough Jr. It was absolutely other-worldly.

We will offer a selective look at some of the award winners in an upcoming photo gallery on AOL, but for now, take a look at a gallery of photos that we have from a new publication that Natures Best has launched: Natures Best for Kids.

- Gary Hopkins

Pictures of the Week: Oct. 20-26

The trees are full of fall colors, surrounded by water. The shape of the island takes on the appearance of a sock or a boot amidst the tapestry of the autumn color -- the wake produced by the boat highlights the shape even further. It made me smile, to see such an unexpected image of trees during a week of seemingly endless forest fires and destruction.

 

Take a look at all of this week's amazing images from above and around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week gallery.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Southern California Wildfires

We've been watching all week as the wildfires have raged across Southern California. The devastation has been incredible. As of this writing, the fires have consumed some 775 square miles. Hundreds of thousands of people have had to be evacuated. Eighty percent of the 1,800 homes lost to the fires were in the San Diego area. A woman interviewed on one of the cable news channels talked about how after she was evacuated from her house, she watched it burn on the news -- she described it as being completely consumed by flames. Not an easy thing to watch. But she said the tougher thing was having to explain to her 4-year-old daughter that her beloved purple room with all her things in it was gone. But she said she promised her daughter she'd have a new purple room soon.

By now you've seen dozens if not hundreds of photos from the week's coverage of the fires. They make for gripping images. And now, with the fires abating and people going back to their homes, the displaced families will discover the devastated landscapes that once were their homes. The boy in the photo below, for example, is telling his Mom where they should dig for his missing collection of arrowheads.

The coverage will continue, although as the days move on, not necessarily on the front pages of AOL or other Web sites, or on the front pages of newspapers. But you can continue to keep up with the coverage and the stories of the people who in many cases have lost everything, on our News page.

You also can find the continuing stream of photos that come in minute by minute through our feeds photo gallery on that page. You will find on that News page a photo gallery of the most impactful photos from the fires, edited by our staff of News photo editors, as well as another gallery that contains all the wildfire photos we have access to through our News photo feeds that are automatically updated every five minutes.

Tags: Wildfires

Pictures of the Week: October 13-19

Ok, so I have been accused of including so many pictures of aircraft in the Pictures of the Week gallery that one of my colleagues has suggested that I change the name to Planes of the Week. Look, it's not like I love aviation and strive to include an image of a jet or a plane every week. I'm merely trying to assemble the best news images from around the world each week in an attempt to produce the best collection of Pictures of the Week. So, what do you think? Seen too many aircraft week after week ... or do you think each one has been worthy of making it's appearance in the gallery?

In the meantime take a look at all of this week's great images and vote for your favorite from this week's Pictures of the Week photo gallery.


-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Pictures of the Week: Oct. 6-12

Sometimes the best images are not even captured by a photographer. The Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Saturn's moon Iapetus, revealing amazing detail. Images that are sent to earth from Cassini and the Hubble space telescope never cease to amaze me.

Take a look at all of this week's amazing images from above and around the world in this week's Pictures of the Week photo gallery.

- Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Fotofestivus VIII

Welcome to our next installment of Fotofestivus on the AOL Photo Talk blog. It's an idea we came up with as a staff a while ago. It's pretty simple: we identify a theme and shoot a photo for it. Some themes will be straightforward, some wacky. We'd like to invite you to join in, too.

 

This month's theme is: ANTICIPATION. Better grab the camera and head out now to shoot a picture on this subject. This kind of a theme, which is not really on something tangible as recent past themes have been (green, toys, letter), is a little bit tougher to shoot.

Let's see how you interpret this one. Here are a few ideas that AOL photo editors shot around this one for a little inspiration:

Please send us links to your photos wherever they are -- AOL Pictures, Flickr, Snapfish, anywhere -- in the comments area below when you respond. Thanks!

 

- Gary

Pictures of the Week: Sept. 29-Oct. 5

Sometimes a photo is just waiting to happen. The creativity in this photo was created at the site of the event, not by the photographer. But it is a fun visual and it deserves a place in this week's gallery.

 

What do you think? Do you agree? Or does it not belong in the gallery? Leave your comments below, then take a look at all of the week's best photos in our Pictures of the Week gallery and vote for you favorite.

 

-Lee Van Grack

Tags: Pictures of the Week

Did You See That? -- It's Back!

An AOL photo staple has returned after a brief break during the Sports channel's redesign: Did You See That?

We're glad to have it back in operation. It won second-place honors for 2006 in the National Press Photographers Best of Photojournalism for sports photo galleries. Each week, AOL will bring you a relatively eclectic mix of sports photos. These images are unique or unusual -- sometimes from the big events going on that particular week, like the baseball playoffs, college or NFL games, sometimes not.

Honda's MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa of Spain thumbles during the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi, north of Tokyo September 23, 2007.

Check in on AOL Sports Photos every Monday to see the most recent photos posted from the week. A few navigation tips for the site: this area contains a wide variety of Sports photo galleries, including Did You See That? We've got up-to-the-minute feeds of the most recent baseball, college and pro football, NASCAR and hockey photos as well as other topical feature galleries. If you're not seeing Did You See That as the main gallery (it will rotate in and out of the top position throughout the week), you can click on the blue "Menu" button at the lower right of the photo gallery, then click on the "More Galleries" tab and scroll until you see the thumbnail photo highlighting Did You See That? That's also how you can get to the other collections of Sports pictures in AOL Sports Photos.

Check it out, and let us know what you think.

Tags: Did You See That