Planet Venus traced out this S shape in Earth’s sky during 2004. Following the second planet from the Sun in a series of 29 images recorded from April 3rd through August 7th (top right to bottom left) of that year, astronomer Tunc Tezel constructed this composite illustrating the wandering planet’s path against the background stars.

Diving cape gannets have surreal appeal. In our mind birds belong to the air element. Seeing them underwater is not usual thing - yet it is totally normal environment for these fish hunters. Plunging into water from heights of 50m at speed of 60km/h they risking breaking necks while hunting for sardines which is main element of their diet. These awesome pictures were posted by Alexander Safonov on Google+.

Full moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. More precisely, a full moon occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees; the Moon is then in opposition with the Sun. Lunar eclipses can only occur at full moon, where the moon’s orbit allows it to pass through the earth’s shadow. Lunar eclipses do not occur every month because the moon sometimes passes above or below the earth’s shadow. The time interval between similar lunar phases - the synodic month - averages about 29.53 days. Therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th of the lunar month. Because lunar months have a whole number of days, lunar months may be either 29 or 30 days long.

It isn’t enough to choose the best angle from which to take a photograph, it’s also essential to know how to capture a precise moment. In that, Cartier-Bresson had a point. And, even though, at times, the photographer is extremely lucky and all he has to do is press a button to capture an unrepeatable occurence, most often, the patience and the preparation to obtain a photo of a given predictable moment are due to the photographer’s own personal achievement. And so, nearly surreal images are created… There are even those who dedicate themselves, with a bit of sadism, to capturing people in awkward or ridiculous situations, and not even animals escape these photographers’ sharp sense of humour. Alas, let us believe most of these images are sheer coincidence and the result of a random shot. 

Daniel Acker is a freelance editorial, lifestyle and wedding photographer based in Bureau County, Illinois. He is a short ride from Chicago and the surrounding suburbs and is available for assignments and events worldwide.

A picture of a lush green hill, called Bliss, is one of the most recognizable images in the world thanks to its place as the Windows XP default wallpaper — but where did it come from? Turns out it’s a real scene, not a CG image. It was taken in Sonoma County, CA, circa 1996 by photographer Charles O’Rear. O’Rear is not allowed to disclose how much Microsoft paid him for Bliss, but he says the payday was the second highest for a living photographer, behind a guy who sold a photo of Bill Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky. As for the location, it’s now a vineyard, which you can see in an updated photo after the jump. Google Maps also provides a 360-degree view of the area.

Jean-Yves Lemoigne’s photography is surreal, beautiful and thought provoking. His images range from unicorn-men in hard times, pixelated actresses, and regular folk hidden in the shadows.

The Atlantic compiled this incredible list of some of the best photos from around the world that are completely, irrevocably ‘summer.’

A couple weeks ago, I was listening to a story by NPR’s Planet Money team about “Toxie” a toxic asset they had purchased to follow and help tell the story of the recent financial meltdown. One of the mortgages in Toxie was on a home bought for investment in Bradenton, Florida, and the team took a look at housing in the area. Many homes there are empty and have been for years. Huge developments sit partially completed among densely built up neighborhoods and swampland. A guest stated that there were “enough housing lots in Charlotte County to last for more than 100 years”. Boom and bust residential development has drastically affected parts of southwest Florida for decades now, and I spent some time (with the help of Google Earth), looking around the area. With permission from the fine folks at Google, here are a few glimpses at development in southwest Florida.

Working with an expedition cruise company that sails to the world’s most remote places like Alaska and the Arctic, Eric Guth is constantly surrounded by large bodies of ice. In fact, he gets to experience, first-hand, places like Antarctica like most of us have never done before. “The landscape and icebergs of Antarctica have captured my senses the most. Antarctica, being so remote and raw and unpredictable, also has a very gentle side. I have experienced days with zero wind, 50 degree temperatures, clear skies and every snow-capped mountain, sculpted iceberg and waddling penguin reflected back at me with perfect symmetry. Days like these, where everything glistens and sparkles…these days make every howling, windy day I’ve experienced worth it!”. Six years ago, he spotted a small opening on the edge of Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska. He hiked to it with the intent of walking around as he’d seen others do before. But something compelled him to look inside. 

A Polish accidentally shot piece footage of huge feet monster when climbing mountains. German media stated it as either the proof of the amazing discovery or an adventurous joke. In the report, Kowalski, the eyewitness, said the monster hide behind a rock after finding himself was expose before another creature, then he run away.

Long exposure photography entails using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring its moving elements.