Thrilling Pictures That Will Make Your Stomach Drop

1. Cliff camping.

National Geographic Photo Contest - 2013

The National Geographic Photo Contest for 2013 ends tomorrow, Nov. 30, but for procrastinators there’s still time to enter.The contest officially closes at 11:59:00 p.m. US Eastern Time Saturday. This post features a sampling of the entrants work. Winners in the three categories (people, nature, places) will be published in the National Geographic magazine. The caption information is provided and written by the individual photographer.

(Nature) An over/under water split level image of beautiful crimson red waratah anemones in a rock pool at low tide. What I really love about over/under photographs is that it gives the underwater element a sense of place. For the viewer it marries the underwater environment with our own familiar world. It links the unknown with the known. (Photo and caption by Matt Smith/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Supermoon, Around The World - 2013

Photographers around the world looked up to the sky this past weekend to capture the "supermoon." This is the phenomenon when the moon makes its closest approach to Earth, appearing 30 percent brighter and about 14 percent larger than a typical full moon. It occurs about once every 14 months and is technically called a perigee full moon. At 221,823 miles from Earth, the supermoon was a feast for the eyes.

Really Life is Awesome

Photos of Plane Wrecks With “Happy Ends”

Airplane wrecks usually denote tragedies, but photographer Dietmar Eckell aims to highlight the rare miracles from the history of aviation where everyone survived. "'Happy End' is a photo-project about miracles in aviation history - 15 airplanes that had forced landings but all on board survived and were rescued from the remote locations," says Dietmar Eckell a photographer from Dusseldorf, Germany.

West Sahara

History of Las Vegas in Pictures

Las Vegas is now synonymous with gambling, casino, entertainment and tourism. But in the first years of its existence, it was just a major railway junction in the middle of the Mojave Desert, Nevada.  Conventionally, the history of the casinos in Vegas can be divided into four epochs: 1905-1945 - the struggle for recognition, 1946-1960 - getting national fame, 1961-1988 - the golden age of the casino, 1989-2012 - on the world stage.

Las Vegas appeared in the central part of the Mojave Desert after the land auction, which took place on 15 and 16 May 1905. At the time, no one could have predicted the rapid development of the city in the next 100 years.

Photography of Animal in The Last Moment of Their Lives

Breathtaking Cats Photography

Cat belongs to Predators cat family. Cat is also known due to her highly developed senses of smell, hearing, vision, independent and freedom-loving. This animal is living with humans from thousands of years. The cat does not have a fixed location in the house, preferring warm, dry, comfortable and quiet place. The cat has a very positive effect on the atmosphere in the house. Capable of capturing tension, soothe and help with disorders. People rumored to cats and other medicinal properties. The cat is one of the most popular pet, after dogs! Now, I am going to share breathtaking cats photography that is photographed by Japanese photographer Seiji Mamiya. Have a look and be inspired.

America in past (1870-1920) - 4

America in past (1870-1920) - 3

America in past (1870-1920) - 2

America in past (1870-1920) - 1

Farm Lands From Above Aerial Photography by Alex MacLean

Aerial photographer Alex MacLean has been photographing the American landscape from his four-seat Cessna 182 ever since he got his flight permit in 1975. MacLean has a Master’s degree in architecture and began flying as a way of doing site analysis. He was soon drawn towards the aesthetics of farmland, “in part because of its natural response to environmental conditions, climates, soils and topography.” MacLean estimates he has spent about 6,000 hours in the sky photographing American farms. “A lot of what I photograph is through discovery of seeing crops, seeing patterns,” MacLean says. “Some is calculated, an example being wheat farming in the Palouse, dry-land farming in Montana and cranberry farming in Cape Cod.”

40 Of The Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken

Sisters pose for the same photo three separate times, years apart.

New Age Photography by Photojournalists under 25

As professional and amateur cameras reveal more of the world at an increasingly rapid pace, the field of photojournalism is becoming a harder place to make a living. Yet many young photographers are pursuing careers as visual storytellers, despite a market in transition. Some study the craft at universities, others carve their own path. While building their portfolios, they have the luxury of time to explore intimate stories about relevant issues and develop a personal vision. Without the pressures of the 24-hour news cycle, these photographers are learning to make images that shout rather than whisper. Covering issues near and far, often out-of-pocket and on their own time, they posses a deep affection for people and a common goal of building a better understanding of our world. The future of photojournalism may be uncertain, but this generation of photographers will have a hand in writing the new rulebook. The following are images from students of photojournalism and photographers aged 25 and under. The featured images are peak moments captured through eager eyes, personal visions, or intimate glimpses into long-term projects about topics that matter to the photographers and their community.

Alan Friedman’s Photographs of the Sun from his Own Backyard

Alan Friedman is a fascinating guy. By day he’s a maker of greeting cards and a lover ofhats, but in his spare time he’s a self-proclaimed space cowboy who points a telescope skyward from his backyard in downtown Buffalo, directly into the light of the sun. Using special filters attached to his camera Friedman captures some of the most lovely details of the Sun’s roiling surface. The raw images are colorless and often blurry requiring numerous hours of coloring, adjusting and finessing to tease out the finest details, the results of which hardly resemble what I imagine the 10-million degree surface of Sun might look like. Instead Friedman’s photos appear almost calm and serene, perhaps an entire planet of fluffy clouds or cotton candy. From his artist statement:

My photographs comprise a solar diary, portraits of a moment in the life of our local star. Most are captured from my backyard in Buffalo, NY. Using a small telescope and narrow band filters I can capture details in high resolution and record movements in the solar atmosphere that change over hours and sometimes minutes. The raw material for my work is black and white and often blurry. As I prepare the pictures, color is applied and tonality is adjusted to better render the features. It is photojournalism of a sort. The portraits are real, not painted. Aesthetic decisions are made with respect for accuracy as well as for the power of the image.

Although the photos above are amazing, Friedman offers extremely high-resolution views of his work on his Tumblr and you can pick up some prints over on Photo-Eye. He also recently gave a TEDx Talk.