The aftermath of Ophelia at Bulmers Orchard in Tipperary, Ireland
Ophelia, the biggest storm to hit Ireland in 50 years, has been wreaking havoc. Seen here is the aftermath of Ophelia at Bulmers Orchard in Tipperary which is located in the southern part of the island.
One of the strangest landscape elements of the Alps are the so-called Earth Pyramids of South Tyrol
One of the strangest landscape elements of the Alps are the so-called Earth Pyramids of South Tyrol. Especially during foggy conditions these pillars appear like from another world. Photographer Kilian Schönberger spent several hours on-location to capture the change of colors and light from dawn till noon. On Behance, Schönberger adds:
These strange so-called earth pyramids were shaped by erosion. They remind a bit of hoodos in the SW of the U.S., but their origin is a bit different. Normally the pillars consist of deposited clay with a boulder on top. They “rise” in moraine clay soil left behind by the glaciers of the last Ice Age. The soil is prone for erosion during heavy pour – though it’s hard like stone when dry. Boulders within the glacial soil are like a shield to the soil below them. The surrounding material is swept away by rain but the stone-protected parts stay more or less dry and pillars start to “rise” from the ground. Once the earth pyramid is too fragile to carry the boulder even longer, the balance is lost and the stone tumbles down. Without this protection the rest of the earth pillar vanishes quite fast with the next rainfalls.
Below you will find highlights from Kilian’s photo series ‘Otherworld‘. To see more from the artist, check out his work at the links below.
[via Colossal]
Blue hues brought to you by Mother Nature
In this lovely landscape capture we see the winter landscape of the valley of the village Bogomila from the peak of Solunska Glava, located in the central part of the Republic of Macedonia.
A viral ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ photo has been stirring up controversy with claims of fakery
In this perfectly timed photo we see a huge rainbow encapsulating a low hanging moon in the skies of Ocean City, Maryland. The photo was posted to reddit last month by user nimo4749 who said his friend took the once in a lifetime snap.
There’s been plenty of debate in the comments as to whether this image is photoshopped. Someone used math to try to prove the image was fake, while another ran it through a photoforensics site and it came up clean. Many people think it appears as if some clouds are somehow behind the moon which is an impossibility. What do you think?
A subtle palette and bold application of paint
Sally West is a leading Australian artist and her work is internationally collected. Her professional career as an artist has taken her all over the world, winning prizes and selling to private collectors. Her application of the paint is thick and creates amazing textural surfaces. Admirers of her work love her subtle palette and bold application of the paint.
Sally has been the winner of many recent art prizes and is a regular finalist in many prestigious prizes including the Portia Geach Art Prize (SH Ervin Gallery 2013, 2014 & 2015), New South Wales Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize, Paddington Art Prize (2016), KAAF Prize (2016), EMSLA (2016), Salon Des Refuses (Wynne) Prize, Charlatan Ink Art Prize (Manhattan NYC), and the Pacific Palms Art Prize (winner 3 years), Gosford Art Prize, Mosman Art Prize, Hornsby Art Prize and many more.
She is represented by the KAB Gallery where you can find a large number of her works currently for sale. To see more amazing paintings by West, check out the links below.
Situated in a nature reserve in northwestern Norway, the Juvet Landscape Hotel is truly stunning
In the Academy Award-winning sci-fi thriller, Ex Machina, the story takes place in the luxurious, isolated home of antagonist and reclusive CEO, Nathan Bateman.
In reality, the film’s ‘home’ is better known as the Juvet Landscape Hotel, situated within a nature reserve in northwestern Norway.
The architects behind the Juvet Landscape Hotel, Jensen & Skodvin, wanted to create a hotel that would not intrude upon nature, but rather exist in harmony with the landscape of which it is a part.
The hotel consists of nine detached rooms that are sited separately, each with a unique perspective on the rugged landscape. In addition, there is the opportunity to stay in the old buildings on the farm – the mill house, the barn and the authentically restored farmhouse – while meals are served communally in the old barn.
The architects envisioned a landscape hotel that would blend in with the natural environment. The result is seven small “cubes” on stilts, with glass walls that offer each space a striking view of the valley, the river, the courtyard or the dramatic gorge below. All the rooms have a dark interior to avoid stealing focus from the scenery.
The site for the hotel is a nature reserve. After extensive negotiations with conservation authorities, permission was eventually granted for a plan allowing a maximum of 28 rooms to be built without the need for rock blasting or alterations to the terrain.
Some of the home’s interiors in the film, like the living room (with the natural rock face for a wall), were shot at a separate location; a private summer house, also designed by Jensen & Skodvin.
On the outskirts of Sapporo, Japan, you will find a sitting Buddha hidden under a hill of lavender
On the outskirts of Sapporo, Japan, you will find the Makomanai Takino Cemetery. Established in 1982, a large stone Buddha sculpted 15 years ago sat alone in a vast field, giving an ‘unrestful impression’ according to the client.
The cemetery wanted to give visitors a more serene appreciation of the Buddha and tasked the highly regarded Japanese architect, Tadao Ando, to devise an elegant solution.
Ando proposed to ‘hide’ the 13.5m (44 ft) Buddha below a hill of lavender with just the head peeking out. Underneath would be a 40m (131 ft) long approach tunnel that leads to a light-filled rotunda surrounding the statue.
When the great hall is reached, visitors look upwards to the Buddha, whose head is surrounded by a halo of sky. Check out the incredible drone tour below of this incredible place.
The hill of the Buddha is planted with 150,000 lavenders that turn fresh green in spring, pale purple in summer and snow-covered in winter. The cemetery is open from 9am – 4pm from April to October and 10am – 3pm from November to March. A 300 yen donation is requested for maintaining the lavender fields and facilities.
For visitor information click here.
[Vitra via Designboom]
The winning photo was selected from over 15,000 entries from participants in more than 30 countries
A photograph of an erupting volcano hit by a bolt of lightning has earned Sergio Tapiro Velasco of Mexico the prestigious title of 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. Velasco will receive a 10-day trip for two to the Galápagos Archipelago with National Geographic Expeditions, as well as a $2500 prize. Velasco’s incredible photo was selected from over 15,000 entries from participants in more than 30 countries.
Velasco took his grand prize-winning photo, titled “The Power of Nature,” outside Colima, Mexico. For more than a decade, Velasco has been studying and photographing the Volcán de Colima, which is one of the most active volcanos in Latin America and also known as the “Volcano of Fire.” Before he captured this striking photograph, Velasco had been carefully tracking an increase in activity and closely watched the volcano for almost a month.
While shooting on a completely clear night just 12 kilometers away from the crater, Velasco heard a booming noise and witnessed the biggest volcanic lightning he’d ever seen. Until he reviewed the photos he’d taken, Velasco had no idea if he’d actually captured the spectacular event.
“When I looked on the camera display, all I could do was stare,” said Velasco. “What I was watching was impossible to conceive, the image showed those amazing forces of nature interacting on a volcano, while the lightning brightened the whole scene. It’s an impossible photograph and my once in a lifetime shot that shows the power of nature.”
The 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year contest recognizes spectacular photos taken within the last two years, with entries in three categories: Nature, People and Cities. In addition to the grand-prize winner, top photos were selected in each of the three categories. First-, second- and third-place winners were awarded $2500, $750 and $500, respectively, as well as a subscription to National Geographic Traveler magazine.
Powerful eruption of Colima Volcano in Mexico on December 13th, 2015. That night, the weather was dry and cold, friction of ash particles generated a big lightning of about 600 meters that connected ash and volcano, and illuminated most of the dark scene. On last part of 2015, this volcano showed a lot of eruptive activity with ash explosions that raised 2-3 km above the crater. Most of night explosions produced incandescent rock falls and lightning not bigger than 100 meters in average.
The modern interior of the city library in Stuttgart. With its wide-open space in the central, where natural light comes from through the windows on the top, it has a very unique atmosphere, where you can broaden your knowledge.
The Kowloon Walled City was the densest place on Earth. Hundreds of houses stacked on top of each other enclosed in the center of the structure. Many didn’t have access to open space.This notorious city was finally demolished in 1990s. However, if you look hard enough, you will notice that the city is not dead. Part of it still exists in many of current high density housing apartments. I hope this series can get people to think about claustrophobic living in Hong Kong from a new perspective.
This football field in Henningsvær in the Lofoten Islands is considered one of the most amazing fields in Europe, and maybe even in the world. The photo was taken during a 10-day sailing trip in Norway in June 2017. We arrived to Henningsvær after a week of sailing through the cold and rainy weather. Upon our arrival, the weather cleared up. I was really lucky that the conditions were suitable for flying my drone, and I managed to capture this shot from a height of 120 meters.
This building is apartment complex in Gifu Prefecture of Japan. It is very colorful, but it is an ordinary collective housing where ordinary people can live.
New city on the desert
Swans who live vigorous even in mud.
This image was captured in Costa Rica when I was travelling from Monteverde to Playa Hermosa. As you cross over this river, you can stop and peer over the edge of the bridge. Below, reside over 35 gigantic crocodiles, relaxing on the muddy banks of the river. I wanted to capture the stark difference between the crocodiles on land and in the water. In the murky waters, the body contours of these beasts remain hidden, and one can only truly see their girth as they emerge from the river.
The marble caves of Patagoina
Shooting in the forest This photograph was taken in the evening hours of a humid early summer day in the forest of a small remote village in the Tamba area of Japan. It beautifully captures the magical atmosphere of Princess fireflies carpeting a stairway leading to a small shrine revered by the local people.
Mount Bromo volcano is a small, but active volcanic cinder cone on Java, Indonesia. Early 2016, I happened to be in Mt. Bromo during the increase of seismic activity and triggered the alert status to the second highest.
Caribbean reef sharks are usually shy so I placed my camera on a rock where I know they frequent and used a remote trigger to click away as they came in and bumped my camera around.
This photo was taken in Konya. Willing Dervish in an historical place of Sille KonyaTurkey. The ‘dance’ of the Whirling Dervishes is called Sema and is a symbol of the Mevlevi culture. According to Mevlana’s teachings, human beings are born twice, once of their mothers and the second time of their own bodies.
Museum visitors curiously watching Rembrandt’s painting ” Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild” where it gave the illusion that the people on the paintings too are curiously watching the visitors.
I recently traveled to Tavarua, Fiji to do some surf photography with pro surfer Donavon Frankenreiter at Cloudbreak. I’m always looking for new angles and perspectives. The usual surf shots have all been done so we decided to get a little creative. Makes you look twice.
A beautiful photo of a father and son sitting in white traditional attire with beautiful blue sky on the day of Eid al-Fitr in a mosque in New Delhi, India. The photo shows the beautiful bond which these two generation have been building up in a very simple and lovable manner.
The photo was taken on 23rd of July 2016 at Tongi Railway Station, Gazipur, Bangladesh. I was there for taking photos and waiting for a moment. A train from Dhaka toward another district has reached and stopped at the platform for 5 min for lifting passengers. It was huge raining. Suddenly I found a pair of curious eye was looking at me through the window and on his left an umbrella has been put for protect the rain. I got the moment.
Besakih Temple has been known as Bali’s ‘Mother Temple’ for over 1000 years and is perched 1000 metres high on the southwestern slopes of Mount Agung. Here Balinese often come to offer up prayer and take blessing from the temple priests or “Pemangku” who reside there.
In an ongoing series entitled “Layer Drawings” Nobuhiro photographs a landscape over a period of time and then mounts a selection of the images onto acrylic
Nobuhiro Nakanishi is an artist and photographer from Fukuoka, Japan. He received his BA in Fine Art Sculpture from Tokyo Zokei University and his MFA, also in Fine Art Sculpture, from Kyoto City University.
In an ongoing series entitled “Layer Drawings“, Nobuhiro photographs a landscape over a period of time and then mounts a selection of the images onto acrylic glass in chronological order. Nakanishi adds:
“We are all subject to the passing of time, yet each of us feels and perceives it in our own way. Time itself has no shape or boundary and cannot be fixed or grasped. When we look at the photographs in these sculptures, we attempt to fill in the gaps between the individual images. We draw from our physical experiences to fill in missing time and space, both ephemeral and vague. In this series, I attempt to depict time and space as sensations shared by both viewer and artist.”
Below you will find photos of his installations from previous installations. To see more visit his website.
[via Colossal]
Aydın Büyüktaş’ mind-bending ‘flatland’ series is awesome
Aydın Büyüktaş is a freelance artist and photographer who has become well-known online for his ongoing series of surreal ‘folded landscapes’ entitled, Flatland.
Born in Ankara, Turkey and currently based in Istanbul, Büyüktaş stitches about 18-20 photos together to create his mind-bending landscapes. The artist’s latest series was captured at various locations across the United States over the course of a month and over 10,000 miles driven.
To keep up with the latest creations by Büyüktaş, check out his work at the links below.
[via PetaPixel]
