Photo of the Day (6.28.09)

Most photos you’ll see of sailboats are full of visual cliches. Typically the background is all puffy white clouds, set against a brilliant blue sky and brightly colored ship’s sail, stretched taut in the forceful winds. This shot, by Flickr user Ben Grogan, doesn’t fall victim to the typical sailing photo traps. I love the darkly ominous sky menacing its way across the photo’s left, slowly melting into a brilliant cheery spot of sun on the far right. Meanwhile the sailboat seems frozen in the midst, caught between dark and light.

Have you taken any great sailing photos recently? Or maybe just while you were floating in the pool? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one your as our Photo of the Day.

Photo of the Day (5.31.09)

Light and shadow are the photographer’s secret weapons, something artfully demonstrated in this image from Flickr user nabil.s. Nabil took this shot of the Andean Mountains in Peru, darkened by eerie clouds and enveloped by the oncoming dusk. I love the tiny plot of brightly-lit mountain in the background. It looks like it’s about to be swallowed by an approaching monster.

Do you have any travel photos you’d like to share with our Gadling readers? Why not add them our group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Let There Be Darkness

This evening between 7:55-8pm CET in Europe, some European cities–Paris and Athens among them–went dark for five minutes. Not by accident, either.

Tomorrow, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will unveil a long-awaited report on global warming. And, apparently, nobody (aside from global warming deniers and skeptical environmentalists) expects it to be pretty.

Pressure is building on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to call an emergency summit of world leaders to break the deadlock over cutting greenhouse gases.

I wonder how much money would be saved by keeping the Eiffel Tower dark indefinitely. The 20,000 flashing lights sure make it look more visible to air traffic though. Oh, but wait, air travel is bad for the environment, too. This is where I might stop being an environmentalist. I guess you have to pick your battles.