Photo of the Day: Ansel Adams Wilderness

Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen said, “The first great thing is to find yourself, and for that you need solitude and contemplation, at least sometimes. I tell you deliverance will not come from the rushing, noisy centers of civilization. It will come from the lonely places.”

The wilderness calls to us all, and it’s easy to see why in this beautiful shot by Buck Forester from Gadling’s flickr pool. It’s of the famous “minarets” above Lake Ediza in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in California. I love how Buck captured the early morning light on the peaks, and how the stream softens the bottom half of the photo in contrast to the jagged rocks above.

Do you have a great photo of the wilderness? Share it with us in Gadling’s flickr pool and you may end up as a Photo of the Day!

Photo of the day – arty rooster graffiti in Portugal


Many of us have a certain “thing” we like to photograph when traveling. For some, it’s food. For Gadling blogger Mike Barish, it’s amusing signs, as well as himself with various SkyMall products. Personally, I like graffiti, like today’s photo from Portugal taken by Flickr user Rita Moreno. The graffiti is practically arty in it’s framing, colors, and even the tears in the paint seem thoughtful and eye-catching.

What do you like to photograph on your travels? Send your best shots to our Gadling group on Flickr and we might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Photo of the day: Rabat, Morocco


Traveling isn’t just about seeing beautiful sights. It’s about experiencing culture. The little day-to-day activities we witness while away from home can be the most touching. This image of boys in the water in Rabat, Morocco transported me a bit. I heard the water splashing, the boys yelling, and the sounds from the street. I stared at the small dot of the man sitting on the rocks in the background; I wondered how long he’d been meditating there at the time this photo was taken.

A sudden realization ended my reverie: common denominators like these, like children playing in the water, drive home the fact that no matter where we go, people are more or less the same at their core.

Have a photo you’d like to submit for our POTD series? Upload it to the Gadling Flickr Pool so we can take a look.

[photo by Vanessa Brown]

Video of the Day – In the Air

The more I fly, the more I take it for granted. When flight starts to become a routine mode of transportation, it’s easy to lose the sense of wonder and amazement that we all had on our first airplane rides.

The thrill of taking off. The unfamiliar view of roads and cars from up above. The wingtips slicing through wisps of clouds.

Today’s Video of the Day from filmmaker Ryan Booth captures those small moments in a way that takes me right back to those early memories of flight. Set to a dreamy soundtrack by Imogen Heap, Ryan shot this video with a 5D Mark II and used Final Cut Pro for color correction. Check out more of his work here.

If you have a great travel video that we should share, leave a comment below, and we could feature it as our next Video of the Day!


Photo of the Day – English Class in Vietnam

As we travel the world taking in the sights and sounds, it’s often easy to forget that the people whom we romanticize are just people living their own lives and trying to fulfill their own dreams. Those workers tending rice paddies, artisans weaving tapestries and farmers herding livestock may make for some fanastic stories when we return home, but they all remain where we saw them, taking on each day as it comes. Just like these students in an English class in Mu Cang Chai, Vietnam.

This photo by flickr user pirano shows a classroom filled with students seeking to improve their lives by learning to speak English. Each one of them has their own goals, desires and hopes. Perhaps one of them will make it to New York one day, snap a picture of me commuting and show it off to their friends back home as an example of how we live day-to-day.

Taken any inspiring travel photos? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.