Photo of the Day (4/22/09)

by Jamie Rhein on

With today being Earth Day, images of waterfalls and green came to mind. This luscious shot by Buck Fuller is just what I was looking for. The intriguing quality, not only lies with the shades of blues, greens and grays, but also with the perspective. From seeping Mossbrae Falls water flows into the Sacramento River. I hope that it is as pristine today as it was in April 2006 when Fuller captured its loveliness.

If you have shots of lusciousness, send them our way at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool where one might be picked as a Photo of the Day.

Photo of the Day (2-11-09)

by Jamie Rhein on

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I searched for a photo that had something to do with love. When I typed in the word love to Gadling’s photo pool, this lovely homage to the color blue appeared. Hmmm. Let’s go with it. Love can be blue as in the song that goes, “Blue, blue my world is blue, blue is my world when I’m without you. . .”

In StrudelMonkey’s case, this glorious blue world of stone was found at the beach on the west coast of Ireland. Here’s an indication of how moving in close to the subject can make for an alluring image.

If you have an alluring image to share, send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool. It might be picked for a Photo of the Day. To hear “Love is Blue,” keep reading. Happy Valentine’s Day early.

The video is of Paul Mauriat and his orchestra playing the song “Love is Blue.”

Bush goes green by creating blue sanctuaries

by Brenda Yun on

Yesterday afternoon marked an unprecedented day for marine lovers around the world. Bush announced the creation of three marine monuments that are protected under the Antiquities Act, which was created a century ago to safeguard areas of public interest. In this case, this new treaty places important restrictions on oil and gas exploration as well as commercial fishing for an area that covers close to 200,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean.

Here’s a breakdown of the three major areas that have been declared as protected marine sanctuaries by Bush’s newest water treaty:

  • The northern Marianas Islands and the Mariana Trench (the deepest point in the world)
  • The Rose Atoll near American Samoa
  • Several remote islands in the middle of the Pacific, including Wake Island

These monuments make up a 50-nautical mile radius of protected islands and waters around the Mariana Trench and are full of marine life including sharks and coral, which are most crucial to a healthy ecosystem, as well as unique creatures found only in this part of the world such as the coconut crab and a bird whose eggs incubate by way of volcanic heat. The protected marine area will therefore inevitably become a bird sanctuary as well. In addition, it will

Back in 2006, Bush established a near 140,000 square-mile marine reserve (one of the largest in the world) near the Hawaiian islands, so this is his second good ocean deed in one term. Collectively, this is the most ocean a single person has protected. That’s a pretty admirable feat for a President who hasn’t been particularly green. Certainly, ocean lovers like myself fully appreciate Bush’s final environmental gesture. It’s something we will be thankful for for years to come.

[via the Washington Post and Time Magazine]

Photo of the Day (1/1/09)

by Kent Wien on

Dave and Chi snapped this nice shot of the Eiffel Tower last night during New Years festivities. The tower had been blue for the past six months in celebration of France’s rotating presidency of the European Union.

Blue was nice, but it’s great to see it back to the original color. Looking closely, is that one stray blue light still shining on the tower? Did someone forget to pull that plug?

Thanks Dave and Chi for another great shot!

Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

Photo of the Day (10-15-08)

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a novel by American author James Still titled River of Earth. This photo by miggiddymatt reminds me of Still’s writing.

Still, who died a few years ago when he was well into his 90s, was an adventurer and traveler who settled in the mountains near Hindman, Kentucky, a tiny town in the southeastern part of the state. He wrote about the Appalachians with an ear that perfectly captured the cadence of place.

Even though this photo is of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, the colors and ripples evoke a memory of a day I drove to the end of a road near Natural Bridge State Park to overlook such wonder. When I saw the view, I thought that the earth did indeed look like a river that went on and on forever.

If you have a shot of wonder, send it our way at Gadling’s Flickr Photo Pool.