The Greatest and Most Unusual Travel Photo of All Time?

by Willy Volk on

I stumbled over this image just now, and it took my breath away.

Everything about the image is just so amazing: The poof-y shapes of the clouds in the background… The electric blue line that marks the boundary of the atmosphere… The absolute void of color that is space juxtaposed against the brilliant white space suit… The fact that you can see the photographer’s reflection in the mask of the astronaut… The slight, slo-mo wave the astronaut is giving, as if to say, “Tell my wife I love her very much, she knows…“

In my opinion, this may be the greatest travel photo of all time. I love it.

Be sure to check out the larger image here. And for other great travel photos — none of which were taken in space — be sure to browse through our Photos of the Day.

The View From 147,354,066 km Above The Earth

by Willy Volk on

With the possible exception of Hakan Nordkvist, astronauts are the ultimate travelers.

Wanting to give us poor saps stuck down here on earth a look at what astronauts in space see, programmer John Walker developed this cool site which shows the Earth from 147,354,066 kilometers — or 91,561,571.7 miles — above.

Tapping into satellite data, Walker’s Earth — which is easily pan-able — even shows shadow and sunlight in real-time. (I captured this thumbnail at, oh, 5:33 am.) Big, bold, and bursting with color, Walker’s giant Earth is worth playing with.

Boy, the Sahara looks dry.

Space out further:
* Space Walks for You
* Have Your Honeymoon in Space
* Space Tourism Details Start to Fill In

Photo of the Day (2/13/2006)

by Erik Olsen on

There was a book at Barnes and Noble recently that had
an amazing series of photos, one after the other, of shots of the earth taken from a plane. It was really stupendous to
see the patterns and forms that emerge when we change our perspectives. I suppose that goes for both photography and
philossophy, eh? Anyway, this photo
by weegolo of a river near
Christschurch easily deserves today’s POTD. Breathtaking.