We are exceptionally fortunate to have access to some of the most astonishing images from photographers around the world. Many have been drawn from reports which appear on the pages Enoying English, others have been found by chance during searches, or submitted by visitors. They are copied her for you to enjoy. Our thanks to those whose contributions are displayed.
next This
unusual photograph taken by an unknown photographer in Scandanavia,
shows the Milky Way (left of centre), next to the Northern Lights,
together with a comet streaking across the top centre of the image.Supermoon pics & Slide show
Guest Passes let
you share your photos that aren't public. Anyone can see your public
photos anytime, whether they're a Flickr member or not. But! If you want
to share photos marked as friends, family or private, use a Guest Pass.
If you're sharing photos from a set, you can create a Guest Pass that
includes any of your photos marked as friends, family, or private. If
you're sharing your entire photostream, you can create a Guest Pass that
includes photos marked as friends or family (but not your private
photos). Learn more about Guest Passes![?]
There was a lot to smile about yesterday - it was Friday, a summer's day and a weekend of sunshine lay ahead.
This extraordinary image is just one more thing to be cheerful about.
The photograph,
which has gone viral on the internet, shows clouds passing in front of
the sun - creating what appears to be a smiley face.
Happy summer: Clouds pass in front of the sun in this image that is doing the rounds on the internet
Little is known about the image, which was first posted on Reddit six days ago and has been doing the rounds on blogs and websites ever since.
It is not clear where it was taken, or whether the sun is rising or setting. But as it sits low on the
horizon, it fills the sky with light the colour of a rosé wine - the
thought of which is, of course, gave yet another reason for a smile.
Shuttle Atlantis and Space Station pass in front of the Sun
The back of the shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station can be seen passing in front of the Sun
Moscow: The Spider's web pictured from Space
Spectacular pictures of tornadoes, super-cells and lightning by storm chaser Mike Hollingshead May, 2010.
A stormchaser has turned his hobby into a job,
driving tens of thousands of miles every year to take spectacular
photographs of extreme weather. Mike Hollingshead jumps in his car and
races after storm warnings in the hope of capturing shots of tornadoes.
He follows about 40 storms each year, clocking up around 20,000 miles
June 17, 2009. Mike says: "This photograph was
taken at the end of the day after seeing three tornadoes from the
storm. The supercell is moving towards the York Nebraska truck stop"
I know the area where this massacre was committed. It is a crowded
working-class area, a place where it is safe for children to play
outdoors. It is near where my two aunts and their extended families
lived, where I played as a child with my cousins Ali, Khalid, Ferial
and Mohammed. Their offspring still live there.
The Reuters photographer we see being killed so casually in the
film, Namir Noor-Eldeen, did not live there, but went to cover a story,
risking his life at a time when most western journalists were imbedded
with the military. Noor-Eldeen was 22 (he must have felt extremely
proud to be working for Reuters) and single. His driver Saeed Chmagh,
who is also seen being killed, was 40 and married. He left behind a
widow and four children, adding to the millions of Iraqi widows and
orphans.
Witnesses to the slaughter reported the harrowing details in 2007,
but they had to wait for a western whistleblower to hand over a video
before anyone listened. Watching the video, my first impression was, I
have no impression. But the total numbness gradually grows into a now
familiar anger. I listen to the excited voices of death coming from the
sky, enjoying the chase and killing. I whisper: do they think they are
God?
"Light 'em all up!" one shooter says.
"Ah, yeah, look at those dead bastards. Nice," says another.
"Well, it's their fault bringing their kids into the battle," one
says when ground troops discover two children among the wounded.
In their Apache helicopter, with their sophisticated killing
machinery, US soldiers seem superhuman. The Iraqis, on the ground,
appear only as nameless bastards, Hajjis, sandniggers. They seem
subhuman – and stripping them of their humanity makes killing them easy.
As I watch, I feel the anger calcify in my heart alongside the
rage I still feel over other Anglo-American massacres: Haditha (which
has been compared to the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war);
Ishaqi (where 11 Iraqi civilians were killed in June 2006); Falluja;
the rape and killing of A'beer al-Janaby and her family; the British
Camp Breadbasket scandal.
We often hear of the traumas US soldiers suffer when they lose one
of their ranks, and their eagerness to even the score. We seldom hear
from people like the Iraqi widow whose husband was shot, who looked me
in the eye last summer, and said: "But we didn't invade their country."
Unlike this video, the injustice she feels will not fade with
time. It is engraved in the collective memory of people, and will be
until justice is done.
Locusts devaste fields in Australia A plague of locusts have hit Queensland, Australia damaging vegetation and crops - 08.04.2010
They
are a remarkable window onto a bygone age. A snapshot of a city in
transition - with horse-drawn carts and cobbled streets replaced by a
booming industrial revolution.
Lost
in the archives of English Heritage for 25 years, these never-before
published images have now been compiled into a book. From Victorian
London to the devastation of two world wars, they provide a unique
record of a vanishing way of life in the capital.
Here, CLAIRE COHEN compares the London of a century ago with photographs taken at the same locations today.
Earlham Street, Seven Dials, circa 1905, left, and now, right
EARLHAM STREET
THEN: Street life consisted of men in flat caps standing outside a pub in an area that was a byword for poverty.
NOW: Part
of London's commercial West End, Earlham Street attracts theatre-goers
and shoppers from nearby Covent Garden. On the site of the pub is a
designer clothes shop.
Borough High Street, circa 1903, left, and now
BOROUGH HIGH STREET
THEN: 17th century timber-framed shops fronted the slums which were home to London's poorest.
NOW: Although the area has been gentrified, the old-fashioned shops of the past have been replaced by a faceless office block.
Bush House, Aldwych circa 1932, left, and now
BUSH HOUSE, ALDWYCH
THEN:
Bush House, at the foot of Kingsway and a symbol of Anglo-American
co-operation, was declared the most expensive building ever when it
opened, in 1929, having cost £2million.
NOW:
Home to the BBC World Service and HM Revenue and Customs, it appears
largely unchanged - and many of the original buildings around it
still stand.
Tower Bridge, circa 1893, left, and now
TOWER BRIDGE
THEN: The
bridge, in its latter stages of construction, was designed to allow
ships to pass into the Pool of London. Its gothic style was meant to
fit in with the Tower of London and it cost £1.2million (£96.6 million
today).
NOW:
A busy thoroughfare for traffic, it is crossed by 40,000 people a day:
a speed limit of 20mph and weight limit of 18 tons helps to preserve
the structure from damage. River traffic still takes priority, but the
bridge is raised only 1,000 times a year (compared to 50 times a day in
its heyday).
Oxford Circus, October 19, 1910, left, and now
OXFORD CIRCUS
THEN:
This view of Oxford Street shows just how much London has changed in a
century. Motorised vehicles drive alongside horse-drawn carriages, and
a policeman stands in the middle of the junction, directing the traffic
and pedestrians.
NOW:
Buses and taxis still dominate, a Tube station has been built, and
traffic lights have replaced the lone policeman. The Peter Robinson
department store has since been replaced by chain stores.
Pool Of London, circa 1914, left, and now
POOL OF LONDON
THEN:
A panorama of sails and steam depicts this crowded shipping district.
Warehouses and factories sit in chaotic jumble, out of which rises the
spire of the Church of St Magnus the Martyr (centre) and the Monument
(right). St Paul's can just be seen on the far left.
NOW:
Trade is no longer the focus - the boats carry only tourists. St
Paul's is clearer, and St Magnus the Martyr and the Monument are still
visible, poking out from the glass skyscrapers.
Regent Street, 1910, left, and now
REGENT ST
THEN:
Advertising was fashionable in Victorian London, with illuminated
lettering on Piccadilly Circus. Mellin's Pharmacy at No 48 Regent
Street was probably the first such sign. Other still-familar brands
include Perrier and Bovril.
NOW:
Piccadilly Circus is world-famous for its vast flashing hoardings. The
concentration of shops and restaurants make this one of London's
busiest areas.
Snowflake Bentley: first ever pictures of snow crystals by Wilson A Bentley go on sale
Photographs by the first person to capture the image of a single snowflake with a camera are going up for sale in New York, featuring examples from a life's work of pioneering 19th-century images of thousands of jewel-like snowflakes — no two alike
The Pacific smolders as lava from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano hits the ocean. Kilauea is a shield volcano, or a low, gently sloping volcano built almost entirely from basaltic lava flows. It is one of five such volcanoes that make up Hawaii's Big Island.
Perched above the lighted city of Catania, Italy, Mount Etna hurls a fountain of fire skyward as rivers of lava spill down its flanks. In spite of its dazzling displays, Mount Etna is a relatively safe volcano with rare, compact eruptions and slow-flowing lava that gives people a chance to escape.
Flashes of lightning add to the drama of an eruption as Tavurvur Volcano spews lava in the Rabaul Caldera in Papua New Guinea. Although volcanic lightning is a common occurrence, its causes are still being determined. Researchers think that in some cases static charges are formed by collisions of rock fragments, ash, and ice particles.
A stream of neon-orange lava cascades down Ol Doinyo Lengai, in Tanzania’s Great Rift Valley. Ol Doinyo Lengai, "Mountain of God" in the language of the Maasai, is the only volcano in the world erupting natrocarbonatite lava, an extremely fluid lava that contains almost no silicon.
Pahoehoe lava flows on Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Unlike aa (pronounced “ah ah”) lava, pahoehoe flows relatively slowly, allowing an insulating skin to form that keeps the temperature close to 2,190 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,200 degrees Celsius). Aa lava, on the other hand, moves faster and doesn’t have time to develop a skin, resulting in a cooler flow with a more angular texture.
Pavlof Volcano blasts clouds of ash and steam to a height of about 18,000 feet (5,490 meters) over the Alaska Peninsula during an August 2007 eruption. Pavlof is the most dangerous type of volcano—a stratovolcano—with the potential for highly explosive eruptions. Stratovolcanoes tend to form where one of the Earths tectonic plates descends below another.
Green vegetation surrounds villages on the slopes of Mount Merapi, a highly active volcano in Central Java, Indonesia. Thousands of people, lured by fertile volcanic soils, live on or near Merapi. Many lives have been lost to the volcano’s frequent eruptions, which are accompanied by high-speed pyroclastic flows and mudflows called lahars.
Green vegetation surrounds villages on the slopes of Mount Merapi, a highly active volcano in Central Java, Indonesia. Thousands of people, lured by fertile volcanic soils, live on or near Merapi. Many lives have been lost to the volcano’s frequent eruptions, which are accompanied by high-speed pyroclastic flows and mudflows called lahars
A frosty St Isaac's Cathedral - St Petersburg
Homeless in the snow
St Mungo's has opened emergency shelters for rough sleepers during the cold weather, but some are staying on the streets John Domokosguardian.co.uk, 08.01.2010 Video:
An angler on the lakes
1 / 8
A frosty St Isaac's Cathedral - St Petersburg
1 / 5
1 / 11
Weather pics: Children play in fountains during the heatwave in northern China.
Baby female panda, Lin Hui, under the care of a Vetinariay doctor at Chiang Mai Zoo in Bankok.
