National Geographic Foto of the Day

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Ship, Juan de Fuca Strait

February 26, 2013

[h=2]Ship, Juan de Fuca Strait
[/h] Photograph by Jason van der Valk, Your Shot
This Month in Photo of the Day: Your Photos
A large vessel makes her way through the Juan de Fuca Strait near Victoria, British Columbia, on the southern shores of Vancouver Island.
Through heavy cloud cover over the ocean, the sun threw down many rays. I could see this ship nearing the bright light and waited until it was in the middle.
I exposed for the extreme highlights, leaving the rest underexposed and presenting a very dramatic image.

 

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Footprints, Belarus

February 28, 2013

[h=2]Footprints, Belarus
[/h] Photograph by Alexander Zozulya, Your Shot
This Month in Photo of the Day: Your Photos
Mozyr, Gomel region, Belarus, April 2012

 

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Jaguar, Ecuador

March 1, 2013

[h=2]Jaguar, Ecuador
[/h] Photograph by Steve Winter, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A jaguar on the hunt trips a camera trap at a spot frequented by piglike peccaries, a favorite prey. To the Waorani, one of the native groups in this area, jaguars are ancestral spirits that visit shamans in dreams to tell them where game is plentiful in the forest.

 

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Traditional Home, Libya

March 2, 2013

[h=2]Traditional Home, Libya
[/h] Photograph by George Steinmetz, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Kasim Abdu Salaam Habib, 39, opens his lovingly decorated 600-year-old home to foreign tourists in Ghadames in western Libya. The house needs repairs, and visitors are scarce these days. But Habib is optimistic. "I want to see Libya as a democracy," he says.

 

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Stone Mound, Mongolia

March 3, 2013

[h=2]Stone Mound, Mongolia
[/h] Photograph by Carolyn Drake, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A stone mound, or ovoo, in Mongolia marks a place where spirits are said to have appeared; respectful travelers circle it three times.

 

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Yasuní National Park, Ecuador

March 4, 2013

[h=2]Yasuní National Park, Ecuador
[/h] Photograph by Steve Winter, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features

From the bromeliads, ferns, and orchids that cover a kapok tree 160 feet above the forest floor to the jaguars that prowl below, Ecuador's Yasuní National Park is home to countless plant and animal species. All of them now face threats from oil development.

 

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Kyrgyz Nomads, Afghanistan

MARCH 5, 2013
Kyrgyz Nomads, Afghanistan

Photograph by Matthieu Paley, National Geographic[/COLOR]
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Kyrgyz herders adore their cell phones, which they acquire by trading and keep charged with solar-powered car batteries. Though useless for communication—cellular service doesn't reach the isolated plateau—the gadgets are used to play music and take photos.

 

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Emperor Penguin, Antarctica

March 6, 2013

[h=2]Emperor Penguin, Antarctica
[/h] Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Preparing to launch from the sea to the sea ice, an emperor penguin reaches maximum speed.

 

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Roman Theater, Libya

March 7, 2013

[h=2]Roman Theater, Libya
[/h] Photograph by George Steinmetz, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Libyans enjoy a visit to Sabratah's ancient Roman theater, one of Africa's largest.

 

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Rhino Viper, Cameroon

March 8, 2013

[h=2]Rhino Viper, Cameroon
[/h] Photograph by Mattias Klum, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
The element of surprise gives this rhino viper in Cameroon an edge over prey. Quick-kill venom finishes the job. Vipers provide valuable toxins, including those used in drugs for hypertension and heart disease and to control bleeding during surgery.

 

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Beach, Gaza

March 9, 2013

[h=2]Beach, Gaza
[/h] Photograph by Paolo Pellegrin
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Gazans swim in the Mediterranean Sea at sunset. An Israeli naval blockade to stop smuggling of arms and other goods into the Gaza Strip—the heart of Palestinian resistance—also restricts Gazans to within three nautical miles of shore. But the sea is one place where they have an open horizon.

 

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Noisy Night Monkeys, Ecuador

March 10, 2013

[h=2]Noisy Night Monkeys, Ecuador
[/h] Photograph by Tim Laman, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
The noisy night monkey (Aotus vociferans) is one of ten confirmed monkey species that live in Ecuador's Yasuní National Park, one of the world's wildest places.

 

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Methane Bubbles, Alaska

March 11, 2013

[h=2]Methane Bubbles, Alaska
[/h] Photograph by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
The first clear ice of fall on an Alaskan lake captures methane that all summer long has bubbled from the bottom mud. In spring it will be released into the air. As permafrost melts, new lakes are forming all around the Arctic.

 

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Vaux-le-Vicomte Gardens, France

March 12, 2013

[h=2]Vaux-le-Vicomte Gardens, France
[/h] Photograph by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A fete like this, in the sumptuous gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte, marked the beginning of the end for owner Nicolas Fouquet in 1661. Louis XIV came, saw, and coveted; he confiscated the property and imprisoned Fouquet.

 

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Bonobos, Democratic Republic of the Congo

March 13, 2013

[h=2]Bonobos, Democratic Republic of the Congo
[/h] Photograph by Christian Ziegler, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Tranquil and protective, Zoe cuddles Zizu after nursing him. Male bonobos, unlike chimps, do not form same-sex coalitions to achieve power; from infancy to adulthood, a boy’s best friend is his mother.

 

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Lake Baikal, Siberia

March 14, 2013

[h=2]Lake Baikal, Siberia
[/h] Photograph by Carolyn Drake, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
The peaks of Burkhan Rock rise like twin spires from Siberia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s largest body of fresh water. People across Asia believe that spirits associated with Baikal live in this rocky outcropping on Olkhon Island, destination of a steady stream of pilgrims.

 

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King Bird of Paradise, New Guinea

March 15, 2013

[h=2]King Bird of Paradise, New Guinea
[/h] Photograph by Tim Laman, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Constantly trailed by his own flying saucers, a king bird of paradise clings to a vine in the New Guinea rain forest. His vivid colors and bizarre tail feathers evolved from millennia of competition for female favor.

 

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Methane Ignition, Alaska

March 16, 2013

[h=2]Methane Ignition, Alaska
[/h] Photograph by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Methane is bubbling from lakes all over the warming Arctic. Here ecologist Katey Walter Anthony (at right) ignites a large bubble that was trapped by the fall freeze—then freed by an ice pick.

 

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MikroKopter Drone

March 18, 2013

[h=2]MikroKopter Drone
[/h] Photograph by Joe McNally, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
With eight arms spanning less than a yard, a German MikroKopter provides a stable camera platform for under $5,000.

 

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Manatees, Florida

March 19, 2013

[h=2]Manatees, Florida
[/h] Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Propeller scars mark this manatee—graphic evidence of a too-close encounter with a boat. About one in four of Florida's 360 manatee deaths in 2012 resulted from collisions. Slow-speed zones help, but some boaters resent the restrictions.

 

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Cherry Blossoms, Japan

March 20, 2013

[h=2]Cherry Blossoms, Japan
[/h] Photograph by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
In Japan the nighttime viewing of cherry blossoms in spring, like these at Kyoto’s Hirano Shrine, is a special event. "The cherries' only fault: the crowds that gather when they bloom," wrote Saigyo, a 12th-century poet.

 

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Kyrgyz Yurt, Afghanistan

March 21, 2013

[h=2]Kyrgyz Yurt, Afghanistan
[/h] Photograph by Mattieu Paley, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Blanket-draped yaks hunker down outside a young Kyrgyz couple's yurt on the eve of a summer trading journey. Made of interlaced poles covered with felt, these portable homes are packed up and reassembled for seasonal migration. Wooden doors are imported to the treeless plateau from lower altitudes.

 

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Emperor Penguin Colony, Antarctica

March 22, 2013

[h=2]Emperor Penguin Colony, Antarctica
[/h] Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Life is safer at the colony, where predators are few and company is close.

 

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Kyrgyz Girls, Afghanistan

March 26, 2013

[h=2]Kyrgyz Girls, Afghanistan
[/h] Photograph by Matthieu Paley, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
After a hailstorm, nomadic Kyrgyz girls venture outside their mud hut beside the Aksu River in a remote part of Afghanistan. The nomads sometimes stop here for a few weeks between migratory seasons if grass for their herds is too scarce at the summer or winter camps.

 

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Ghadames, Libya

March 27, 2013

[h=2]Ghadames, Libya
[/h] Photograph by George Steinmetz, National Geographic
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Tight clusters of traditional mud-brick-and-palm houses have stood for centuries in Ghadames, a pre-Roman oasis town in the Sahara. Rooftop walkways allowed women to move freely, concealed from men’s view.