Sunlight glimmers over the Plaosan Buddhist temple in Klaten regency, central Java, Indonesia.
Photograph via Pierre Lesage
This breathtaking aerial photograph by Pierre Lesage was taken from a kite soaring high above Ahe, an almost entirely-enclosed coral atoll located in the northern Tuamotu Archipelago, just 14 km to the west of Manihi, in French Polynesia. Ahe Atoll’s ring shape is broken by only a single small passage into the lagoon. It has a length of 23.5 km and a width of 12.2 km. Ahe has a land area of approximately 12 km2 and a lagoon area of 138 km2.
As of 2007, Ahe Atoll had 561 inhabitants. Geographically, Ahe Atoll is part of the King George Islands (Iles du Roi Georges) subgroup, which includes Ahe, Manihi, Takapoto, Takaroa and Tikei. [Source]
This photograph was taken at the Cocoperle Lodge also located on Ahe. It’s about an hour flight from Tahiti and features six authentic bungalows sitting on the beach. The Lodge is respectful of ecology and identifies itself as an ecolodge.
The photo was captured using a Go Pro 3 Black Edition mounted to a 2.6 meter Rokkaku kite. For more information on kite aerial photography (KAP), be sure to check out Pierre’s incredible Flickr page. He also has an iPhone and iPad app featuring some of his best photography. You can find it here.
Picture of the Day: Ahe Atoll, French Polynesia «TwistedSifter.
Photograph by Bertrand Kulik
Have you ever seen a horizon rainbow before? This fascinating phenomenon was recently captured by photographer Bertrand Kulik in Paris, France. According to Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell of NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD):
“What is pictured above is actually just a common rainbow. It’s uncommon appearance is caused by the Sun being unusually high in the sky during the rainbow’s creation. Since every rainbow’s center must be exactly opposite the Sun, a high Sun reflecting off of a distant rain will produce a low rainbow where only the very top is visible — because the rest of the rainbow is below the horizon.
Furthermore, no two observers can see exactly the same rainbow — every person finds themselves exactly between the Sun and rainbow’s center, and every observer sees the colorful circular band precisely 42 degrees from rainbow’s center.” [Source]
Picture of the Day: A Horizon Rainbow in Paris «TwistedSifter.
The Infinity Bridge, a pedestrian bridge in Stockton-on-Tees in the UK, is suspended from a pair of beautiful asymmetrical bowstring arches that, when reflected in the water, look like the flowing double loop of the infinity symbol, hence the name. Designed by Expedition Engineering and Spence Associates, not only are the shape and reflection striking and interesting, but the lighting design by Speirs & Major makes the bridge an interactive kinetic experience. The deck of the footbridge is cloaked in a blue glow that shifts to a white light that moves along with you as you cross, much like a protective spotlight.
Photo credit: Julian Stratenschulte / EPA
Photographer Thamer Al-Tassan‘s passion is to travel the world and taking beautiful photos from unique angles of places captures his attention. The ever majestic Taj Mahal was one of them.
In this series, Thamer brought together the Taj Mahal and its charmed visitors in one frame.
via Dramatic Fine Art Photographs of the Taj Mahal – Wave Avenue.
Photograph by Bryan Olesen on Flickr
In this beautiful photo by Bryan Olesen, we see the popular Ash Cave in Hocking Hills, Ohio. Located in the southernmost reaches of Hocking Hills, Ash Cave is the largest recess cave in the state of Ohio. The horseshoe-shaped cave measures 700 feet from end to end, and is 100 feet deep from the rear cave wall to its front edge, with the rim rising 90 feet high. A small tributary of the East Fork of Queer Creek (seen on the left) cascades over the rim into a small plunge pool below [Source]. For more information on the history of Ash Cave, head to hockinghills.com for a detailed summary.
Hocking Hills State Park is a non-contiguous state park. Within the park are several spectacular features based around rock formations, including Old Man’s Cave, a narrow, deep gorge featuring waterfalls; Rock House, a cliffed area with a rock shelter; Cantwell Cliffs, a broad gorge at the head of a hollow with a unique stone stairway; Cedar Falls, a larger waterfall south of Old Man’s Cave; and the aforementioned Ash Cave [Source].
Picture of the Day: Ash Cave at Hocking Hills «TwistedSifter.