The Planet Earth Thread - Our Planet is Breathtakingly Beautiful

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Whats the point of that thing in the middle of the water?

Miyajima Island is considered a sacred island within the Shinto religion in Hiroshima prefecture. Since it was sacred, only ordained people could enter the island; commoners were not allowed to enter. Thus, Itsukushima Shrine (the gate you see in the picture) as well as a boardwalk-like shrine:

..was constructed to allow commoners to conduct worship and prayer on the island without setting foot on it's soil. The shrine itself was established in 1168 but was rebuilt after a massive typhoon in 1875. It is reported since 1878, no deaths or births have occurred on this island and much of the island retains it's virgin forests. The floating shrine itself represents the a gate into the sacred island but the image that is reflected on the surface of the water represents the "other side" of our world. It is supposed to look like a mirror as well as a window to the "spirit world". As well, it is aesthetically pleasing to viewers.

 

[Jane]

the view at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 

[Jane]

Mt. Rainer and lenticular clouds in Washington

 

[Jane]

Akhtamar Island, Lake Van, Turkey

Gasadalur, Faroe Islands

Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia

The Dolomites, Italy

Volcan Poas, Puerto Rico

Mt. Fuji with Shizuoka, Nagano, and Yamanashi prefectures, Japan

Mt Cook reflected on Lake Matheson, New Zealand

Vitosha (mountain) outside of Sofia, Bulgaria

 

[Ori_bro]

This thread is amazing. I will definitely be posting in here soon.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

Here's a crystal cave in Skaftafell, Iceland.

Itsukushima Shine on Miyajima Island, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Mt. Fuji with Shizuoka, Nagano, and Yamanashi prefectures, Japan

Mt Cook reflected on Lake Matheson, New Zealand

All of these are absolutely beautiful.


Hanging Lake, Colorado (full size here)

 

[Jane]

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

 

[~ Gheb ~]

I love all the pics in this thread but PLEASE wrap them in

Spoiler

-tags or else it takes too long to load each page =/

[collapse="Iguacu falls [Paraguay / Brazil / Argentina]"]

[collapse="Torrel del Plaine [Chile]"]

[/collapse]

 

[Jane]

lol, collapse tags doesnt stop the image from loading, it just doesnt show it on screen. so collapse tags or not, the page will take the exact same time to load.

 

[Jane]

Terra Ronca Cave, Goias, Brazil

 

[Morin0]

Akhtamar Island, Lake Van, Turkey

So freaking beautiful.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

I know we like to focus on pictures of landmarks and natural landscapes but....

I wanted to post this picture for a while...

A Mandarinfish. The Mandarinfish can be found south of Taiwan and Japan and north of Australia along reefs and seedweed beds. They are a shy and timid fish with a breathtaking array of colors.

 

[Jane]

^beautiful and weird. i approve of pictures of animals in this thread!

Schrammsteine, Saxon, Switzerland

http://www.flickr.com/photos/webinteger/7438424168/sizes/l/

 

[Jane]

Lake Tahoe, Nevada

 

[Jane]

Hong Kong aerial view

 

[Wizzrobe]

Hong Kong aerial view

Wow, Hong Kong looks crazy and awesome from an aerial view with those buildings and all.

 

[Jane]

Spoiler

Cenote Ik Kil, Yucatan, Mexico

Lenticular cloud over Mt. Ararat, Turkey

Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island, Phillippines

Waimea Canyon at Kauai, Hawaii

Easter Island

Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia

Badlands, South Dakota

Pico, Açores, Portugal

Sumidero Canyon's Grijalva River, Mexico

and lastly, Camel Thorn Trees in Nambia

^that is a totally real, unaltered photograph.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/namibia-park/behind-the-photo

 

[Ori_bro]

Spoiler

Cenote Ik Kil, Yucatan, Mexico

Lenticular cloud over Mt. Ararat, Turkey

Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island, Phillippines

Waimea Canyon at Kauai, Hawaii

Easter Island

Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia

Badlands, South Dakota

Pico, Açores, Portugal

Sumidero Canyon's Grijalva River, Mexico

and lastly, Camel Thorn Trees in Nambia

^that is a totally real, unaltered photograph.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/namibia-park/behind-the-photo

#Godlike

Also Hong Kong looks so unreal lol

 

[Skadorski]

Oh my gosh, I am so glad I found this thread. I never realized this world could be so beautiful...
I always hated how boring and plain life was, but this thread just opened my eyes wide. These sights are wonderful...
Makes you really respect nature more. Just wanted to thank everyone for posting these wonderful, fantastic pictures of how brilliant this earth is.
Thank you.

 

[Jane]

Oh my gosh, I am so glad I found this thread. I never realized this world could be so beautiful...
I always hated how boring and plain life was, but this thread just opened my eyes wide. These sights are wonderful...
Makes you really respect nature more. Just wanted to thank everyone for posting these wonderful, fantastic pictures of how brilliant this earth is.
Thank you.

this post made my day ^___^





a view of Jade Mountain, St. Lucia

 

[Jane]

Alesund, Norway

Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile

cliffs north of Santa Cruz, CA

 

[Staz]

one word:amazing

 

[Ori_bro]

I had that Alesund, Norway picture as my Laptop Wallpaper before hahaha

 

[Jane]

Tokyo from the air

 

[Jane]

Laitaure Lake, Sweden

Mt. Hood, Oregon

Chicago, Illinois

Matera, Italy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atilla2008/7602595498/sizes/l/in/photostream/

South Dakota
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4real/7603990742/sizes/l/in/photostream/

 

[Jane]

Crater Lake, Oregon

 

[Jane]

Morzine, France

 

[Dre89]

Spoiler

Cenote Ik Kil, Yucatan, Mexico

Lenticular cloud over Mt. Ararat, Turkey

Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island, Phillippines

Waimea Canyon at Kauai, Hawaii

Easter Island

Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia

Badlands, South Dakota

Pico, Açores, Portugal

Sumidero Canyon's Grijalva River, Mexico

and lastly, Camel Thorn Trees in Nambia

^that is a totally real, unaltered photograph.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/namibia-park/behind-the-photo

I'm so glad you posted the Yucatan picture, I intend to go diving there sometime in the future (got to learn to dive first).

Also, can you explain what's happening in that camel tree picture? Is the sky orange and the ground blue? I have no idea what's going on but it looks amazing.

 

[Oasis_S]

I so needed this thread right now.

Also, can you explain what's happening in that camel tree picture? Is the sky orange and the ground blue? I have no idea what's going on but it looks amazing.

It looks like the foreground is on the shady side of, I assume, a hill, while the background is of another rocky hill in the sunlight.

 

[ajp_anton]

From our roadtrip in Norway last month:
http://ajpanton.se/noreg/trolltunga.jpg
(Yeah, that's me.)

 

[Jane]

I'm so glad you posted the Yucatan picture, I intend to go diving there sometime in the future (got to learn to dive first).

Also, can you explain what's happening in that camel tree picture? Is the sky orange and the ground blue? I have no idea what's going on but it looks amazing.

Here's a short summary about the making of the photo. It was made at dawn when the warm light of the morning sun was illuminating a huge red sand dune dotted with white grasses while the white floor of the clay pan was still in shade. It looks blue because it reflects the color of the sky above. Because of the contrast between the shady foreground and the sunlit background I used a two-stop graduated filter which reduced the contrast. The perfect moment came when the sun reached all the way down to the bottom of the sand dune just before it reached the desert floor. I used a long telephoto lens and stopped it all the way down to compress the perspective.

From our roadtrip in Norway last month:
http://ajpanton.se/noreg/trolltunga.jpg
(Yeah, that's me.)

wow, absolutely stunning! scandinavia is definitely on my to-do list.

 

[Attila_]

figure i might have something to contribute. a few old photos from my time in japan a few years ago:

 

[Ori_bro]

^ Loving each of those shots! Especially #1. I am the HUGEST sucker for a good cloud picture.

Here is a nice shot I took on a walk in my neighborhood by the lake

 

[Jane]

^damn, nice. living right next to a lake must be funsies :>

Venezuelan Poodle Moth

 

[Jane]

Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana

 

[Jane]

The Seven Sisters Waterfall, Norway

rofl @ the awesome coincidence that i posted this and the previous post exactly 12 hours apart.

 

[Jane]

Santiago, Chile

 

[Jane]

Ki-Gompa monastery, Spiti Valley, Tibet

 

[Jane]

Mt. Rundle and the Bow Valley, Alberta, Canada

 

[Ori_bro]

Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana

The Seven Sisters Waterfall, Norway

rofl @ the awesome coincidence that i posted this and the previous post exactly 12 hours apart.

Both of these simply amazed me.