Photo Friday: Splashing

The 2011 National Geographic Photo Contest winners were just announced.

Shikhei Goh's amazing image, "Splashing" won both the nature category and the grand prize.

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Happy Friday!

TED Talk Tuesday: Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.

Louie Schwartzberg has been shooting time-lapse photography 24/7 for the past 30 years.
His unfolding and evolving images are breathtaking.

His message is equally as inspiring.
In this TED Talk, he draws the connections between nature, beauty and gratitude.

"Beauty and seduction is nature's tools for survival, because we protect what we fall in love with.  It opens our hearts and makes us realize we are a part of nature and we are not separate from it.  When we see ourselves in nature, it also connects us to every one of us because it is clear that it is all connected and one."

 The second part of his video introduces his new project, Happiness Revealed.  It is a moving short film on gratitude and happiness, told through the point of view of a child and an elderly man.

"You think this is just another day in your life, it's not just another day.  It's the one day that is given to you today.  It's given to you.  It's a gift.  It's the only gift that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness." 

What are you grateful for today?

Photo Friday: Frozen Forest

Here's today's photo of the day:

Beech Forest, Germany
Photograph by Martin Hertel, Your Shot
Beech forest in wintertime. Fichtelgebirge, Bavaria, Germany.

I moved away from the cold to a place where winter consists of 70 degree weather and non-stop rainbows, but this photo reminds me just how beautiful cold can be.

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Happy Friday!