NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace (i.e., a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture) on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. 

The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, not with Bavarian public funds. The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. 

Since then over 60 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. 

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Photographer by ZeroOne 

In this fantastic capture by ZeroOne, we see a pigeon atop the Empire State Building, overlooking New York City below. Perhaps the pigeon is on the lookout for its next meal, or simply contemplating who will feel his wrath as he relieves himself mid-flight. Most likely, he’s just enjoying the beautiful view of one of the world’s great cities.

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The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials. It was generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC. Since then, the Great Wall has been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; with the majority of the existing wall reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

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The Dancing House or Fred and Ginger is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with the renowned Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.
The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time because the house stands out among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous. Gehry originally named the house Fred and Ginger (after the famous dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers – the house resembles a pair of dancers) but this nickname is now rarely used; moreover, Gehry himself was later “afraid to import American Hollywood kitsch to Prague”, so refuted his own idea.
The “Dancing House” is set on a property of great historical significance. Its site was the location of a house destroyed by the U.S. bombing of Prague in 1945. The plot and structure lay decrepit until 1960 when the area was cleared.
The style is known as deconstructivist (“new-baroque” to the designers) architecture due to its unusual shape. The “dancing” shape is supported by 99 concrete panels, each a different shape and dimension. On the top of the building is a large twisted structure of metal nicknamed Medusa.

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BACKYARD GARDEN IN JAPAN

In this photo by Wi Bing Tan, we see a gorgeous Japanese garden at the back of a shop in Miyajima Island, Japan. From the cherry blossoms to the Koi fish and bonsai tree, it’s like a microcosm of Japanese tradition and culture.
According to comments on Reddit, the garden is located behind a small cookie factory. For those who may be in the area, check out this Google Maps link for an approximate location.
Miyajima is a small island less than an hour outside the city of Hiroshima. It is most famous for its giant torii gate, which at high tide seems to float on the water. The sight is ranked as one of Japan’s three best views.
While officially named Itsukushima, the island is more commonly referred to as Miyajima, Japanese for “shrine island”. This is because the island is so closely related to its key shrine, Itsukushima Shrine. Like the torii gate, the shrine’s main buildings are built over water.

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I can’t fault you for thinking that. Especially if you just glanced. But a closer inspection reveals that this is indeed a meticulously crafted photograph (singular) by Austrian photographer Bela Borsodi.

The conceptual image was taken for the album cover, Terrain by VLP, a supergroup of Pia Palme (sub-bass recorder, electronics), Electric Indigo (synthesizer, computer) and JSX (turntables).

Below you can see a different angle of the setup.

If you’re still having a tough time believing, check out the timelapse video below that shows the tedious process involved in the arrangement of various objects and getting the perfect sharp edges and angles to bring this idea to life.

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FIFE CABIN, ZION NATIONAL PARK

In another fantastic capture by John Fowler, we see Fife Cabin at Taylor Creek in the Kolob Canyon Section of Zion National Park in Utah.

According to the Washington County Historical Society and zionnational-park.com: Arthur R. Fife, a Professor of Geology at Branch Agricultural College (now Southern Utah University), built this cabin in 1930. When not teaching at the college he lived in the cabin and raised goats. Fife cabin rests in a grove of maple, oak and fir trees. The trail (Taylor Creek) bends to the right after the Fife cabin.

The Middle Fork Taylor Creek route is a 5.4 mile (8.7 km) hike with a 450′ ascent that leads to a double arch alcove. Rattlesnakes are a known problem so be careful. Along the way you will come across two cabins; Fife Cabin shown above and Larson Cabin also built in 1930 by Gustav Larson.

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HONG KONG AT NIGHT

Seen here is the breathtaking Hong Kong skyline at night. The photo was taken from a lookout point on Victoria Peak. Victoria Peak is a mountain in the western half of Hong Kong Island. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak. With an altitude of 552 m (1,811 ft), it is the highest mountain on the island, but Tai Mo Shan is the highest point in all of Hong Kong. With some seven million visitors every year, the Peak is a major Hong Kong tourist attraction.

With a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. According to Emporis, there are 1,223 skyscrapers in Hong Kong, which puts the city at the top of world rankings. It also has more buildings higher than 500 ft (or 150m) than any other city in the world.

The photograph was taken by Spreng Ben and posted to Flickr. As per the photo description: post processing was done from a single Raw file. Photomatix -> Photoshop -> some magic and the Nik Color Efex for the dark tones and the saturated reds. F/2.8 – 1 second – ISO 200 – 17mm Crop 1.5

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BEAUTIFUL BERN FROM ABOVE

The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt (federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland, and, with (as of December 2010) a population of 133,920, the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the Canton of Bern, the second most populous of Switzerland’s cantons.

The official language of Bern is German, but the main spoken language is the Alemannic dialect called Bernese German.

In 1983 the historic old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Bern is ranked among the world’s top ten cities for the best quality of life (2010).

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SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT FROM ABOVE

In this fantastic aerial photograph by Todd Lappin, we see the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) as it looked in 2006. In the foreground is the original mid-1950′s terminal building and control tower. It was later used as the International Terminal and then went unused for a period of time. In 2008 it underwent a $383 million renovation and the terminal reopened (as Terminal 2) on April 14, 2011, with Virgin America and American Airlines sharing the new 14-gate facility.

SFO is the second busiest in California after LAX and is located 13 miles (21km) south of downtown San Francisco. The airport first opened on May 7, 1927.
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INTERSECTION OF REFLECTION

In this brilliant photograph by Navid Baraty, we see the Avenue of the Americas located in midtown Manhattan, New York, from above. The road is also perfectly reflected in the building Navid is shooting from. And check out the ratio of cabs to other vehicles!

This is one of the photos from Baraty’s series entitled Intersection | NYC. He has since followed up the popular series with a collection of New York Intersections at Night. Both are definitely worth checking out.

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