Parrandas Festival, Cuba
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 31, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A plume of fireworks surrounds a reveler at the Parrandas, a December festival in the colonial town of Remedios, near Cuba's north coast. Two barrios compete to stage the most impressive display.
See more pictures from the November 2012 feature story "Cuba’s New Now."
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Buzescu, Romania
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 30, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A fantasia of styles, from villa to temple to castle, lines the main street of Buzescu, population 5,000. Men are often away on business; women, wealthy or not, stay to cook, clean, and raise the kids.
See more pictures from the September 2012 feature story "Home of the Roma Kings."
Take a tour of Romania's Transylvania region »
Emperor Penguins, Antarctica
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 29, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Emperor penguins are Olympian swimmers, capable of diving to 1,750 feet and remaining underwater 20 minutes on a single breath. "I was mesmerized by their beautiful bubble trails," says Nicklen, who braved 28°F water to capture these images.
See more pictures from the November 2012 feature story "Escape Velocity."
See Paul Nicklen's winning image from the 2012 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition »
See pictures from Paul Nicklen's Polar Obsession »
Cheetah, Kenya
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 28, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A male cheetah assumes a lookout pose in a fig tree in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. His prospects are sobering. Shy and aloof by nature, requiring vast spaces to live and hunt, the planet's fastest sprinters are in a race for their very survival.
See more pictures from the November 2012 feature story "Cheetahs on the Edge."
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Botafogo Bay, Rio de Janeiro
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 27, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Yachts bob in Botafogo Bay, cradled between the beach and the tall rock known as Sugar Loaf.
See more pictures from the October 2012 feature story "Playing Rio."
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Havana, Cuba
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 26, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A window reflects an image of Fidel Castro in a working-class Havana neighborhood few tourists see.
See more pictures from the November 2012 feature story "Cuba’s New Now."
Mustang Province, Nepal
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 25, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Dusk falls over the temples and homes of Tsarang, once the region’s most important town. In Mustang, where the centuries have not disrupted the traditional rhythm of life, the caves offer clues to a time when the remote Himalayan kingdom was a hub linking Tibet to the rest of the world.
See more pictures from the October 2012 feature story "Sky Caves of Nepal."
Spiny-Headed Blenny
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 24, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Corals build the rampart that shelters the landward provinces of mangrove and sea grass. The reef's calcium carbonate city teems with species, among them this spiny-headed blenny.
See more pictures from the October 2012 feature story "Meso Amazing."
See more underwater pictures from Brian Skerry's Ocean Soul »
Brian Skerry earns Emerald Award »
Moai, Easter Island
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 23, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Their backs to the Pacific, 15 restored moai stand watch at Ahu Tongariki, the largest of Easter Island's ceremonial stone platforms. Rapanui artisans carved the moai centuries ago from volcanic rock at a quarry a mile away. By the 19th century all of Easter's moai had been toppled—by whom or what is unclear. In 1960 these moai were swept inland by a tsunami, which fractured some (left).
See more pictures from the July 2012 feature story "If Only They Could Talk."
Take a tour of the World Heritage sites »
See ten iconic must-photograph spots »
Mong Kok District, Hong Kong
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 22, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A neon-soaked district beloved by Hong Kong film directors, Mong Kok blazes with massage parlors and karaoke joints, conjuring visions of gangster shoot-outs. Triads, the local gangs, stay low profile, specializing in extortion and loan-sharking.
See more pictures from the June 2012 feature story "Hong Kong: In China’s Shadow."
Take a visual tour of Hong Kong »
Warren Cave, Antarctica
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 21, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A mix of ropes and ladders eases access to Warren Cave, a labyrinth of passages melted from the ice by the volcano's heat. Small currents of air probably cause the scalloping around the cave's entrance.
See more pictures from the July 2012 feature story "Mount Erebus."
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Soldier Beetle and Magnolia
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 20, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Beetles are among the most ancient pollen carriers. This soldier beetle munches a magnolia, which emits both scent and heat as lures. Cantharidae on Magnolia grandiflora, National Arboretum, Washington, D.C.
See more pictures from the March 2011 feature story "Gold Dusters."
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Roman Arch, Algeria
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 19, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
TIMGAD, ALGERIA
This triumphal arch awed visitors to the city of Thamugadi, founded by the emperor Trajan around A.D. 100 as a civilian settlement near the fort of Lambaesis. The grooves left by wagon and chariot wheels can still be seen in the stone road.
See more pictures from the September 2012 feature story "Roman Frontiers."
See timeless pictures of Algeria »
Divers, Easter Island
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 18, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Tourists diving on Easter Island's reef encounter a fake moai, made for a 1994 Hollywood movie and then sunk offshore. The reef is healthy, though it is overfished. Tuna and salmon are imported, primarily for tourists.
See more pictures from the July 2012 feature story "If Only They Could Talk."
Explore underwater landscapes »
See pictures of an underwater sculpture park »
Hverfjall Crater, Iceland
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 17, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
When Hverfjall erupted 2,500 years ago, no one saw it—no one lived in Iceland. On a March evening photographer Orsolya Haarberg watched alone as a north wind scoured Mývatn lake's thin ice, sweeping snow into a drift that looked like a path to the crater.
See more pictures from the May 2012 feature story "Iceland's Resilient Beauty."
Explore the Best of the World »
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Astana, Kazakhstan
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 16, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
Kazakhstan's new capital is the opposite of understated. After dark, government buildings change hues as the night progresses, creating a theme park atmosphere.
See more pictures from the February 2012 feature story "Tomorrowland."
Take a visual tour of the seven stans »
Falcons, Socotra
National Geographic Photo of the Day
October 15, 2012 at 09:30AM
This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features
A female kestrel brings food to her nestlings on a cliff on Socotra's southern coast. These falcons, along with other raptors like the Socotra buzzard, are the main land predators on the island.
See more pictures from the June 2012 feature story "Where the Weird Things Are."
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See pictures of birds of prey »
