The World's Largest Photography Award Reveals its Stunning Shortlist

Swirling tornadoes, glittering ice caves and a breaching killer whale: The world's largest photography awards disclose its stunning shortlist. There’re some of the entries to have made the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards, now in its 10th year. You can see a vast tornado over a deserted highway in Texas, whereas another captures of an almighty killer whale breaches off the northern coast of Hokkaido in Japan, tossing silver shards of glimmering water into the air as it breaks the surface.

Thus, the 49 countries are represented in the shortlist, with the winners to be revealed on April 20 in London. These are just some of the moment’s judges for the Sony World Photography Awards have picked out for this year's shortlist. For the 2017 competition, the largest in the world, now in its 10th year - photographers from across the planet entered a record 227,596 images across the awards' Professional, Open and Youth categories. This was indeed a truly global reach to the Sony World Photography Awards judging this year - the images were more diverse and broad ranging than have ever seen before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Gigantic Crack Found in Arizone Desert Spotted First Time Using Drone Technology

A massive Two-mile crack is found in the Arizona desert, as Giant fissure in the earth is spotted for the first time using drone technology. This is first ever time, when AZGS had used drone footage to review the fissures in this way. The huge crack formed between March 2013 and December 2014, and it is thought the fissure may have grown after heavy rains in the fall of 2014. They’re experimenting with drone technology as a tool for mapping fissures and other surface features like, landslides masses. It seems a fresher crack, and could have been an underground void that reached the surface after a monsoon in 2016.

The fissures, which are fairly common in the Arizona desert, formed after 'extensive groundwater withdraws in the Sonoran Desert. Moreover, a cluster of the cracks subsists around Eloy, and in Cochise, La Paz, Maricopa, Pima and Pinal Counties, with the first having opened up near Eloy in 1929. The giant fissures are precarious to people off-roading and riding ATVs in the area, and also pose a risk to roaming livestock who can fall in and get stuck. Therefore, it is also unsafe to stand near the edge of a fissure due to the risk that it could suddenly cave in.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mother of 300 Trees

“Saalumarada Thimmakka” 105 years old women inspiring people of all generations with her unbelievable dedication to our planet. The one century old women planted about 300 trees, influenced by the fact that she and her late husband Sri Bikkala Chikkayya found themselves childless after 25 years of marriage. They are hailing from rural Karnataka, southern India, the motivated couple dealt with this despondency by nurturing, watering, and making the plants a part of their family.

She explained their verdict to cultivate trees to CNN. It was my destiny not to have any children. Because of that, we decided to plant trees and raise them and get blessings. We have carefully treated the trees just like our children. This cheering notion is particularly impressive considering the environmental conditions they faced the landscape is arid and has very slight rainfall. Hence, to properly care for the trees, the couple carried water for quite a lot of kilometers, but just like a protective parent, Chikkayya planted thorny bushes to protect the bunch from animals. Her great selfless efforts have since received the devotion they deserve. 

After year of efforts, finally she has a foundation established in her name called the “Saalumarada Thimmakka International Foundation” that’s dedicated to conserving the environment as well as supporting schools, education, and providing healthcare for those in need. Therefore, after years of caring for her plant children, she has someone to look after her in her advanced years an adopted son named Sri Umesh. She incessantly inspired by her environmental efforts, and acts as president for her organization and runs a nursery that provides trees to farmers, carrying on her legacy for years to come.

The Most Beautiful Roads in Europe

For driving lovers, The Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria is perhaps the most eye-catching road in Europe, running across the mountains from Bruck in the state of Salzburg to Heiligenblut in Carinthia via Fuscher Törl. The talented nature photographer “Mikołaj Gospodarek” has been travelling to the road every year since 2008 to take pictures of it in the diverse seasons. The photographer has built up an unbelievable series of pictures showing numerous points along the route, which is peppered with mountain peaks, stunning glacier lakes and remote roadside huts. 

These roads are big tourist attraction thanks to its lovely vistas and thousands of visitors pay the toll to drive along it from May to October. The Austrian road with highest mountain was first mooted by a team of Austrian engineers in 1924 when they were ridiculed for their ambitions plans. Almost 11 years later the Grossglockner High Alpine Road was officially opened in August 1935. This road provides a one-of-a-kind journey for those who choose to travel on it. The road is like an ornament of ribbons situated between green mountain pastures, colorful flower meadows, rocky rubble, ice and snow. Because it nestles up against hills, follows the course of the natural ground and fits the mountains like a glove. Whooshing waterfalls, the shrill whistling of marmots and the howling wind in the summit regions make a memorable high alpine soundscape.

Desolate Landscapes You Won't Hard to Believe is on Our Planet

In the first look, you’ll hard to believe these landscapes really exist on earth. And while they don't make a specific good habitat for the majority of life, they do make for some rather amazing examples of our planet's extreme terrain. Just like to take the example of Ethiopia's alien-looking Danakil depression - the hottest place on earth with a year-round average of 34.4C - which is home to sulfurous springs that produce a kaleidoscope of natural colors. The Ethiopia's Erta Ale shield volcano is home to one of the few lakes of everlasting molten lava on Earth. 

Moreover, the Richat Structure, a protuberant circular formation in the largest African Sahara desert that is so idiosyncratic from space, it has become a landmark for Nasa astronauts. Therefore, in the certain light, America's Grand Canyon mountain ranges could be straight out a science-fiction movie, too, as could Australia's vast uninhabited Outback. Here are catalogue of some of fabulous locations around the world you definitely wouldn't want to hang around in, but are more than worthy of some other-worldly admiration. Moreover, The Door to Hell in Turkmenistan is a natural gas chamber that has been burning continually for decades. And the Haughton crater on Canada's Devon Island has actually been used to conduct Mars-related research.