national geographic

For centuries the bird-of-paradise has been a byword for exotic animals and faraway locales, but actually documenting this family has been near impossible. Now, thanks to 8 years and 18 expeditions into Australia, Papua New Guinea, and surrounding islands, the birds have finally all been recorded.

On the heels of an extremely mild winter in which much of the US saw very little snow and record-setting high temperatures, comes a documentary on climate change’s effects in the arctic from award-winning National Geographic photographer James Balog. The film, Chasing Ice, documents the work of the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), an impressive multi-year project to document changes to the arctic environment.

Our huge gallery of Readers' Contest winners should provide you plenty of inspiration, but if you're looking for more, National Geographic’s 2011 Photo Contest Winners should do the trick. The Grand-Prize (and Nature category) winning image comes from Indonesia, but could have been shot in your backyard. The macro shot of a dragonfly clinging to a twig during a storm manages to serve as a metaphor for the human experience.