Fishermen prepare their nets on Panjakou Reservoir in Hebei, China. This tranquil lake, formed when the Luan River was dammed in the late 1970s, hides a stretch of China's Great Wall. The submerged structure now serves as an artificial reef, which attracts the carp these fishermen seek.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Chasing the Wall," January 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Five centuries after Inca priests sacrificed this boy and two other children on a peak called Cerro Llullaillaco in Argentina, archaeologists found them frozen to near perfection, accompanied by breathtaking artifacts and textiles.
Richly wrapped Inca child sacrifices were more than just gifts to the gods. They were ambassadors, sometimes volunteered by their families, sometimes taken from them. This boy, perhaps eight years old, wore a tunic big enough to grow into and carried extra sandals for his journey into the next world.
(Text adapted from, and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Frozen in Time," November 1999, National Geographic magazine)
September 03, 2008
Lynx Trap, British Columbia, Canada, 2005
Photograph by Amy Toensing
A bird's wing waves above a trap set for lynx in British Columbia, Canada. Captured for conservation, trapped cats are set free in the Colorado Rockies—part of a project to restore the lynx to their historic range after decades of absence.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Of Lynx and Men," January 2006, National Geographic magazine)
September 04, 2008
Stonehenge, Wiltshire Plain, England, 2006
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
Stonehenge on England's Wiltshire Plain is the most famous relic of prehistory in Europe and one of the best known, most contemplated monuments in the world.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "This Thing Called Love," February 2006, National Geographic magazine)
September 05, 2008
Bernina Express Train, Europe, 2000
Photograph by Joe Patronite
The Bernina Express crosses a stone bridge during its rapid yet stunning journey from the Alps of Switzerland to the meadows of Italy. This train’s roller-coaster route through scenic canyons and forests includes a freestanding loop, mountain switchbacks, and curving bridges.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Lure of the Rails," July/August 2000, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
September 06, 2008
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska, 2003
Photograph by Frans Lanting
Seen from above, a network of countless tributaries gleams like molten metal in Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Larger than Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts combined, the park protects more than 13 million acres (5 million hectares) of mountains, tundra, forests, ice fields—and solitude.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Alaska's Giant of Ice and Stone," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
September 07, 2008
Bug on Ripening Fig, Borneo, Indonesia, 1997
Photograph by Tim Laman
A bug feeds on a ripening tropical fig in Borneo’s Gunung Palung National Park. The rain forest contains many varieties of these strangler fig trees, and their fruit is a critical food source for numerous rain forest dwellers, including monkeys, civets, butterflies, and ants.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Borneo’s Strangler Fig Trees," April 1997, National Geographic magazine)
September 08, 2008
Farm and Floodwaters, Bangladesh, 1993
Photograph by James P. Blair
Raging rivers in Bangladesh create arable islands of silt, called chars, then slowly scrape away at their shorelines until eventually they disappear. More than 60 percent of Bangladeshis work in the agriculture sector.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Bangladesh: When the Water Comes," June 1993, National Geographic magazine)
September 09, 2008
Gulliver's Travels Theme Park, Japan, 2002
Photograph by Karen Kasmauski
A Lilliputian-like worker scrubs the giant head of Gulliver at Japan's now defunct Gulliver's Travels theme park in the shadow of Mount Fuji. Surrounded by the amusing and the mundane, Fuji—Japan's most sacred summit—manages to rise above it all.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Japan's Sacred Summit," August 2002, National Geographic magazine)
September 10, 2008
Prayer Candles, Lhasa, Tibet, 2003
Photograph by Galen Rowell
Built in 1416, the Drepung Monastery outside Lhasa, Tibet, was once the largest monastery in the world, housing up to 10,000 monks. Here, candles illuminate one of the giant building's chanting halls.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "275 Miles on Foot Through the Remote Chang Tang," April 2003, National Geographic magazine)