Tiny blennies such as this spinyhead poke out from the coral in Cuba's Cayo Largo, always on the lookout for edible items within darting reach. "They are no bigger than an infant's finger, but they are tigers—extremely aggressive and territorial," says photographer David Doubilet. "They seem to have no concept of their own size."
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Cuba Reefs: A Last Caribbean Refuge," February 2002, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 12, 2008
Smoke and Prayer Flags, Lhasa, Tibet, 2000
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
Incense smoke clouds the air as sun streams through strings of prayer flags during New Year celebrations in Lhasa, Tibet. The fragrant smoke of juniper and artemisia is thought to be pleasing to the spirits of land and sky.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Tibet Embraces the New Year," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 13, 2008
Trango Tower, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan, 1996
Photograph by Bill Hatcher
Tucked within the Karakoram Range of the Himalaya near the Pakistan-China border, the spires of the Trango Group protrude from the icy landscape like shark's teeth. Within this group stands Trango Tower, a sheer, nearly 3,000-foot (915-meter) dagger of granite. In 1996, a group of intrepid mountaineers became the first to successfully free-climb the tower's East Face. Here, expedition member Todd Skinner works to set up a hanging camp anchored to the tower some 19,500 feet (5,950 meters) above sea level.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Storming the Tower," April 1996, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 14, 2008
Tree Frog, Pacific Islands, 2003
Photograph by Tim Laman
A tree frog shows off its broad and effective grip while clinging to a tree trunk in the Pacific Islands. Frogs—particularly tropical species—are vanishing at alarming rates, in part due to disease epidemics attributed to climate change. Amphibian skin is incredibly thin, making frogs acutely susceptible to changes in temperature, humidity, or water quality.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hotspots: Preserving Pieces of a Fragile Biosphere," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 15, 2008
Spanish Church, Texas, 1996
Photograph by Bruce Dale
A peaceful image of the 140-year-old presidio chapel in San Elizario, Texas, belies the restive reality of life along the U.S.-Mexico border. Towns beside the dangerous and polluted 1,250-mile-long (2,000-kilometer-long) Rio Grande don’t always know calm and order.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Tex-Mex,” February 1996, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 16, 2008
Flags on Rooftops, Gyangze, Tibet, 2000
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
Prayer flags adorn the rooftops of houses in Gyangze, Tibet, during Losar, the Tibetan New Year. The flags are printed with the images of deities, prayer texts, or symbols of good fortune and placed where the wind will move through them and carry their blessings across the land.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Tibet Embraces the New Year," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 17, 2008
Crested Iguana, Yaduataba Island, Fiji Islands, 2003
Photograph by Tim Laman
A rare Fijian crested iguana surveys his surroundings from a tree on Yaduataba Island, one of the 333 islands making up Fiji. Discovered by outsiders in 1979, the crested iguana’s numbers are rapidly dwindling due to the brisk spread of introduced species, such as feral cats and black rats.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hotspots: Preserving Pieces of a Fragile Biosphere," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 18, 2008
Drying Mud, Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia, 2006
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
Mud baking in the hot Indonesian sun nearly reached the rooflines in a village in Sidoarjo, East Java. In 2006, a fracture deep within the Earth, likely caused by local natural-gas drilling, triggered a massive release of hot mud that lasted for months and buried the region.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Gods Must Be Restless: Living in the Shadow of Indonesia’s Volcanoes," January 2008, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 19, 2008
Hermit Crab, Republic of Palau, 2003
Photograph by Tim Laman
A glowing hermit crab tentatively peeks out of its coral burrow in Palau. This island nation, along with nine independent countries, eighteen territories, and Hawaii, composes the Micronesia-Fiji-Polynesia biodiversity hotspot. Rich in vulnerable endemic species, this hotspot encompasses more than 1,400 islands—and an area twice the size of the continental United States.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hotspots: Preserving Pieces of a Fragile Biosphere," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Nov 20, 2008
Buddhist Temples, Bagan, Myanmar (Burma), 1984
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
A view from atop Mingalazedi Pagoda shows sprawling Bagan, Myanmar (Burma), a pilgrimage center covered with hundreds of ancient Buddhist shrines. The monuments, most of which were erected between the 11th and 14th centuries, cover a 20-square-mile (50-square-kilometer) area along the east bank of the Irrawaddy River.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Time and Again in Burma," July 1984, National Geographic magazine)