Photos and English scripts are from Nationalgeographic.com
March 01, 2008
Bison Herd, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1996
Photograph by Raymond Gehman
Bison thrive in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park years after fires swept through more than a third of the park. Ecologists now regard wildfires as natural and beneficial in forest ecosystems. They return nutrients to the soil by burning dead or decaying matter, burn off disease-ridden plants and insects, and clear thick canopies and undergrowth, allowing a new generation of seedlings to grow.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Essential Element of Fire," September 1996, National Geographic magazine)
March 02, 2008
Omo Region, Ethiopia, 2000
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
In southern Ethiopia's Omo region, a Hamar child peeks out from under her mother's shawl. The Hamar are among the most elaborately attired of Ethiopia's ethnic groups. Daily dress may include piles of beaded necklaces and metal bracelets, beaded belts and headbands, leather skirts or loincloths, and elaborate, sculptured hairstyles.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Enigma of Beauty," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)
March 03, 2008
Gentoo Penguins, Antarctica, 2006
Photograph by Paul Nicklen
Poised to plunge belly-first into the ocean, a colony of gentoo penguins lines up for a dip. Thanks to their sleek bodies and strong paddle-like flippers, gentoos are the world's fastest underwater swimming birds, reaching speeds of up to 22 miles an hour (36 kilometers an hour).
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Deadly Beauty," November 2006, National Geographic magazine)
March 04, 2008
Lanai Island, Hawaii, 1997
Photograph by Jim Richardson
Overcoming a swell of threatening clouds, the heavens part over Hawaii's Lanai Island, bestowing a celestial glow on a patchwork of former pineapple fields. Lanai once produced almost 75 percent of the world's pineapples; today, as production moves to cheaper markets overseas, Hawaiian farmers are converting their fields into solar energy farms.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hiding Away in Lanai," January/February 1997, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
March 05, 2008
Sharks and Grunts, French Polynesia, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
In the fertile waters of French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago, a school of blue-striped grunts beats a fast retreat as a pair of blacktip reef sharks lurk in the distance. Although the nutrient-poor soil of the French territory limits its terrestrial flora and fauna, the archipelago's waters are among the world's most scenic, species-rich spots.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Black Pearls of French Polynesia," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)
March 06, 2008
Iguana, Sittee River, Belize, 2007
Photograph by Tim Laman
On Belize's Sittee River, a green iguana poised to spring regards the camera from the corner of its eye. Home to the Western Hemisphere's longest coral reef and hundreds of acres of deciduous, evergreen, swamp, and mangrove forests, Belize is among the richest habitats on Earth, supporting wildlife such as tapirs, jaguars, pumas, crocodiles, turtles, and hundreds of species of birds and amphibians.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Mangroves: Forests of the Tide," February 2007, National Geographic magazine)
March 07, 2008
Coffee Break, Arizona, United States, 1996
Photograph by Vincent J. Musi
For many people, diners—and their colorful employees—represent relics of a slower, gentler era. Historians trace the first diner to 1872 in Providence, Rhode Island, where pressman Walter Scott sold food from a horse-drawn wagon parked outside the Providence Journal newspaper office. Nostalgic for the "good old days," Americans today are fueling a 21st-century diner revival.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Romancing the Road," September 1997, National Geographic magazine)
March 08, 2008
Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, 1999
Photograph by David Alan Harvey
Sunlight filters over the forested seaside cliffs of Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean islands, which lie just beyond the tail end of the Windward Antilles, are a study in contrasts. Densely populated Trinidad is an industrial giant with a thriving nightlife; a two-hour ferry ride away, Tobago is a relatively undeveloped, easygoing island that specializes in relaxation.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Limin' Time," September 1999, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
March 09, 2008
Fish Tail, French Polynesia, 1997
Photograph by David Doubilet
Even from its tail end, a Napoleon wrasse fish swimming through the waters of French Polynesia's Tuamotu Archipelago is instantly recognizable by the electric blue patterns coating its fins and scales. But these fish are distinctive from any end. Headfirst, they're known for their spiky teeth and plump, swollen lips that absorb the prickles of the bristly reef creatures on which they feed.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Black Pearls of French Polynesia," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)
March 10, 2008
Waterfowl, Zambezi River, 1997
Photograph by Chris Johns
Silhouetted by salmon skies at sunset, a pair of waterfowl alights on a tree limb near the Zambezi River. Often called the lifeline of southern Africa, the Zambezi cuts a 2,200-mile (3,540-kilometer) course east from Zambia to the Indian Ocean, sustaining elephants, hippos, crocodiles, hundreds of species of birds—and tens of millions of people—along the way.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Down the Zambezi," October 1997, National Geographic magazine)
Photos and English scripts are from Nationalgeographic.com