September 24, 2012
September 20, 2012
Harvest
Harvest is a time of plenty, when the season's hard work is rewarded by bounty. Many of the rhythms of our lives are shaped by the gathering of crops, even if most of us now live in cities. Worldwide, festivals and rituals mark the passage from growing season to harvest, with indigenous and popular practices making fall in the Northern Hemisphere a festive time. This year sees a reduced harvest in much of the world as extreme weather decimated many regions. Half of the United States is in prolonged drought, as well as much of Europe. In India, the monsoon is 20 percent off the annual average. Food prices are expected to rise by 2013 as demand taxes supplies, and later the price rises will transfer to the meat industry as costs of feed for livestock are passed on. Gathered here are images of farms industrial and traditional, crops critical and obscure, and harvest festivals among drought and bounty. -- Lane Turner (41 photos total)
A rainbow shines in the background of a sun-bathed wheat field east of Walla Walla, Wash. on July 16, 2012. High temperatures near 100 degrees have turned fields to gold as harvest draws near. (Jeff Horner/Walla Walla Union-Bulletin/Associated Press)
Swiss farmer Kari Gisler carries a bundle of hay during wild haying on the mountain Rophaien in Flueelen, Switzerland on August 20, 2012. The tradition of wild haying in Central Switzerland dates back around two hundred years on steep hillsides which cannot be reached with animals. (Michael Buholzer/Reuters) #
Felix Munk, head of the beekeeper organization Stadtimker, holds a honeycomb with bees in Vienna on July 11, 2012. Stadtimker is one of a growing number of urban beekeepers' associations who are trying to encourage bees to make their homes in cities as pesticides and crop monocultures make the countryside increasingly hostile. (Lisi Niesner/Reuters) #
Migrant workers harvest watermelon from an irrigated farm field in a drought-stricken region of Indiana on July 18, 2012 near Vincennes, Indiana. Indiana, part of the corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation, is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades. Indiana is one of the nation's largest producers of watermelon. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Peul herdsmen stand by their cows in the green sandy plains near Bermo, Niger on July 16, 2012. When the first rains come, they head north toward the Sahara desert, where the grass is said to be saltier, packed with minerals. They time their movements according to the clouds, waiting for the second major downpour, before making a U-turn to head back to the greener south. If they miscalculate, they can end up stranded. As the grass turns yellow, their animals become too weak to walk. (Jerome Delay/Associated Press) #
A spiritual guide known as an "Amauta," pauses during a ceremony in honor of the "Pachamama," or Mother Earth, on El Cumbre mountain on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia on August 30, 2012. According to local agrarian tradition, Mother Earth awakens hungry and thirsty in August and needs offerings of food and drink in order for her to be fertile and yield abundant crops. (Juan Karita/Associated Press) #
Villagers stand on a crater of Mount Bromo as they wait for sunrise during the annual Kasada festival in Indonesia's East Java province August 4, 2012. Villagers and worshippers throw offerings such as livestock and other crops into the volcanic crater of Mount Bromo to give thanks to the Hindu gods for ensuring their safety and prosperity. (Sigit Pamungkas/Reuters) #
Candidates for the Miss Water Lily pageant pose in their gowns, made from dried water lily stalks, during the Water Lily Festival in Las Pinas city, Philippines on July 19, 2012. Residents harvest water hyacinths and dry the stalks, which become raw material for producing baskets, trays, slippers and other functional and ornamental items. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters) #
Pigs race at an exhibit on August 26, 2012 at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island, Nebraska. With Nebraska still in a state of severe drought and farmers in dire straights, thousands of people visited the fairgrounds to celebrate the state's rich agricultural and rural traditions. (John Moore/Getty Images) #
A scientist prepares to scan roots for a gene at a lab at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, Philippines on August 30, 2012. A team of scientists from the IRRI say they have discovered a gene which increases grain production by 20 percent, which will help poor rice farmers grow more rice. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters) #
6th generation farmers Jud Vaught (left) and his brother Bill Kirklin connect an irrigation system in their cornfield on July 20, 2012 near Whiteland, Indiana on a farm founded by their family in 1835. The corn and soybean belt in the middle of the nation is experiencing one of the worst droughts in more than five decades. Indiana was the nation's fourth largest corn producer in 2011. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Darren Becker sifts through arid topsoil under a ruined crop on the family farm on August 24, 2012 in Logan, Kansas. Like many Kansas farmers who's profits have been wiped out by the record drought, the Beckers are working hard to hang on to their farm, which has been in their family for five generations. (John Moore/Getty Images) #
September 17, 2012
อัปเดต London 2012 Olympics (Update)
SOURCE : www.boston.com
(NOTE: New images start at #56) The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad (and known informally as London 2012) are in full swing in London, United Kingdom. Around 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (the group responsible for organizing their people's participation in the games) will compete. Thousands and thousands of images will be made in London of the athletes and the spectators; the venues and the celebrations; the pomp and the circumstance. A search of current images in a wire database reveals images coming into the system at a rate of over 1,000 an hour during the hours of competition, resulting in a major picture editing challenge. A small sampling follows. -- Paula Nelson (55 photos total)
September 16, 2012
สัปดาห์ระทึก Olympics2012 : One week in
SOURCE : www.boston.com
The London 2012 Summer Olympics enter their second week. Eight thousand two hundred and fifty seven images flowed into our system today from Reuters, AFP, Getty and The Associated Press (and it's only mid-afternoon), yet they represent only a fraction of the visual coverage available of the summer games. Enjoy these select 56 new photographs. -- Paula Nelson (56 photos total)
September 15, 2012
La Tomatina เทศกาลดวลมะเขือเทศ
La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Bunol, located inland from the Mediterranean Sea, that brings together thousands of people for one big tomato fight – purely for fun! It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Bunol. One theory – the most popular of many theories - about the origins of the “fight” dates back to 1945, when (during a parade) young men staged a brawl in the town’s main square, the Plaza del Pueblo. There was a vegetable stand nearby, so they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred. -- Paula Nelson
A reveler wipes tomato pulp from his face during the annual "Tomatina" (tomato fight) in the village of Bunol, near Valencia, Spain, Aug. 29, 2012. Bunol's town hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away as Japan and Australia, took up arms with 100 tons of tomatoes in the yearly food fight known as the 'Tomatina,' now in its 64th year. (Alberto Saiz/Associated Press)
ขณะพิชิตชัยชนะ 2012 Olympics: Winning moments
SOURCE : www.boston.com
They can come from any time during competition or the second a medal is won. Here's an updated look at Olympians in winning moments as the Games head to their conclusion this Sunday in London. -- Lloyd Young (47 photos total)
September 13, 2012
การฝึก Olympics 2012: Athletes in training
SOURCE : www.boston.com
In just over a week, the years, months, days, and minutes athletes have spent training will be put on display. The 10,000 competitors who will be vying for medals in 26 different sports have begun arriving in London. Here’s a look at many of those athletes competing for a spot in the upcoming Games, which run from July 27 to Aug. 12. -- Lloyd Young (35 photos total)
September 11, 2012
พิธีเปิด Olympics 2012: Opening ceremonies
SOURCE : www.boston.com
Once again in grand style the Olympics were opened with flash and flair. The show was designed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle with 15,000 volunteers helping take the audience through British history. The event culminated with the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron for the London Games that run through Aug. 12. -- Lloyd Young (36 photos total)
