I like the view with this romantic cottage in front of the landscape, illuminated from the evening Sun. Magdalensberg, Carinthia, Austria. Copyright © 2010 by Martin Aglas.

Canon EOS 400D, Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Photomatix Plug-In.

I know this won't appeal to the masses - it's not your typical wallpaper. But someone did comment in one of my previous submissions that I should also take photos of 'less pretty' things. How about some ugly railway tracks?

After my little misinterpretation of Zermatt's traffic regulations (no cars allowed - $700 fine if you get caught), I ended up having to hike for 2.5 hours, 4 miles and about 1,000 meters in altitude with roughly 15kg on my back. Finally, I arrived at Stellisee, a small lake with a fantastic panorama of the Swiss Matterhorn. After I finished shooting, I hiked back the super dark trail, well prepared like any other mountain guide, with my new iPhone flashlight app! Photo comes straight out of the camera, so no further alterations.

Nikon D700, AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens, 15 second long exposure, ISO 320, ƒ/3.2

46°00'49.09"N, 7°48'07.11" E

What a wonderful blue sky. The field gives us the feeling of beeing free. Running through the field feeling nature. Shot some days ago in Rügen, Germany.

Technical Information: Canon Digital Rebel XSi (450D), 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5, Hoya CPL RAW, ISO 100, 1/5s @ f/29.0

Latitude: 54°22'1.06"N, Longitude: 13°37'28.86"E

Copyright © 2009 Sven Müller. All rights reserved.

A shot of my backyard from my bathroom window in Jersey City, New Jersey.

I shot this abandoned barn at dawn. It is a composite of two images - one exposed for the sky and the other exposed for the foreground. If you look closely, you can see the spider webs in the tree on the left.

Created with Vue 7 Infinite, thanks...

Taken at the Singapore Zoo's fine orangutan exhibit.

Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM + 1.4x.

Fingers frozen, definitely got a cold but it was worth waiting! Early November, from the top of Rockefeller Center's terrace in New York City.

An exhaust cloud engulfs Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as space shuttle Endeavour lifts off into the night sky.

Launch of the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station was at 4:14 a.m. EST. This was the second launch attempt for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-130 crew and the final scheduled space shuttle night launch. The first attempt on February 7, 2010 was scrubbed due to unfavorable weather.

The primary payload for the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station is the Tranquility node, a pressurized module that will provide additional room for crew members and many of the station's life support and environmental control systems. Attached to one end of Tranquility is a cupola, a unique work area with six windows on its sides and one on top. The cupola resembles a circular bay window and will provide a vastly improved view of the station's exterior. The multi-directional view will allow the crew to monitor spacewalks and docking operations, as well as provide a spectacular view of Earth and other celestial objects. The module was built in Turin, Italy, by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency.

Kennedy Media Gallery: KSC-2010-1674

Photo credit: NASA/Sandra Joseph and Kevin 'Connell.