Three Douglas Fir trees in the midday sun along Maple Glade trail in the Quinault Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington.

The only thing missing is perspective - at least 6 feet in diameter, these trees are enormous.

Photo Settings: 29mm, f/8, 1/60 second, ISO 800.

The graceful, winding arms of the majestic spiral galaxy M51 (NGC 5194) appear like a grand spiral staircase sweeping through space. They are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust.

This sharpest-ever image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, taken in January 2005 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, illustrates a spiral galaxy's grand design, from its curving spiral arms, where young stars reside, to its yellowish central core, a home of older stars. The galaxy is nicknamed the Whirlpool because of its swirling structure.

The Whirlpool's most striking feature is its two curving arms, a hallmark of so-called grand-design spiral galaxies. Many spiral galaxies possess numerous, loosely shaped arms which make their spiral structure less pronounced. These arms serve an important purpose in spiral galaxies. They are star-formation factories, compressing hydrogen gas and creating clusters of new stars. In the Whirlpool, the assembly line begins with the dark clouds of gas on the inner edge, then moves to bright pink star-forming regions, and ends with the brilliant blue star clusters along the outer edge.

Some astronomers believe that the Whirlpool's arms are so prominent because of the effects of a close encounter with NGC 5195, the small, yellowish galaxy at the outermost tip of one of the Whirlpool's arms. At first glance, the compact galaxy appears to be tugging on the arm. Hubble's clear view, however, shows that NGC 5195 is passing behind the Whirlpool. The small galaxy has been gliding past the Whirlpool for hundreds of millions of years.

As NGC 5195 drifts by, its gravitational muscle pumps up waves within the Whirlpool's pancake-shaped disk. The waves are like ripples in a pond generated when a rock is thrown in the water. When the waves pass through orbiting gas clouds within the disk, they squeeze the gaseous material along each arm's inner edge. The dark dusty material looks like gathering storm clouds. These dense clouds collapse, creating a wake of star birth, as seen in the bright pink star-forming regions. The largest stars eventually sweep away the dusty cocoons with a torrent of radiation, hurricane-like stellar winds, and shock waves from supernova blasts. Bright blue star clusters emerge from the mayhem, illuminating the Whirlpool's arms like city streetlights.

The Whirlpool is one of astronomy's galactic darlings. Located 31 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), the Whirlpool's beautiful face-on view and closeness to Earth allow astronomers to study a classic spiral galaxy's structure and star-forming processes.

Object Names: Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, NGC 5194/5

Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Adobe Photoshop CS6, Hoya HD2 Circular Polarizer 82mm filter, MeFOTO A1350.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM.

Photo Settings: 16mm, f/20, 20 seconds, ISO 100.

I took this picture on a very early morning on the beach in Miami.

The idea behind this picture was to create a very silent and peaceful atmosphere. That was the reason i took a long exposure.

Lightroom, NIK Software.

Sony Alpha NEX-6, Sony 10-18mm f/4 Wide-Angle Zoom.

Photo Settings: 10mm, f/18, 24 seconds, ISO 100.

Lightning over the Grand Canyon. I took this photo on the north rim of the Grand Canyon near Bright Angel Point looking south-east across the canyon.

A large thunderstorm rolled through and I was shooting 10-30 second exposures.

This photo has not been modified with the exception of some noise smoothing. The colors and other aspects of the photo are as they were captured.

Manfrotto Tripod, Photoshop

Canon EOS 60D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM.

Photo Settings: 50mm, f/9, 13 seconds, ISO 1000.

View of Great Wall at Jinshanling, in the early morning.

Adobe Photoshop CC.

Nanpu Bridge is the first bridge to cross the Huangpu River from central Shanghai, linking it with the Pudong district across the river.

Adobe Photoshop CC.

This was taken after a hiking tour through the Höllentalklamm.

"Valley of Hell", as it is known in English, leads up the Zugspitze on the German side of the German-Austrian border in the northern Alps.

Adobe Lightroom CC.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF).

Photo Settings: 17mm, f/9, 1/200 second, ISO 200.

A beautiful starry sky at Porteau Cove, British Columbia.

Nikon D750, Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G.

Sunset in Alta, Norway.

Sigma 17-70C

Pentax K-3.

Photo Settings: 40mm, f/5, 1/80 second, ISO 1600.

Map: 69.9614, 23.2414