American sculptor Michael Alfano has been sculpting for over fifteen years. A native of New York, he now lives and works in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His major influences are Salvador Dali, Jo Davidson, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and other eastern philosophy and literature. He first studied at the Art Students League of New York, with an emphasis on life-size sculpture from the model. His formal education continued at Boston University and was augmented by internships with several prominent sculptors.

These illuminating images show the crumbling remains of some of the worlds places of worship. The shots include golden chapels, overgrown synagogues and eerily silent rooms that were once used for prayer. They were visited by Matthias Haker, a 31-year-old photographer from Potsdam, Germany. Adding to the general intrigue of his images, Matthias never discloses the location of a shot – not even the town, country or continent. Here: The Church of All Saints. (Photo by Matthias Haker/Caters News)

Videographer Jay Baron, from Utah, spends up to nine hours cooking super small dishes and serving them up to his YouTube audience. The tiny portions feature cuisine from all over the world, from ultra-American apple pie to Japanese ramen. The 22-year-old confines himself to cooking in a 2ft by 2ft box, so the only heat he can use comes from a tea light. Here: Jay cooks the ingredients of the tiny spaghetti on the tiny stove. (Photo by Jay Baron/Caters News)

These pictures show a rather annoying crow irritating an eagle. The crow tirelessly circles the bird of prey and repeatedly lands on his head – much to the crows displeasure. The encounter was spotted by Greaves Henriksen in Tamilnadu, India. The 52-year-old amateur photographer believes the eagle was sitting close to a nest, which the crow was trying to defend. Here: A crow lands on the eagles head much to the eagles displeasure. (Photo by Greaves B. Henriksen/Caters News Agency)

A British photographer has captured the hilarious expressions pulled by dogs as they go for a run. From popping eyes to lolling tongues, Nick Ridley from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire has managed to perfectly pause the pooches in time as they pull a host of funny faces in the great outdoors. The 56-year-old uses a fast shutter speed and lies on the ground snapping away as the dogs run towards him in order to get the perfect shot. Here: A Dogue de Bordeaux. (Photo by Nick Ridley Photography/Caters News Agency)

Penguins majestically march on sand before heading out for a morning swim. Wildlife photographer Wim van den Heever, 45, visited the Falkland Islands this year to shoot pictures and scout the area for future tours. Wim’s breathtaking images show a small group of king penguins before they head out to sea at sunrise. Here: King Penguins marching during sunrise, Falkland Islands. (Photo by Wim van den Heever/Caters News)

Technicians check a CRH high-speed train at Shanghai Hongqiao High-speed train base on December 28, 2011 in Shanghai, China. China's railway stations have started today to sell tickets for the 2012 Spring Festival travel season scheduled to run between January 8th and February 16th, centred around the Chinese New Year which this year falls on January 23rd. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

An Emperor Tamarin monkey, native to the Amazon rainforest, experiences its new home in the living rainforest enclosure at ZSL London Zoo on March 25, 2010 in London, England. Entitled “Rainforest Life” the large temperature and humidity controlled bio-dome is home to free-roaming monkeys, sloths, tree anteaters and tropical birds. The exhibit, which is opening in the International Year of Biodiversity, will be open to the public from March 27, 2010. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)