Space shuttle Atlantis launches from pad 39A on July 8, 2011 at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch of Atlantis, STS-135, is the final flight of the shuttle program, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. (Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)

Sydney Truba, 11, of Melvindale, Michigan lies in a giant lake of mud during Wayne County's 2011 Mud Day event at Nankin Mills Park July 12, 2011 in Westland, Michigan. The annual event consists of 20,000 gallons of water mixed with 200 tons of topsoil. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

Light painting photographer Michael Bosanko has been capturing light since 2004. He discovered light painting on accident, Michael says this of his moment of discovery, “the moon formed part of the scene, but the camera shake caused the moon to make a streak.

Up to 35% of Mongolians still live a nomadic life, depending on their land to survive. But environmental changes, particularly desertification, means this way of life is under threat. Korean photographer Daesung Lee’s Futuristic Archaeology images show billboard-size backdrops of lush steppe contrasting with actual scenery as former nomads enact scenes of hunting, herding and Mongolian wrestling. (Photo by Daesung Lee)

Tim Laman is a field biologist and wildlife photojournalist. His pioneering research in the rain forest canopy in Borneo led to a PhD from Harvard and his first National Geographic article in 1997. Since then, he has pursued his passion for exploring wild places and documenting little-known and endangered wildlife by becoming a regular contributor to National Geographic. He has eighteen articles to his credit to date, all of which have had a conservation message. Some have focused on endangered species such as Orangutans or Hornbills, while others, such as a series of articles on Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspots, have highlighted regions under intense pressure.

Hawaiian surfer Sean Yoro aka Hula combines his love of surfing and his artistic talent, creating hyperrealistic portraits of bathing women at different seaside locations. His work is inspired by street art and abandoned spaces that he uses as his hard-to-reach canvases. Carefully carrying cans of colored paint on the edge of his board, the New York-based artist applies his half submerged female portraits onto the wall.

Window washers from the American National Skyline company (from left to right in the image below: Jordan Emerson, Steve Oszaniec and Danny Oszaniec) suit up as Marvel Comics superheroes to pleasantly surprise the children (who are patients) and their families inside as the dressed up crew cleans the outside of the windows at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis