Photo of the Day: Best of April 2011

Freestone Climb, Yosemite Falls

Photograph by Jimmy Chin

Kate Rutherford can't hear a thing while climbing so close to the roar of Yosemite Falls. She can't find much to hang on to either. The water polishes the rock "like glass." Wearing tape on her hands, she has to repeatedly jam them into fissures for the ascent. Spectacular scenery makes up for the discomfort. The climbing route is called Freestone, Rutherford says, because "it's a peach of a route."

See more pictures from the May 2011 feature story "Daring. Defiant. Free."

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Polar Bear and Cub, Svalbard

Photograph by Philip Dien

As we watched from our Zodiac, this polar bear gave her cub a lift as she swam across the fjord, shaking herself dry after emerging from the water with her cub hanging on. Polar bear cubs have been known to occasionally ride on the backs of their mothers as they swim together in Arctic waters, possibly to reduce exposure to cold.

(This photo and caption were submitted to the 2010 National Geographic Expeditions Photo Contest.)

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Matterhorn

Photograph by Verena Popp-Hackner, Wild Wonders of Europe

Radiant at sunrise, the Matterhorn towers over Riffel Lake near Zermatt, Switzerland.

See more pictures from the May 2010 feature story "Europe’s Wild Side."

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Spring Field

Photograph by Giuliano Mangani, My Shot

The slim sun of February heats the ground waiting for the spring.

(This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.)

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Arches National Park

Photograph by Bret Webster, My Shot

The mighty weight of the entire Milky Way teeters precariously on Balanced Rock in Arches National Park.

(This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.)

Badab Sourt Spring, Iran

Photograph by Rashid Amiri Ara, My Shot

Main Spring in Badab Sourt in wintertime. Badab Sourt Spring is in the city of Sari in Iran, in the Alborz mountains, altitude 1,840 meters.

(This photo and caption was submitted to My Shot).

Lago di Olginate, Italy

Photograph by Stefano Anghileri, Your Shot

A layer of low clouds covers the alpine valleys of northern Italy, just south of Lake Como. The clouds are just dense enough to hide uniformly the valley and also filter the artificial lights below like they were an opaque blanket. Above the layer, moonlight and high cirrus clouds make the night less dark. You can easily recognize the round shape of Lago di Olginate and the lights of the villages all around its banks.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.)

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Lightning, Arizona

Photograph by Richard T. Cole, Your Shot

This is a time exposure of four lightning strikes over Scottsdale, Arizona.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.)

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El Capitan, Yosemite National Park

Photograph by Jean Slavin, My Shot

This is a photograph of the reflection of El Capitan in the Merced River in winter in Yosemite National Park.

(This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.)