Photo of the Day: Best of September 2012

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Storm Chasing

Photograph by Carsten Peter, National Geographic

With a 1,600-pound camera he calls the Kahuna in tow, storm chaser Tim Samaras is on the hunt for an elusive shot of a lightning strike the moment it is born.

See more pictures from the August 2012 feature story "Chasing Lightning."

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Mangroves, Central America

Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic

Mangroves contribute to the system by trapping reef-bound sediment, filtering out pollution, and serving as nursery for many reef fish and invertebrates. The arched roots of mangroves like these form gateways through which multitudes of juveniles swim toward adulthood on the reef.

See more pictures from the October 2012 feature story "Meso Amazing."

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Tornado, North Dakota

Photograph by Mitch Dobrowner

Regan, North Dakota

A dying tornado like this one is said to be in the "roping out" phase.

See more pictures from the July 2012 feature story "Epic Storms."

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Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

Photograph by Orsolya and Erlend Haarberg

The volcano Eyjafjallajökull, in Iceland, just before dawn on April 23, 2010: The worst is over. Lava flows freely. Earlier, as it punched through the ice cap, it triggered a meltwater flood that destroyed roads and farms, and a steam explosion that hurled ash into the stratosphere, stopping air traffic for a week.

See more pictures from the May 2012 feature story "Iceland's Resilient Beauty."

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Seamount, Cortes Bank

Photograph by Brian Skerry, National Geographic

An orange sheephead, slender wrasses, and other fish swim through a forest of coralline algae and kelp stalks swaying in the current around Cortes Bank. "The communities you find on seamounts are like oases in otherwise deep water," says Bruce Robison, senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California.

See more pictures from the September 2012 feature story "Mountains in the Sea."

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Frosted Trees, Alaska

Photograph by Susan Stevenson, Your Shot

I took this photo from my back deck in North Pole, Alaska. It was early evening and the full moon was moving through the sky, illuminating the frosted trees and turning the sky cobalt blue.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot. Have a great shot? Send it to us for possible publication in National Geographic magazine.)

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Star Trails, New Jersey

Photograph by Jack Fusco, Your Shot

Taken on April 19, 2012, in Strathmere, New Jersey. These star trails shows the Milky Way rising over the Atlantic Ocean.

(This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot. Have a great shot? Send it to us for possible publication in National Geographic magazine.)

Ural Owls, Estonia

Photograph by Sven Začek

She looks sweet grooming her chick, but don't mess with mom's nest: Ural owls are aggressively territorial. "I've made an 'agreement' with the females that the price to band and measure one nestling is six hard punches on the head," says Finnish ornithologist Pertti Saurola.

See more pictures from the June 2012 feature story "A Love Affair With the Ural Owl."

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Swimmers, Russia

Photograph by Jonas Bendiksen, National Geographic

Summer, the short, sweet release from the interminable cocoon of Russian winter, is a time for swimming and riding, and sometimes both in the cottage community of Vyalki.

See more pictures from the July 2012 feature story "Russian Summer."