Royal Photographic Society

Check out the photos of a recent recipient of the "Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society": 

Oh, and the recipient, Sam Kaye of Radlett, Hertfordshire, is only 12 years old. He anonymously submitted twelve photos, some taken on a family trip to South Africa, and is now the youngest member of the Royal Photographic Society.

[via Flavorwire]

Black Cat Auditions, Hollywood 1961

[via How to be a Retronaut]

Penn Station Goodbyes (1944)

Wonderful photos of goodbyes at the old Penn Station:

How to Be a Retronaut consistently does a great job of sharing pictures that are entrancing because of their nostalgic or foreign (depending on your age) beauty. More than that, I appreciate the shots that shake me and force me to consciously recognize that these were/are real people and situations, not stills from a high quality period movie or cosplay, which we see so much of today. And just look at the old Penn Station. Sigh.

Camera traps track Artic predators, and more

Over at the Science Time's Green Blog, conservation biologist Joe Liebezeit shares his work with the Wildlife Conservation Society. In Arctic Alaska, oil drilling platforms and the roads and pipelines connecting them often increase the presence of opportunistic predators, like Arctic foxes and ravens. These animals are attracted to the areas by roadkill and human food waste, and using nooks and crannies under buildings as homes. 

As adorable as baby Arctic foxes are, it's important to track the increase of such predators, as Alaskan wetlands provide breeding and nesting grounds for many different species of birds. In addition to habitat loss, overwhelmingly high numbers of predators near these oil sites can mean bad news for ground-nesting bird species.

Camera traps are a fantastic aid in tracking predation patterns, and provide some amazing shots (both of species of interest and those less connected to human activity, like snowy owls, and non-predators, such as caribou). So far, the Arctic fox appears to be the most common generalist predator near oilfields, and at another site, Arctic ground squirrels have proved to consume more eggs and chicks than predicted by their primarily vegetarian diet. Check out some camera trap highlights:

Young Arctic foxes at Kuparuk oilfield

Red fox challenging geese

Caribou

A snowy owl eats a sandpiper egg

Supportive Mothers

Oh, I'm sorry--were you looking for a heartwarming post? Because these are pretty creepy:

Okay, I guess old-timey photos of children are eerie, but I don't see what the big d--OH MY GOD IS THAT BABY FLOATING?

"This was a practice where the mother, often disguised or hiding, often under a spread, holds her baby tightly for the photographer to insure a sharply focused image."

- The Hidden Mother

Look again:

[via How to be a Retronaut]

It's a bit more adorable when you notice the similarities between these and William Wegman's Weimaraner shots. Oh wait, you find dogs with humans hands frightening as well?

[photo via Time Out Singapore]

Night and Day

As seen on the Daily What:

Flatiron, 2011- Stephen Wilkes

Artist Stephen Wilkes merges photos of New York City taken from the same spot over the course of 10 hours. He's having a show at Clamp Gallery on West 25th Street in Chelsea from September 8 to October 29. I'll be checking this one out.

Washington Square Park

The one of Washington Square Park is especially disorienting. It looks like the park is being lit up with huge lights for a movie shoot, so it will appear to be day on film when it's actually dark out.

smile!

The Green blog on NYTimes.com has a cool post about a global study using motion-sensitive camera traps to estimate mammal populations. It's short and worth the read (and the comment board of the Science Times is a refreshingly thoughtful one). Some highlights from their slideshow:

Mountain Gorillas in the Bwindi forest in Uganda (Wildlife Conservation Society/Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network)

Trivia: Mountain Gorillas are the most endangered subspecies of gorillas and are much "furrier" than the ones usually seen in zoos (Western Lowland Gorillas)

!: Mining for and conflict over minerals used in cell phones and other electronics encroach upon Gorilla habitats and increase pressure on vulnerable populations. Maybe don't get a new cell phone every 6 months? RECYCLE ELECTRONICS.

African Elephant in Tanzania (Trento Museum of Science/Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network)

A cougar in Costa Rica (Organization for Tropical Studies/Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network)

New Beatles Photos

Via Flavorwire, a slide show of never-before-released Beatles photos taken by Mike Mitchell. The light in these is just fantastic.

All images: Mike Mitchell via Flavorwire