Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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  • La Portada on Chile's desert coast has an eroded, natural arch created by marine erosion by ocean waters like much of the surrounding coastal cliffs. The La Portada Natural Monument is south of Antofagasta.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187601.jpg
  • Aerial view shows snow that accentuates the contours of a flattened, freshly cut mountaintop removal site in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are blasted away to expose the seams of coal underneath.<br />
As much as 500 feet or more of a mountain summit may be leveled. The earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped into the neighboring valleys.<br />
Analysis from a study that Appalachian Voices commissioned along with Natural Resources Defense Council  shows that 1.2 million acres have been mined for coal. “Over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023729-2.JPG
  • Aerial view shows snow that accentuates the contours of a flattened, freshly cut mountaintop removal site in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are blasted away to expose the seams of coal underneath.<br />
As much as 500 feet or more of a mountain summit may be leveled. The earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped into the neighboring valleys.<br />
Analysis from a study that Appalachian Voices commissioned along with Natural Resources Defense Council  shows that 1.2 million acres have been mined for coal. “Over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023729.jpg
  • Aerial view shows snow that accentuates the contours of a flattened, freshly cut mountaintop removal site in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are blasted away to expose the seams of coal underneath.<br />
As much as 500 feet or more of a mountain summit may be leveled. The earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped into the neighboring valleys.<br />
Analysis from a study that Appalachian Voices commissioned along with Natural Resources Defense Council  shows that 1.2 million acres have been mined for coal. “Over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023729-1.JPG
  • Lightning cracks in a cloud-filled sky with rain falling in distance.
    RANDY OLSON_04319_972061.TIF
  • The abandoned Beaux Art neoclassical style Michigan Central Station.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT6613_1457234.jpg
  • The Trans-Alaska Pipeline runs through the Alaskan wilderness connecting the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska, U.S., with the harbor at Valdez, 800 miles to the south. Half of the pipeline is elevated to prevent the heated oil in it from thawing the permafrost and to allow wildlife to pass more easily under it. The pipeline is also cooled by refrigerant coils that keep them from transmitting heat into the thaw-sensitive permafrost. The pipeline pumps 47,000 gallons of oil a month.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705772.jpg
  • Trees alongside Jamaica Pond, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, are silhouetted by the setting sun. A glacial kettle hole, Olmsted preserved much of the existing vegetation and framed the pond in trees and shrubs in the Emerald Necklace. It is a part of a 1,100-acre chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6560_968602.jpg
  • Wind and water sculpted desert in the Valle de la Luna. Shadows fall in the Valley of the Moon in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth where the elements have left an array of oddly shaped polychrome forms in the desolate, eroded desert landscape. The region sometimes goes without recorded precipitation for more than a century.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187507.jpg
  • Vine maple leaves display bright autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760115.jpg
  • Vine maple leaves display bright autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760116.jpg
  • A lone tourist walks among the El Tatio geysers in the Atacama desert north of San Pedro at 4300 meters above sea level in the Andes Mountains. The world's highest geyser field has over 80 active geysers with a steaming field of boiling water that spews and sprays at sunrise leaving white mineral deposits.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187594.jpg
  • Silhouetted men fish in the Firehole River surrounded by geothermal activity.
    RANDY OLSON_06103_495712.JPG
  • Sunlight highlights aspen trees, Populus tremuloides, as their colors turn golden in the autumn. "Quaking aspen" is Colorado's signature tree in the high altitude of the San Juan mountains near Silverton. Aspens grow in large clonal colonies, derived from a single seedling. They spread by root suckers and new starts may pop up 100–130 ft from the parent tree. Each tree may live for 40–150 years, but the root system of the colony can be thousands of years old sending up new trunks as the older trees die off above ground.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705744.jpg
  • Blue ghostly, silhouetted mountains disappear into the distance of the vast and desolate million-acre wilderness of Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705735.jpg
  • Sunlight filters through the autumn leaves of aspen trees. Populus tremuloides, aspens, have heart-shaped leaves that tremble in the slightest breeze which is why they are also called "quaking aspens." Backlit in warm sun, the tree native to North America, thrives in the higher altitude of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705748.jpg
  • Sunlight illuminates Half Dome in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at sunset.
    RANDY OLSON_06103_495581.JPG
  • Tourists are drawn to El Tatio, a geothermal field with geysers north of San Pedro at 4300 meters above sea level located in the Andes Mountains in the Atacama Desert.  More than 70 geysers and fumaroles spew hot water and steam as the sun rises in Chile near the Bolivian border.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187554-1.JPG
  • A lone cyclist crosses the maritime chaparral of Fort Ord National Monument, once a bustling Army post on central California's Monterey Peninsula and now a Bureau of Land Management-run reserve for recreation and scarce native habitats. The coastal gem has 86 miles of trails to ride a bike or horse or hike through diverse habitats.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-51.JPG
  • The arid plateau north of the Grand Canyon is viewed from Navajo sandstone rocks of Coyote Buttes. From a 3,000-foot-high escarpment to a canyon 2,500 feet deep, Arizona's Vermillion Cliffs National Monument encloses a host of geological wonders.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-41.JPG
  • Crossbeds of Navajo sandstone paint the Coyote Buttes in hues created by the precipitation of oxides. From a 3,000-foot-high escarpment to a canyon 2,500 feet deep, Arizona's Vermillion Cliffs National Monument encloses a host of geological wonders.<br />
<br />
The 280,000 acre wildness area is federally protected and a permit is required to reduce impact on the geological treasure.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-40.JPG
  • Shadows and sun sets on the arid plateau and rock face creating stunning colors of the Vermillion Cliffs.  From a 3,000-foot-high escarpment to a canyon 2,500 feet deep, Arizona's Vermillion Cliffs National Monument encloses a host of geological wonders.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-35.JPG
  • Views along the Dalton highway reveal the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). The oil transportation system spanning 800 miles across Alaska lies partly in the foothills of the Brooks Range. It includes the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, running through Alaska's wilderness to the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is elevated and cooled by refrigeration coils to keep the warmed oil from melting the permafrost. Completed in 1977, it is one of the world's largest pipeline systems.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-28.JPG
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave and is located in the Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail limits hikers and requiries a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705699-5.JPG
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave and is located in the Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail limits hikers and requiries a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705699-4.JPG
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave and is located in the Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail limits hikers and requiries a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705699-3.JPG
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave and is located in the Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail limits hikers and requiries a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705699-1.JPG
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave and is located in the Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail limits hikers and requiries a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705699-2.JPG
  • Snow blows across an icy, wintery back road in Steens Mountain as harsh weather comes to Oregon's high desert.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222778.jpg
  • A blanket is rolled onto the Pitztal Glacier to keep ice from melting and  protect the ski industry in the Alps.<br />
Glacial melts first recorded at the start of the 19th century—a point that also coincides with the start of the industrial age and burning of large amounts of fossil fuels. Since then the glaciers have lost between 30 to 40% of their area and nearly half their volume.  The coverings remind us of little mountains they are creating out of felt.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024109.jpg
  • A blanket is rolled onto the Pitztal Glacier to prevent snow from melting. It is a method workers use to combat the effects of climate change and global warming.  Integral to the local economy, ski resorts need protection from higher temperatures that melt the ice.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024108.TIF
  • Walkers on a fog-shrouded beach at low tide.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760071.jpg
  • Hydroseed grass is sprayed on steep contours of a reclaimed mountaintop removal mine site in an effort to control erosion. Reclamation requires mining companies to return the land to it's original contours and plant but little grows on these rocky soils and the operation is often repeated.  Spray-on grass replaces more than 60 tree species that ruled some of the world’s most diverse temperate forests.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023732.jpg
  • Snow accents the contours of a fresh valley fill at a coal mine site seen in an aerial view. Tops of mountains are blasted away and flattened to reveal a small seam of coal, and the rock and debris is dumped into V-shaped valleys filling in stream beds.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023727.jpg
  • The Wave, a fragile sandstone formation in Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. The 280,000 acre wildness area is federally protected and a permit is required to reduce impact on the geological treasure.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705704.jpg
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave and is located in the Coyote Buttes section of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail limits hikers and requiries a permit from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705699.jpg
  • A spectacular formation of vibrant colors in swirls of fragile sandstone is known as The Wave located in the Coyote Buttes section of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. An unmarked wilderness trail is limited to hikers with permits from the Bureau of Land Management.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705698.jpg
  • Views along the Dalton highway reveal the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), an oil transportation system spanning Alaska that includes the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, running through Alaska's wilderness to the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is elevated and cooled by refrigeration coils to keep the warmed oil from melting the permafrost. It is one of the world's largest pipeline systems.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705684.jpg
  • Hiking along an overlook above a rocky shoreline on the Lost Coast in the King Range National Conservation Area (NCA).<br />
The King Range NCA encompasses 68,000 acres along 35 miles of California’s north coast. The landscape was too rugged for highway building, giving the remote region the title of California’s Lost Coast. It is the Nation's first NCA, designated in 1970.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705678.jpg
  • Sunlight highlights grasses and sand dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06103_495811.jpg
  • Dune grasses glow with warm setting sun on the shore of Lake Michigan user a stormy sky at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06103_495510.jpg
  • A single white car travels north on the Pan American Highway as it follows the oceans and coastline through desert sands along Peru's Pacific coast.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187605.jpg
  • The Pan American Highway is an empty, lonely, desolate road as it runs along Peru's Pacific desert coast along the ocean for hundreds of miles.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187603.jpg
  • Tourists explore the salt flats near San Pedro, in the Atacama Desert. Salar de Atacama is surrounded by mountains, and has no drainage outlets. Water evaporates leaving small deposits of crusted salt.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187558.jpg
  • Desolate beauty of the Valley of the Moon, from constant erosion. The weathered landscape is known as the driest place on earth and a century can pass without measurable precipitation. Shadows fall in the Atacama Desert where wind has left an array of oddly shaped polychrome forms in the desolate, eroded, desert landscape.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187554.jpg
  • Hikers walking along the top ridge of a large dune in the Atacama Desert a region in north Chile that is considered the driest place on earth. Located between the Andes and Coastal mountains, the parched desert is formed by wind and erosion.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187547.jpg
  • A lone hiker climb atop weathered desert sand landscape of driest place on earth. The Atacama Desert sometimes goes more than a century without recorded precipitation. The Atacama Desert is also considered the oldest desert on earth. On the whole, it has experienced semi-arid conditions for over 150 million years, and the inner core—the driest spot—has been hyper-arid for over 15 million years.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187540.jpg
  • Hikers follow a trail in the last light at dusk and climb to the top of weathered desert landscape for a view of the driest place on earth. The Atacama Desert sometimes goes more than a century with no recorded measurable precipitation. The Atacama Desert is considered the oldest desert on earth. On the whole, it has experienced semi-arid conditions for over 150 million years, and the inner core—the driest spot—has been hyper-arid for over 15 million years.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187536.jpg
  • Weathered landscape of the driest place on earth where a century can pass without recorded precipitation. Shadows fall in the Valley of the Moon in the Atacama Desert where wind has left an array of oddly shaped polychrome forms in the desolate, eroded, desert landscape.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187533.jpg
  • Wind blows makeshift shelters of El Nino victims of flash flooding in the desert of Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187041.jpg
  • A village lays at the foot of a mountain range.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6879_708738.TIF
  • A silhouetted child runs on a rock studded beach at sunset.
    RANDY OLSON_06019_489014.JPG
  • Hikers walking along the top ridge of a large sand dune in the Atacama Desert. Known as the driest place on earth, the desert is also considered the oldest. It has experienced semi-arid conditions for over 150 million years, and the inner core—the driest spot—has been hyper-arid for over 15 million years.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187548.jpg
  • A boat cuts through reflections of clouds in the placid waters of the St. Mary’s River in Southern Georgia. The St. Mary’s forms a division between Florida and Georgia as it flows east to the Atlantic Ocean out of the Okefenokee Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110252.JPG
  • Pin Oak Farm owner and breeder Josephine Abercrombie ran a prominent 4,000 acre  farm near Versailles. A horse lover in her childhood, she brought sugar cubes to her thoroughbreds hoping for a kiss on the cheek from a gentle mare and foal. Abercrombie died in 2022.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7017_720968-2-1.JPG
  • Some prized horses live a pampered life in retirement and command large amount of money for breeding rights in the hopes they’ll pass on the best qualities of their bloodline. An Irish farm, Ashford Stud which is part of international horse racing business Coolmore, was built in recent years and features stone barns and bridges creating the charm of an earlier era. Stalls are filled with plush straw for bedding under chandeliers that shine in the cupolas.  <br />
Past Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch's stud fees are as high as $125,000 per mating. A farm worker leads the stallion to a breeding barn.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7017_720965.TIF
  • Evening sunset light illuminates a fence on an Kentucky horse farm in early spring.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7017_720965-1.JPG
  • Ferns in Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114703.jpg
  • Moss covered tree that was logged and continued to grow.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114702.jpg
  • Ferns in Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114698.jpg
  • Mendenhall River surrounded by McGinnis Mountain and other peaks.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114697.jpg
  • Fresh snow on mountains overlooking Mendenhall Glacier and Lake.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114694.jpg
  • Snowfall on evergreen trees.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114691.jpg
  • Black bear on tree branch in Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114636.jpg
  • Black bear feeds on salmon in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114634.jpg
  • Black bear feeding on salmon in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114631.jpg
  • Juvenile black bear feeds on salmon in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114628.jpg
  • Black bear in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114627.jpg
  • Logging and road building in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114625.jpg
  • Logging in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114624.jpg
  • Logging roads through a clear cut on Prince of Wales Island.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114610.jpg
  • Entrance of El Capitan cave on Prince of Wales Island.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114605.jpg
  • A waterfall spills into a rocky karst area of Prince of Wales Island.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114604.jpg
  • Crevace on Mer de Glace Glacier.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114579.jpg
  • Bossons Glacier near Mont Blanc Tunnel.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114570.jpg
  • Sunlight streams though clouds after a storm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114555.jpg
  • Heart-shaped taro plant leaves.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114542.jpg
  • A waterfall cascading down a moss-covered rock face.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760074.jpg
  • Maple leaves in autumn colors.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_760059.jpg
  • Moss-covered rock surrounding a cascading stream.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7061_754681.jpg
  • A fisherman tries his luck at the Golden Gate Bridge.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6842_956213.jpg
  • Hobet 21 mountain top removal coal mine seen from the air, grows larger and approaches a family home. Mines run 24 hours a day, seven days a week creating coal dust impossible to keep out of houses.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023747.jpg
  • Elevated view of a small mine operation finding coal after a larger company left. The owner of this operation stated that "One man's trash is another man's treasure." His equipment works on a mountain top coal mine.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023730.jpg
  • Clear cut forest in preparation for mountain top removal coal mining. In the background is a reclaimed mine site and rock from an active mine.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023711.jpg
  • A ginseng plant and it's roots in a woman's hand as a family hunts for ginseng in a West Virginia forest. A native plant in the Appalachian forest, ginseng is highly prized and harvested as a cash crop. It has been used for centuries in North America and Asia for a variety of illnesses and to increase vitality.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023708.jpg
  • Aerial view of Hobet 21 mountain top removal coal mining site looms over one of the few remaining houses in Mud, W.V. Once this was a quiet rural community, but mining companies can legally come within 100 feet of a family cemetery and 300 feet from a home and they run 24 hours a day and seven days a week. <br />
Hobet 21 once produced about 5.2 million tons of coal, making it among the largest surface mines in the state. The Lincoln County mine expanded to fill in Connelly Branch creek, and after the company was bankrupt in 2015, the site was passed on to another firm who continued mining.<br />
The town of Mud hasn’t been much of a community in the couple of decades since the post office closed, but in 1998 around 60 residents remained. They had two churches and a ball field. In early 1997, Big John, the mine’s 20-story dragline, moved above Mud and more houses, near this one, were bought and destroyed.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023701.jpg
  • Jars of green beans and tomatoes from the Caudill-Miller family garden that will be consumed throughout the year. Canning in mason jars is an annual ritual.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023674.jpg
  • Bulldozers push rocks into hills attempting to reclaim the land after coal mining at a mountaintop removal mining site. This small mine site dwarfs the equipment so they look like toys.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023667.jpg
  • Below a mountaintop removal mine site, a stream filled with sediment and coal silt washed into a backyard swimming pool making it unusable.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023659.jpg
  • Miners sweep dirt and rock from a coal seam at a small mining operation.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023641.jpg
  • A father and sons react to the polluted orange/black water in their bathroom. It smells bad, has an oily residue and is mixed with coal soot. The man fears for his sons because his own health is effected. He suffers from rashes and red eyes when he showers and he tells the kids, “Don’t brush teeth in water. Don’t drink the water.”<br />
<br />
When he moved in his home, he thought the only problem was that the water was discolored by iron. At 38 years old, he has since developed gallstones, breathing problems, memory loss, and his hair is falling out. He has anxiety, nervousness, and his pancreas is at two percent function. All of this occurred after he moved to this trailer. Scared for his family, he asks, “What have I done to them?”<br />
A November 4, 2003 Associated Press article by Michelle Saxton of the Williamson Daily News entitled “Water in Mingo Communities Contains Manganese” stated that some security guards quit opening valves on Massey pumps when they realized they were poisoning the community. In a later court hearing it was shown that Massey Coal Company had, indeed, Illegally injected slurry from the Rawls Sales Processing Company (Massey Coal Company subsidiary) impoundment into abandoned underground mines for at least eight years.<br />
<br />
As of the fall of 2011, some 500 West Virginia residents are still in limbo over a suit brought against Massey energy over claims that it and Rawls Sales poisoned hundreds of drinking water wells with coal slurry.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996271.jpg
  • Bulldozers fill trucks with excess rock at a small mountaintop removal site in Man, West Virginia, where a small crew is mining coal in a site in Logan County that was left by a large coal company as rubble. Mine operator Gordon Justice said, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."<br />
<br />
Large mining operations are only visible from the air, although coal and debris are removed using enormous earth-moving machines known as draglines that stand 22 stories tall and can hold 24 compact cars in its bucket. The machines can cost up to $100 million, but are favored by coal companies because they can do the work of hundreds of employees. A small operation like this one can keep 17 employees working for five years and making good wages.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996257.jpg
  • Polluted water seeps from a coal refuse dump that when tested, reveals a toxic witches brew of arsenic, mercury, and other heavy metals and chemicals. The orange appearance is from high iron in the water which can cause diabetes, hemochromatosis, stomach problems, and nausea. It can also damage the liver, pancreas, and heart.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996237.jpg
  • Elk with radio collars activate this flashing sign when herd nears it.
    MELISSA FARLOW_IR6164_740870.jpg
  • Dune landscape in the wildlife sanctuary, Resrva Nactional de Paracas, Peru.  Sand dunes line the most important wildlife sanctuary on the Peruvian coast that is known for it's clear blue waters, birds and marine life.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187640.jpg
  • The mysterious Nazca lines form a spider, one of many animal and geometric shapes best seen in the air in Peru's southern desert.  Anthropologists believe the Nazca culture that created them began around 100 B.C. and flourished from A.D. 1 to 700. They were made with light-colored sand when the top foot of rock was removed by an ancient culture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187631.jpg
  • The mysterious Nazca lines form a monkey in the desert of southern Peru. Other animals and geometric shapes are best seen from the air. Anthropologists believe the Nazca culture that created them began around 100 B.C. and flourished from A.D. 1 to 700. They were made with light-colored sand when the top foot of rock was removed by an ancient culture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187627.jpg
  • Animal figures as well as geometric shapes are part of the mysterious Nazca lines best seen from the air in the Peruvian desert.  The figures--as well as triangles, rectangles and straight lines--run for several kilometers across the dry barren land. The desert floor is covered in a layer of iron oxide-coated pebbles of a deep rust color. The ancient peoples created their designs by removing the top 12 to 15 inches of rock, revealing the lighter-colored sand below. Anthropologists believe the Nazca culture that created them began around 100 B.C. and flourished from A.D. 1 to 700
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187622.jpg
  • Mysterious Nazca lines form animal and geometric figures seen from the air.  A hummingbird shape as well as perfect geometric designs like triangles, rectangles and straight lines run for several kilometers across the desert. The desert floor is covered in a layer of iron oxide-coated pebbles of a deep rust color. Anthropologists believe the Nazca culture that created them began around 100 B.C. and flourished from A.D. 1 to 700. The ancient peoples created their designs by removing the top 12 to 15 inches of rock, revealing the lighter-colored sand below.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187620.jpg
  • A cactus forest in the Oaxacan highlands of Mexico. The massive candelabras of the succulent Myrtillocactus geometrizans can grow up to 16 feet tall.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187572.jpg
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