Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

  • Portfolio
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
Next
315 images found

Loading ()...

  • A local man monitors inclement weather from Cafe de La Grave.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT6827_1547366.jpg
  • A large cloud forming in a weather cell before a rain.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7112_763218.JPG
  • Tourists are drawn to the beauty of Alaska and its glaciers, and some come for the ultimate and most unlikely experience—donning crampons for their wedding on ice.<br />
If the weather cooperates, couples can arrange for a limousine pickup from a cruise ship to the airport for a helicopter flight onto a glacier. They had a traditional ceremony with tuxedo and white wedding dress and extra touches including wedding cake, music, and flowers.<br />
The groom pops the cork on a bottle of champagne provided by the planner who married this couple on the Mendenhall Glacier.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073540.TIF
  • 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
  • Conservationists launch a boat to explore wilderness on a research trip in a remote part of the Tongass National Forest. Fog, rain and cloudy weather are characteristic of the region that receives over 200 inches of rain a year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075152.jpg
  • Icy winds blow snow clouds blow over the jagged ridges of the South Chilkat Mountains that rise above Southeast Alaska's coast. Weather makes aerial photography a challenge as strong gusting winds force small float planes to land.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075061.jpg
  • Smoke from cooking 'umu', a traditional Sunday meal, fills the forest.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6541_663022.jpg
  • Teenage girls share a small umbrella while walking on East Nanjing Road, the world's longest shopping precinct. It is around 6 km long and attracts over 1 million visitors daily.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176427.jpg
  • Pedestrians walk along East Nanjing Road, the world's longest shopping precinct. It is around 6 km long and attracts over 1 million visitors daily.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176427-2.jpg
  • Some skiers are challenged by the slopes of the Yin Qi Xing Indoor Skiing Site while others take photos with a camera while standing on the snow.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176383-1.jpg
  • Shanghai at night where buildings are light and boats glide on the water near new construction along the Dong Da Ming Road.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176333-2.JPG
  • A you couple stop to look at lighted billboards on East Nanjing Road, the world's longest shopping precinct. It is around 6 km long and attracts over 1 million visitors daily.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176317.JPG
  • A man watches as a couple dances in a park near East Nanjing Road, the world's longest shopping precinct that attracts over 1 million visitors daily.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176303.JPG
  • A woman stands in the shadows under and umbrella watching dancers in a park on East Nanjing Road, the world's longest shopping precinct that attracts over 1 million visitors daily.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176302.JPG
  • Storage sheds outside apartment building in Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-3.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-15.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-14.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-11.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-9.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-2.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-15.jpg
  • Cafeteria inside Norilsk Nickel company
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-12.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-11.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-10.jpg
  • Cafeteria inside Norilsk Nickel company
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-9.jpg
  • Cafeteria inside Norilsk Nickel company
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-8.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-18.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-13.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-6.jpg
  • Extractive business outside Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-5.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-3.jpg
  • Bus stop Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-4.jpg
  • Senegalese fisherman holds two large fish before returning from setting nets all night in their colorful pirogues. <br />
<br />
Foreign trawlers and an expanding fishmeal industry are increasingly threatening the livelihood of artisanal, Senegalese fishermen, forcing many to migrate to Europe.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057968-1.JPG
  • Senegalese fishermen return from setting nets all night in their colorful pirogues. <br />
<br />
Foreign trawlers and an expanding fishmeal industry are increasingly threatening the livelihood of artisanal, Senegalese fishermen, forcing many to migrate to Europe.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057935.JPG
  • Senegalese fishermen returning from setting nets all night in their colorful pirogues. Fish populations are dropping and a new danger may be looming on the horizon with the launch of gas production.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057933.JPG
  • Senegalese fishermen returning from setting nets all night.<br />
In Senegal, a new offshore gas terminal, located in the Atlantic Ocean about ten kilometres off Saint-Louis, is beginning to upset fishermen who are lamenting the loss of an area rich in fish. <br />
<br />
A new danger may be looming on the horizon.The launch of gas production is expected to start in 2023. As it draws closer the Secretary-General of the fishing union braces for the worst; meaning the end of any fishing activity in the area.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057967.JPG
  • Boatloads of Senegalese fishermen return from setting nets all night.The nation’s fleet of small boats, unregulated until recently, hauls in 80 percent of the catch and supplies about 60 percent of the export market. Senegal’s commercial vessels, foreign fleets from Europe and Asia, and pirate fishing boats add to the pressure; the country’s annual harvest declined.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057932.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
  • Land yachts race the wind and each other across the Alvord Desert playa’s flat, dusty terrain. Fans of the sport flock to the ancient lake bed in search of speeds beyond most posted interstate highway limits. The world record stands above 116 mph. Sports enthusiasts race in high temperatures when the playa is dry enough to drive on.<br />
The desert lies to the east of Oregon's Steens Mountain, and Steen's Mountain Wilderness which is “the largest fault-block mountain in the northern Great Basin.”  It abruptly falls to the dry Alvord Desert 6,000 feet below.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-58.JPG
  • Blazing sunset leaves in shadow the famous gap in Kiger Gorge, atop Oregon's Steens Mountain. Steen's Mountain Wilderness is “the largest fault-block mountain in the northern Great Basin.”  The aerial view shows a forty mile long escarpment in southeastern Oregon has a notch cut out of the top and drops abruptly to the dry Alvord Desert, 5,500 feet below.<br />
Bulldozing down to basalt, Ice Age glaciers carved our huge gorges out of the Great Basin's largest fault block mountain. Beyond, Steens's east face plummets a vertical mile.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705729-56.JPG
  • A fish out of water bicycle, one of the eclectic modes of transportation at Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation area. Beyond wheels, the wind blows dust along the vast playa, a salt flat or dry lake bed on one of Earth's flattest spots. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-14.jpg
  • Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation areaattracts many artists with eclectic costumes. Flags line the vast playa, a salt flat or dry lake bed on one of Earth's flattest spots. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-13.jpg
  • Aerial photograph showing the city with roads built in the Black Rock Desert for Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival. The vast playa is a salt flat or dry lake bed on one of Earth's flattest spots. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience  in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation area.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-10.jpg
  • A costumed artist hangs onto plastic banners that fly in the wind along the vast playa of the Black Rock Desert. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience. Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival is in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation area , a salt flat, dry lake bed on one of Earth's flattest spots.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-08.jpg
  • Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation area attracts costumed artists. A bicyclist pulls red wagons wheeling along the Black Rock Desert, a vast playa, a salt flat or dry lake bed on one of Earth's flattest spots. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-07.jpg
  • Fire and glowing smoke are part of the festivities at Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation area. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience in the Black Rock Desert on one of Earth's flattest spots.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-04.jpg
  • Fire and glowing smoke are part of the festivities at Burning Man, the annual weeklong festival in northwestern Nevada's National Conservation area. Thousands of people create an instant city annually that celebrates art in a unique counter-culture experience in the Black Rock Desert on one of Earth's flattest spots.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_680958-02.jpg
  • Harsh winds blow snow across the craggy peaks of the South Chilkat Mountains, illuminating intense, orange colors of a winter sunset.<br />
Photographed from the air, the Coastal Range is directly across the Lynn Canal and the Juneau Icefield in southeast Alaska.
    MM7258_20060310_15159.tif
  • In spite of the 200 inches of rain the area receives every year, nearly a million cruise ship passengers visit Alaska, sometimes doubling a town’s population on a summer day. As many as six cruise ships make daily stops - and as many as 500 a year - bringing tourists on the Inside Passage, the route through a network of passages between islands along the coast of Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state. Tourism is Southeast Alaska’s fastest growing industry.<br />
One of the stops in Alaska’s Panhandle is the former logging town of Ketchikan. Travelers can shop for Native art and souvenirs or diamonds in one of many jewelry stores along what was a former red-light district during the Gold Rush.
    MM7258_20050819_07149.tif
  • A religious Ladin man reads a newspaper while watching a Catholic funeral on television in the kitchen of his farm house in the Dolomites. The community is close-knit and have a language unique to their region in LaVal in the Italian Alps.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7139_1024129-2.TIF
  • Mendenhall River surrounded by McGinnis Mountain and other peaks.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114697.jpg
  • Ice on branches of trees near Mendenhall Glacier.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114695.jpg
  • Fresh snow on mountains overlooking Mendenhall Glacier and Lake.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114694.jpg
  • Snowfall on evergreen trees.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114691.jpg
  • Le Conte glacier in Stikine ice fields near Petersburg.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114641.jpg
  • Ice on a window.
    MELISSA FARLOW_RF4115_1114589.jpg
  • An Afro-Cuban dance teacher shows dance moves of sea goddess Yemaya.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT5959_1376330.jpg
  • An Afro-Cuban dance teacher shows dance moves of sea goddess Yemaya.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT5959_1376328.jpg
  • An Afro-Cuban dance teacher shows dance moves of sea goddess Yemaya.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT5959_1312319.jpg
  • Cloud Gate or simply 'the bean' by Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT5887_1345823.jpg
  • State Street and the Chicago Theatre on a rainy night.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT5887_1345813.jpg
  • A wild horse struggles to find food in the snow packed Ochoco mountains. They are adept at pawing at ground under trees where drifts are not as deep.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222904.jpg
  • Bachelor mustangs spar and mock battle to practice their fighting moves and build up the courage to challenge a stallion to steal mares for their own bands. A thick blanket of fog made it tough for the dominant stallion to keep a watchful eye to protect his band.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222827.TIF
  • A rumble of thunder, crack of lightning, and winds blow dark clouds across the prairie alerting a mustang herd that a summer storm approaches. When the sky opened with torrents of rain, the nervous young wild horses bolted to outrun the storm.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222808.TIF
  • Portrait of a wild horse in the snow-covered Ochoco National Forest in the Big Summit Wild Horse Territory in Oregon. The origins of the herd are not entirely clear according to the U.SD. Forest Service. Early accounts describe local ranchers in the 1920s turning loose quality animals from a good breeding stock to ensure a future supply of good horses. Recent genetic testing has linked the Ochoco Mustangs to Iberian and Andalusian stock, leaving much to be discovered about their true heritage.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1222777.jpg
  • A wild mustang trudges through snow pawing at drifts foraging for grasses to survive on in the Ochoco Mountains.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1200574.TIF
  • A foal stands out in the herd as mustangs head down a dusty trail to a waterhole. Wild horse herds have a distinct social order and as with other animals that live in large groups, establishment of a stable hierarchical system reduces aggression. A lead or “alpha” mare guides the herd to food and water while stallions follow behind protecting their bands from predators and threats.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1200571.TIF
  • The Taku winds blow icy ridges that  overlook the Inside Passage. Stillness is only broken by the sound of skiers breaking through crusty snow to view the sunset view on top of Douglas Island nearby Juneau.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1086960.jpg
  • Tourists are wed on Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest. He marks the spot of their ceremony with a GPS while behind them a guide leads hikers up an icy trail. She blissfully basks in the sun as they wait for their helicopter return back to Juneau.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1077902.TIF
  • A kayaker carries his boat to higher ground to explore the wilderness in Southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Tidal changes are extreme along islands in the Inside Passage.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075153.jpg
  • A crisp early morning after a freshly fallen snow in the Mendenhall Valley at an inn near Juneau.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075150.jpg
  • Dressed in elegant formal wear, a bride and groom walk to the helicopter to fly up onto a glacier for their wedding ceremony in Southeast Alaska.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075140.TIF
  • A surreal and beautiful setting for the wedding ceremony. A cake and champagne are placed on a table covered with a linen cloth. A camera on a tripod records the couple's wedding vows taken on the Mendenhall Glacier. They said they were married in "God's Cathedral."
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075135.TIF
  • Sunrise gives a warm glow to morning mist rising over Control Lake framed by the forest on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075087.jpg
  • Estuaries along the Lynn Canal are shrouded in morning fog while Lion's Head in the Tongass National Forest rises above as seen in an aerial view.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075073.TIF
  • Fog shrouds steep cliffs on the forested hillsides of Mount Juneau in the Tongass National Forest. Sitka Spruce and Hemlock thrive in the wet environment that receives over 200 inches of rain a year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075070.TIF
  • South Chilkat Mountain peaks are kissed with warm light at sunset above the Icy Strait. High winds sweep ice and snow from ridge tops creating a landscape that is severe, yet appears serene. Winds were so strong that it took several flights to find calm air to make this image.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075066.jpg
  • Cross country skier glides along side his dog as snow falls on frozen Mendenhall Lake surrounded by trees at the base of the glacier in Alaska's Southeast.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075065.jpg
  • Frosty morning snow on a canoe and trees surrounding a small lake near Mendenhall Glacier.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075064.TIF
  • Fog slowly lifts in the valley following a morning snow in Juneau near the Mendenhall Glacier and surrounding mountain peaks in the Tongass National Forest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075063.TIF
  • The Taku winds blow icy ridges framing an overlook of the Inside Passage from Douglas Island and the Tongass National Forest near Juneau. Sunset comes early and days are short in the winter months with approximately 7 hours of light.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075060.jpg
  • Tourists don blue jackets and hike in the rain to Mendenhall Glacier through the Tongass National Forest. The region earns its reputation for receiving up to 200 inches of rain a year creating a lush, green and moss-covered environment.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075044.TIF
  • Fog-draped forest wilderness and rugged mountains are typical in Southeast Alaska where the 17 million acre Tongass National Forest receives an average of 200 inches of precipitation a year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075040.jpg
  • Clearing fog slowly dissipates above islands and the reflective, quiet waters in Sitka Sound. Alexander Archipelago has around 1,100 islands, which are actually the tops of a submerged section of the Coast Ranges in Southeast Alaska.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075025.TIF
  • Crisp winter air clears over freshly snow-dusted trees in Tongass National Forest looking across the Icy Strait in the Inside Passage toward Southeast Alaska’s Chilkat Mountain Range. The region is known for it’s harsh winds and rugged landscape as well as it’s beauty that is seen in this aerial.<br />
Chilkat, in the native Tlingit language, means “storage container for salmon.” The name was given because of warm springs that keep the Chilkat River from freezing during the winter as it flows through the mountain range, thus allowing salmon to spawn late in the season, and creating safe “storage.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075008.TIF
  • Harsh winds blow snow across the craggy ridges and peaks of the South Chilkat Mountains illuminating intense, orange colors of a winter sunset.<br />
The aerial view of the Coastal Range is directly across the Lynn Canal and the Juneau Icefield in southeast Alaska.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073537.TIF
  • More than 5,000 miles of roads are carved into the remote landscape to clear-cut large swatches of forests on Chichagof Island. An aerial picture after a winter snow reveals the patchwork on lower reaches of the mountains where logging traditionally occurs. <br />
Taxpayer money has subsidized the timber industry since 1980. Tongass National Forest timber management has cost U.S. taxpayers roughly one billion dollars, making it the largest money loser in the entire national forest system.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073536.TIF
  • Rays of sunlight pierce the clouds hanging over Sitka Sound and Baranof Island. Southeast Alaska receives about 200 inches of rain a year creating its moody ambiance.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073532.TIF
  • Cruise ships dock at Ketchikan's harbor, while another waits its' turn. In spite of the 200 inches of rain the region receives every year, nearly a million cruise ship passengers visit Alaska, sometimes doubling a town’s population on a summer day. As many as six cruise ships make daily stops and as many as 500 a year. The Inside Passage is a network of channels between islands along the coast of Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state. Tourism is Southeast Alaska’s fastest growing industry.<br />
The former logging town of Ketchikan, now relies on tourism. Travelers can shop for native art and souvenirs or diamonds in one of many jewelry stores along what was a former red-light district during the Gold Rush.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073531.TIF
  • Japanese tourists view the Matterhorn and pose for photos with the iconic St. Bernard dogs in the Alps. Around two million tourists visit annually to Switzerland's most popular destination nearby Zermatt.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024117.jpg
  • Mont Blanc rises in the distance behind craggy peaks and ridges seen in an aerial image. Drifting morning fog lifts revealing the snow-covered White Mountain, the highest in the Alps measuring nearly 16,000 feet. Located in the watershed between valleys in Italy and France, ownership of the summit has been a subject of historical dispute. <br />
The mountain is famous for the emergence of modern alpine mountaineering  after the first ascent in 1786.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024116.jpg
  • A glacier recedes near the Matterhorn leaving ridges and jagged peaks where there was once ice. An aerial photo shows much of the iconic mountain was carved away by glacial erosion. <br />
The National Snow and Ice Data Center describes Matterhorn geology in "All About Glaciers." Cirques are rounded hollows or bowl shapes after a glacier has melted away. Aretes are jagged narrow rides created when two glaciers meet eroding on both sides. And horns are created when several cirque glaciers erode until all that is left is a steep, pointed peak with sharp ridge-like Arêtes leading to the top.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024113.jpg
  • Morning fog rises over a summit cross on Zinalrothorn and other mountain peaks in the Alps surrounding the Matterhorn. Image is made from an early morning helicopter flight.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024112.TIF
  • Morning fog rises from craggy mountain peaks in the Alps surrounding the Matterhorn. The Alps range formed when two tectonic plates of Africa dn Eurasia slowly collided millions of years ago creating some of highest peaks in Europe.<br />
Rugged Zinalrothorn and Weisshorn in the background.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024111.TIF
  • 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
  • Aerial view of morning fog rising from the Dolomites, a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps numbering 18 peaks which rise above 3,000 meters. Jagged ridges  are made of  characteristic rock consisting of fossilized coral reefs formed during the Triassic Period (around 250 million years ago) by organisms and sedimentary matter at the bottom of the ancient tropical Tethys Ocean.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024103.TIF
  • Aerial view of the Dolomites dusted with snow under a setting full moon at sunrise. The mountain range in the northern Italian Alps numbers 18 peaks that rise above 3,000 meters. The striking landscape features vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys. The geology is marked by steeples, pinnacles and rock walls, the site also contains glacial landforms and karst systems.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024102.TIF
  • Monday is laundry day at Val Mustair as nuns fold a flowered sheet in the convent courtyard. The world-famous Benedictine Convent and a UNESCO World Heritage Site is in the Swiss Alps. Founded in the 8th century, the Christian convent is home to Benedictine nuns since the 12th Century. Eleven make their home behind closed walls, living a life of commitment to poverty and celibacy. Each nun has her work and they come together for meals and prayer.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024095.jpg
  • A Ladin family travels to church in LaVal on a horse-drawn sled. The brothers and sister keep to old traditions that include an ethnic language only spoken in the isolated village in the Dolomites. The Church of Santa Barbara is a 15th century Gothic building.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024085.TIF
  • View of the iconic Matterhorn and surrounding mountains in the Alps is made from a morning helicopter flight.  First ascent of the 14,692-foot mountain was in 1865 although four climbers died on the descent. <br />
The National Snow and Ice Data Center describes Matterhorn geology in "All About Glaciers." Cirques are rounded hollows or bowl shapes after a glacier has melted away. Aretes are jagged narrow rides created when two glaciers meet eroding on both sides. And horns are created when several cirque glaciers erode until all that is left is a steep, pointed peak with sharp ridge-like Arêtes leading to the top.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024079.TIF
Next