“Lost Girl” Amanda Pressner recently took a 26-hour marathon flight from New York to Sydney, Australia, to be one of the first to experience Vivid Sydney—a three-week music and light festival that will transform the city’s harbor into a living art canvas. Read her report on the events, the city and more …

This past weekend, while friends were pulling out shorts and bikinis in preparation for Memorial Day barbecues, I was cramming tights and sweaters into a carry-on bag and preparing to go Down Under for the winter.

Why head to Australia just as the chilly weather has arrived?

Almost everyone who visits Washington, DC wants to view the iconic elements such as the Lincoln Memorial and the White House.

Some travelers rely on photographs to capture these icons, while others are content to experience and visualize the major entities.

Regardless, everyone is faced with the challenge: where should I go, and when, to get the great views and savor the best moments?

When a bus Alison Wright was traveling on in a mountainous road in Laos was ripped apart, her life was ripped apart as well.

Before the accident, Alison had been a well-known and much lauded photojournalist.

After the accident, she was just a woman trying to hang on— to her life, to her career, to the way things had been.

There’s been plenty of hullabaloo surrounding the inauguration of Barack Obama as the new President of the United States.

After all, he’s not only the first African-American President, but he’s got global roots, soaring oratory and a wicked jumpshot.

But lost in all the hoopla is the fact that Barack Obama is not the only world leader likely to sit at the cool kids’ table.

So on this President’s Day, check out our light-hearted guide to the world’s hottest heads of state.

Have you ever come home with a camera full of dull, washed-out travel pictures, despite a lovely destination?

Well, these days, getting great photos starts with taking the pictures—and then manipulating them digitally.

Pro shooter Rick Sammon shares his tips and tricks on using Photoshop to “defrost” his icy RAW photos.

Article and Photographs © Rick Sammon

Trained as a marine biologist, today Cristina Mittermeier is a photographer, author and scholar who uses her camera to help pursue her goal of a better, greener planet.

She’s the Executive Director of the International League of Conservation Photographers, a group which uses the camera lens to educate, entertain and enlighten people all over the world.

So it should be no surprise that her time with the indigenous Kayapo tribe of Brazil has delivered a wealth of incredible images.