Freezing Morning, Kussharo Lake, Hokkaido, 2014. © Michael Kenna. (Prestel Publishing) With snow-capped peaks, ancient temples and rocky coastline, , and for over 30 years, renowned photographer Michael Kenna has been capturing their quiet, poetic beauty in stunning black-and-white images. These images have been collected in Kenna's new book "" (Prestel Publishing, 2015), which features 240 black-and-white images of Japan, taken across the country in such places as Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Okinawa, and Shikoku. Depicting such quietly evocative scenes as...

Married couple and photographer duo Ed and Dallas Nagata White never planned for rain, but it was an unexpected downpour that helped them capture the heart of the Internet. Ed and Dallas Nagata White capture a perfect moment in Kalapana, Hawaii (Ed and Dallas Nagata White) The story behind their passionate shot at the top of a volcano in Kalapana, Hawaii, dubbed “The World’s Hottest Kiss,” is almost as good as the photo. Hoping to snap a few beautiful shots...

The North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina was once host to numerous NASCAR races but it is now abandoned, crumbling in rust and decay. The North Wilkesboro Speedway opened in 1947 and closed in 2011. Its last NASCAR race was held in 1996, with Jeff Gordon winning. (Seph Lawless) It once hosted thousands of fans cheering on cars speeding against each other in the verge of danger, but the historic site is now in abandoned ruins, its grandstands empty, its...

The business of sustainable travel is booming. in the process. But while ecotourism may appear to be a green revolution in travel, new research indicates that the practice may be doing serious harm to the wildlife it aims to protect. claims that ecotourism is not only changing the way some animals behave in the wild, but making them more vulnerable to predators, too. The study looked at over 100 other research studies of how ecotourism affects animals. A tourist rides...

Europe is famous for being home to some of the world's most majestic castles, fromtoto Romania's Peles Castle. Built centuries ago to protect their inhabitants against invading armies or as impressive feats of engineering, these castles are some of the most beautiful sights found in the 28 countires that make up the European Union. (MORE: In fact, . For example, playright William Shakespeare chose Denmark's Kronborg Castle to be the setting of his play 'Hamlet." while Walt Disney is said...

Winter The abandoned Rolling Acres Mall in in Akron, Ohio during winter. (Seph Lawless) Built in the 1970s and abandoned in 2008, the Rolling Acres Mall in Akron, Ohio has stood neglected and decaying for years now, its escalators, elevators and vacant shops overgrown, its floors littered with broken glass and debris from its crumbling walls. Views from both the outside and inside of the mall show a building overtaken by nature as weather slowly does unrepaired damage. "In places...

Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015: Andy Farrer. Bat's Head, Dorset, England. (Andy Farrer/Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015) From dramatic coastlines to lush, green countrysides, the UK is home to spectacular landscapes, and the photographers of this year's captured these landscapes in stunning images, showcasing the diversity and natural beauty of Britain. A photograph of one of the most beautiful parts of Britain’s coastline, where the cold sea sweeps across warm-coloured sand towards a snow-capped cliff, won the top...

Large pumpkins sit in pickup trucks before the start of the 42nd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest in Half Moon Bay, California on October 12, 2015. The Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off is offering a special $30,000 mega-prize for the world-record breaking pumpkin at the prestigious Half Moon Bay event. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images) 'Tis the season for pumpkins. And at the annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, held earlier this month in Half Moon Bay, California it was...

Some of the world's most famous destinations are renown for their great size or age, but not to be forgotten are some of this planet's tiniest places. One such place is America's smallest national forest, the Adak National Forest in Alaska. This forest is made up of exactly 33 pine trees at the foot of a small hill on Adak Island. These trees were planted during the Second World War, reports Amusing Planet, but. (MORE: ) According to the Bishop...

Around the world, there are many wonderful places to see a myriad of wild animals, but with Halloween around the corner, there is no better time to see one particular kind of animal: bats. While these might not be the first animal that comes to mind while planning your next wildlife trip, these creatures can make for a very impressive sight when seen in the wild because . In fact, bats are one of the few , reports the Smithsonian...

Travel guide publisher Lonely Planet has released its list of top 10 countries to visit in 2016 and the . (MORE: ) Praising the country for its journey "from poverty" to "one of Africa's most stable, thriving societies" as inspirational, Lonely Planet writes that Botswana is "." Lonely Planet judges their destinations, including whether the countries are deemed "up-and-coming" and whether they have any special developments or events coming up. Botswana is celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence in 2015....

(Credit: Mark Mervai Photography) “It became a passion when I saw Budapest on a foggy day in front of me. The beauty of the city together with the fog overwhelmed me,” photographer Mark Mervai told weather.com. Based in Budapest, Hungary, Mervai has been “fog-hunting” and capturing eerily beautiful photographs of fog since 2010. “There are just a couple of mornings on which the fog and every other condition is so perfect and beautiful, so it [took] a long time to...

Condé Nast Traveler's readers have named the best islands to visit in the world outside the United States and the top spot went to . This stunning island was chosen largely because itis home to one of the . Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this river is one of the longest underground rivers in the world, spanning five miles. (MORE: In second place was Bora Bora,, and in third was the . ranked in fourth place, renown for being...