love the purifying snows of winter," said naturalist Sigurd Olson on the subject of northern Minnesota vast wilderness. "Then spring comes creeping, and thousands of island-dotted lakes begin to absorb their thick skins of ice, and there抯 a transformation so intense that I have the impression of traveling a long distance, without leaving home.?
　　— Text from "Minnesota Wilderness," June 1993, National Geographic magazine
　　
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Gray Wolves," May 1998, National Geographic magazine)
　　

The ridgeline of the Mont Blanc massif catches the last rays of sun on a crystal-clear evening. Mont Blanc is Europe's highest peak, measuring 15,770 feet (4,807 meters).
　　(Photograph from the National Geographic book The Alps, 1973)
　　

The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Amiens looms in the early morning mist. Notre Dame is France's tallest cathedral and is a classic model of the French Gothic style of architecture.
　　Amiens was heavily bombed in 1918, and shelling in 1940 destroyed much of the city's ancient heart, but the grand cathedral has survived centuries of war and revolution
　　

Seemingly lit from within, autumn foliage blazes with color in the late-afternoon sun.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hemingway抯 Many Hearted Fox River," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)
　　

Longfin Bannerfish swim near a reef off Rongelap Atoll. The islands were contaminated by a nuclear weapons test on nearby Bikini Atoll in 1954.
　　The radioactive fallout caused abnormal births, thyroid problems, and other illnesses among Rongelap's inhabitants. But the coral reefs and other aquatic life around Rongelap bear no visible scars from the radiation.
　　
　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Testing the Waters of Rongelap," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)
　　

Evening settles in over Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park.
　　Yoho is a Cree Indian word meaning "awe" or "wonder," and the term fits this vest-pocket park in southeastern British Columbia precisely. A hiker's dream come true, the park offers more than 250 miles (402 kilometers) of well-kept trails, snowmelt waterfalls, gravity-defying mountains, wildflower meadows, and isolated lakes embraced by an alpine world.
　　
　　(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Yoho," July/August 1998, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
　　

"In an open-air shop in Kabul, a coppersmith fingers his prayer beads, as his tolerant eyes take the measure of writer-photographer Williams. Were he to change his dress, he would be very much at home in an American country store."
　　桭rom "Geographica/Classic: Back to Afghanistan," December 2004, National Geographic magazine
　　

Rice is often grown in shallow puddles called paddies. Depending on the type of rice, the paddies can range in water depth anywhere from 5.9 inches (15 centimeters) to 6.5 feet (2 meters).
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Devestated Land and Homeless People," September 1983, National Geographic magazine)
　　

"A wall of walleyes caught by a single family at Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota, ranged from pound-and-a-half [0.68 kilograms] sacks to seven-pound [3.18 kilograms] feasts. Spurning a long, cold crouch over a hole, this group from Minneapolis pursued their quarry from a snug 42-foot [12.80 meters] trailer heated with a portable electric generator."
　　—From "Special Issue: Best of America," September 2002, National Geographic magazine
　　

Branches sealed in ice take on a glass-like fragility in Newfoundland. Reaching east into the Atlantic Ocean, the island faces harsh temperatures and deep snows throughout the winter.
　　(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Newfoundland Trusts in the Sea," January 1974, National Geographic magazine)