Color

• Often the most striking feature of an object

• Colors can be warm or cold, bold or subtle

Christmas tree and advertising billboard light up Ploschad Sovietskoy (Soviet Square) in the centre of Murmansk, seen from the 18th floor of Hotel Arktika. Murmansk is the largest city in the world North of the Arctic Circle. Taken at 5pm. Simon C Roberts, NB Pictures

A man pulls a child on a sledge past the immense concrete soldier named Alyosha built on a hill overlooking the city of Murmansk. An eternal flame burns at the base of the statue in memory of those who died in the two World Wars. Taken at 4pm.

An American warship, Daniel Morgan, which was torpedoed by the Germans and sunk on 7th May 1942 sits rusting alongside another boat in the Barents Sea just outside Murmansk. Taken at 2pm.

Laundry hangs outside a house in Magarass, a native Yakutian village in Northern Russia. Taken at 9am.

Soviet-style apartment blocks in Murmansk. Taken at Noon

A gust of wind sends robes flying as Cardinals file by to kiss the Gospel during the funeral of Pope John Paul II in the center of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. Smiley Pool, The Dallas Morning News

Pair of swans floating on the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Bill Weems, National Geographic

A Potlatch tree farm of fast growing poplar trees decorates the I-84 roadside in Umatilla, Oregon during a blustery November day. Jed Conklin, The Spokesman-Review

Framing

• The use of a frame to enclose a subject can work effectively

• Used intelligently, a frame can enhance a photo’s aesthetic appeal

Members of the Roanoke Valley Pickers Charlie Hinson (center, on guitar) and Eddie Johnson (right, on banjo) play with their band members at the Explore Park visitor’s center. Josh Meltzer, The Roanoke Times

The long arm of the law reaches the middle of nowhere in Chile, where wary police stop a visitor for speeding. / national Geographic

A task normally taken in stride is too much for 87-year-old Edwin Genero, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. For a decade his 43-year-old daughter, Charmine, has tended to his increasing needs in her Arlington, Virginia, home. / National Geographic

Perspective

Industrial waste from the Chisso Chemical

Company, 1972. W. Eugene Smith

Minamata

A dreadful disease was crippling hundreds of people in the Japanese City of Minamata. The source of the illness had been traced to the pollution of the sea and fish by mercury waste from the Cisso chemical factory.

Chiso wastewater pool for factory discharges.

Manuel Delacruz leans over a gutter that was curb high with swift moving runoff as he tries to diagnose a problem with his truck during a powerful but short-lived storm that passed through the area Thursday afternoon.

Aerial view of damage from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, the morning after the storm, Tuesday morning, August 30, 2005. Smiley Pool, The Dallas Morning News

Water surrounds homes in the devastated Ninth Ward in this aerial view of damage from Hurricane Katrina

Orleans Parish prisoners are held on a highway overpass in an aerial view of damage from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

People sift through the rubble of a convenience store in an aerial view of damage from Hurricane Katrina in Long Beach, MS.

Residents, including a man with only one leg, wait on a rooftop to be evacuated from the flood waters of New Orleans as officials evacuate the city after Hurricane Katrina, Thursday.

Rubble is all that is left of an apartment complex in an aerial view of damage from Hurricane Katrina in Pass Christian, MS, Wednesday morning, August 31, 2005. A fire burns in the background.

Texture

• Texture is an intrinsic property of each and everything

• Texture can have a decorative effect lend lend an overall pattern to an object

A sandbag is lowered by water into the broken section of a the London Avenue Canal levee in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Smiley Pool, The Dallas Morning News

Snow and wind made walking difficult on the Capital's Mall during a snow storm. Andrea Bruce, The Washington Post

Jewish settlers peer out from holes in their roof as Israeli police arrive to evict them from their home in the Jewish settlement of Gadid on August 19, 2005. David Guttenfelder, Associated Press

Children play in the water from a fire hose that was sprayed on them from the Golden Gate Fire department during the Harvest Festival on Saturday at Big Cypress Elementary School in Naples, Fla. Lexey Swall, Naples Daily News

Texas Rangers pitcher Kameron Loe delivers a ninth-inning pitch in a downpour against Baltimore. Louis DeLuca, Dallas Morning News

Long Reach High School senior Ashley Shiner, her date Alex Mendoza, Howard High senior Lindsey Davis and former Long Reach student Trend McLlough enjoy the evening during the Long Reach prom on May 14 at the Hilton Hotel in Silver Spring. Ji-Eun Lee, Patuxent Publishing Company

World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol steamlines and kicks off the wall as he swims backstroke during the Santa Clara Grand Prix on June 26, 2005 at the Santa Clara Swim Club Aquatics Center in Santa Clara, California. Donald Miralle, Jr., Getty Images

A photograph from the Texas Air National Guard archives shows former enlisted Air Guardsman George W. Bush (left) having his second lieutenant bars pinned on by his father, George H.W. Bush, during a 1968 commissioning ceremony. The image is comprised of the faces of those who lost their lives in the war in Iraq. Sean Stipp, Freelance

Balance

The Wake, 1950. W. Eugene Smith

“I would rather make warm and friendly photographs, but when I looked at these people in the Guardia Civil I was aware that at least two of them had tortured their countrymen, and I could not feel very friendly.”

ONLY WAY OUT- Palestinians crouch inside the Door of Humility for a glimpse of the outside world as Israeli tanks and soldiers take aim at the Church of the Nativity. Eight men died inside before the 39 day siege came to an end. Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times

Firefighters battle a house fire amidst heavy smoke. All of the entrances in the house were blocked by clothes and paperwork, preventing the firefighters from entering the structure. Arson charges were later filed against the tenant. Josh Meltzer, The Roanoke Times

"I love the community and we're all involved. It's what the people are here. We all do the same thing," said Mary Sumpter. "It's a sense of America and where I live and work everyday." Sumpter is a realtor who donates and places 3,000 flags on the streets of Flint suburbs Vernon, Bancroft and Durand for the fourth of July celebration. Steve Jessmore, The Flint Journal

To fuel up, Chris and Nick Holste chow down at the Mule Skinner Saloon in Oxford, Neb. Hired farmhands, the twins keep almost identical schedules. Up at 6 a.m. they fix tractors, balers and gearboxes, taking a break for a dinner of steak and potatoes. / National Geographic

Archbishop James Byrn of Dubuque, Iowa, is one of the most powerful clergy in the state. Bob Modersohn, De Moines Register