30 Inspiring Action Photos Of The U.S. Women's Gymnastic Team, Worthy Of A Gold Medal.

You'd have to have been in hiding not to know by now that United States' Fab Five (or the hipper moniker of The Fierce Five) took the Gold for the first time since 1996 in the Women's Gymnastics Team Final yesterday in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.



U.S. gymnasts McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, Alexandra (Aly) Raisman, Gabrielle Douglas and Jordyn Wieber's performances were nothing short of awe-inspiring, but the same can be said of the following photos courtesy of the Associated Press, AFP/Getty, The Washington Post and Reuters.



I have culled 30 of the most breathtaking moments of yesterday's performances on the balance beam, uneven bars, vault and floor ex. Here are my favorite shots from these talented sports photographers, that in my opinion, score a perfect 10.

Special recognition should go to the AP photographer Julie Jacobson who took the majority of these photos.

Uneven Bars (also called Uneven Parallel Bars and Asymmetric Bars):












Balance Beam:











Floor Exercise:





Vault:



and of course.... Anticipation:

Jubilation:

and the taste of Victory:

Credits: AP Photographers Julie Jacobson, Jae C. Hong and Gregory Bull AFP/Getty photographers Roland Martinez, Thomas Coex and Ben Stansall, Toni L. Sandys for The Washington Post, Reuters,

It's Called Photoshop, Not Angelina Being Goofy.

The above right image has been making the rounds on the internet with hundreds of thousands of people believing it was an actual pose struck by Angelina Jolie the night of the Oscars. Let me put the rumors to rest. The image was merely a copy, flip horizontal and paste job on Photoshop from an original Getty photo - artist unknown.

The original photo:


The altered photo, by yours truly:

In case you were wondering.

The Beauty Of Booze: Alcohol Molecules As Art

above: Tequila, as seen when magnified 1000 times

Magnified up to 1000 times under a high tech laboratory microscope, images of various alcohol, mixed drinks and plain beverages like Cola and iced tea are sold as customizable fine art and prints by American company BevShots.

The images are made by first crystallizing the drink of choice on a lab slide. Using a standard light microscope with a camera attached, the light source is polarized and passed through the crystal. This creates the magnificent colors and patterns you see in the following images.

Below are some examples of the macro photos of alcohol molecules from some common liquors and mixed drinks.

Liquor

Vodka:

Gin:

Scotch:

Whiskey:

American Amber Ale:

Sake:


Mixed Drinks
Dry Martini:

Pina Colada:

Rum and Coke:

Black and Tan:

Mint Julep:

Bloody Mary:

White Russian:


The pictures were taken in Florida State University's chemistry department and are are licensed from Florida State University and Michael Davison, the research scientist, who, in 1992 discovered photographic microscopy.


above left: Michael Davidson, right; Lester Hutt

The man who keeps the party going is Lester Hutt, president of BevShots MicroArt, LLC. BevShots is the perfect blend of Hutt’s business and science background. While working on his graduate degree in chemistry from UC Berkeley, Hutt worked on NASA’s Mars probes searching for evidence of past life on the red planet. Apple, Inc. then called on him to be a part of history as they released their revolutionary new product, the iPod.

You can purchase the above images and more in various sizes starting at $19.99.

Shop for them here.

all images courtesy of BevShots.