Masterful portraits by a master of photography

Pictures of the Week: September 7, 2012

From the ever excellent pblog on the Denver Post website comes these images from last week. Always surprising, captivating, painful and enlightening, you should bookmark The Denver Post as a must view blog

Air Force One, with President Barack Obama aboard, taxis on the runway under a heavy rain before departing at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, en route to Charlotte, N.C. for the Democratic National Convention. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) #

In this Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 photo, food remains in the damaged kitchen of a Syrian house, one of more than a dozen homes destroyed in a Syrian government airstrike on August 15, 2012, that killed more than 40 people, in Azaz, on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. Over the past week, survivors and relatives have returned daily to collect from the rubble what can be salvaged as they also relive the day of the airstrike. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) #

A Hindu devotee performs evening rituals on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India, Friday, Sept. 7, 2012. Allahabad, at the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, is an important Hindu pilgrimage center. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Heriberto Pacheco stands still as someone rolls suntan oil on his skin before competing in the Mr. Mexico and Miss Perfection bodybuilding contest in Mexico City, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012. The body building competition attracts more than 500 participants from around the country for the three day event. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) #

A relative of Ihab and Akram al-Zaanin, two Palestinian brothers who were killed by Israeli fire, is comforted by family members as she mourns during their funeral in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on September 6, 2012. Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the northern Gaza Strip, raising to six the number killed in the past 12 hours, medical sources said. AFP PHOTO /MAHMUD HAMSMAHMUD HAMS #

See all of this gallery here

British Wildlife Photography Awards 2012

Wildlife and photography seem to go hand in hand, so many people just love photographs of animals. Usually such awards are the preserve of the magnificent animals in far off places so this award is always a pleasure to consider as it is from our own doorsteps.

All the 2012 British Wildlife Photography Awards category winners and selected highly commended images are in these galleries.

The overall winning image by Dr Matt Doggett was his image entitled: “Gannet Jacuzzi”

Here are a couple more to whet your appetite

Fairy tale 1 by Alex Saberi

Beautiful Bluebells by Ian Wade

If you would like to see all of the winners the BWPA site is the place to go

If you just want a taste of the superlative images of wildlife from our shores then the BBC has a brief gallery here