An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured this stunning photo directly above Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand, better known as Mount Doom from the Lords of the Rings movie trilogy.
Nicholas Busch is a Davenport, Iowa-based portrait photographer who has been working on a fascinating personal project in his free time: he shoots Lord of the Rings scenes on a tabletop using miniature scale model photography.
Lia Konrad is a 23-year-old photographer who grew up in small town Hof, Germany with big ideas. With a very small budget for a camera with a single lens—but none for lighting—and a homemade costume, she has created a marvelous series of fantasy environmental portraits.
What better way to explore the far reaches of New Zealand ... uhh, I mean Middle Earth... than with Tolkien's Gandalf as your guide? That's what photographer Akhil Suhas was thinking when, while planning his 6-month trip across the country after university, he packed a Gandalf costume... just for fun.
Have you ever wondered how Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson made Frodo Baggins the hobbit so much smaller than Gandalf the wizard? Aside from using CGI and child body doubles, the filmmaking team also employed brilliant forced perspective techniques that tricked viewers with optical illusions.