Stefan Zaklin/EPA
Tourists look at cherry blossoms next to the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC on Tuesday 03 April 2007. This year's cherry blossom festival celebrates the 95th anniversary of the gift of 3000 cherry trees from the people of Tokyo to the people of Washington, DC. Experts say the cherry blossoms are now at their peak bloom.
This picture isn't perfect, but I like how the tree trunks create a bunch of tiny little vignettes.
Steve Crisp/Reuters
A woman adjusts her makeup during the Ahlan style event in the International Village, ahead of the Dubai World Cup March 29, 2008. The Dubai World Cup, with a cash prize of $6 million, is horse racing's richest prize.
I love it when a photographer catches a little moment like this that helps us identify with a subject. Having been to a zillion horse races in my lifetime including the Kentucky Derby, Breeders' Cup Championship Day and meets at Del Mar and Saratoga, I feel like I totally know what this woman is going through based on a captured instant. It's tough to keep a hat, makeup and dress together when you're out in the blazing heat, freezing cold or pouring rain, particularly when you don't want to wade through a bunch of people to a crowded ladies room to readjust.
Ashwini Bhatia/AP
The Dalai Lama arrives in Dharmsala, India, Saturday, March 29, 2008. A Chinese government policy of "demographic aggression" in Tibet is threatening the region's culture, the Dalai Lama said Saturday, as he also warned that China risks instability because of its human rights record.
Sometimes there is both luck and skill involved in photography. How fortuitous it was that the reflection of a person in the crowd highlights the Dalai Lama's face. On a more serious note, I can't imagine holding the Dalai's position and being responsible for leading so many people.
Yulia Darashkevich/Reuters
Oleg Ryabtsev prepares to switch a tower clock to summer time in central Minsk March 29, 2008.
I look at this and think, "Hmmm. That must be kind of an interesting job to maintain old clocks." Do any of you do something for a living that could be considered unusual?
Laszlo Balogh/Reuters
A Siberian husky peers out from his cage before the start of the sled dog competition in Domonyvolgy, 35 km (19 miles) east from Budapest, March 29, 2008.
This image makes me think of my own dog who passed away over the summer and the saying that was embossed on her collar: Cold nose, warm heart. There aren't too many things that are much better than having a furry friend greet you at the door and giving him or her a kiss on the nose at the end of a long day.
Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
Hundreds of Zimbabwean wait in a voting queue on election day in Harare, Saturday, March, 29, 2008. Zimbabweans began lining up before dawn Saturday for crucial elections where President Robert Mugabe's faces the toughest challenge to his 28-year rule and the opposition is urging its supporters to defend their votes against an alleged ballot-rigging plot.
I don't know about everyone else, but at my precinct, I can just walk in and vote. Maybe it is because turnout is typically so poor. Will this year be better? I wonder if the people in Zimbabwe just care more to stand in these long lines, or are their polls simply that much more disorganized? Are you going to vote in 2008?
Pat Roque/AP
Vehicle lights are the only illumination seen on a seaside road after officials shut down the colorful street lights at 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) Saturday, March 29, 2008, along Roxas Blvd in Manila, Philippines. Manila and other Philippine cities participated in the global Earth Hour when lights and other electrical appliances were shut down to mitigate the impact of climate change.
Lights off for Earth Hour? Check. Carpooling and minimizing auto emissions? Not so much.
Stephen Morton/Getty Images file
Mary Roosa, left, of Kingston, New York hugs her son U.S. Army Spc. Derek Mercado along with his fiancee Casey Soltys during a homecoming ceremony for soldiers with the 3rd Infantry Division after a 15-month deployment in Anbar Province, Iraq, March 26, 2008 in Fort Stewart, Georgia. Some with the brigade are on their third tour of duty since the war began in 2003.
Technically, this photo isn't perfect - the color saturation and exposure seem a little off, so it made it to the next to last round for "The Week in Pictures" this week, but what's better to see on a Friday afternoon than a beaming soldier reunited with the women that love him most?
Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images
Lorna McNee, paints next to paintings by Jacqueline Marr, at the 13th Glasgow Art Fair March 26 in Scotland. Scotland's national art fair presents artwork across all media from 46 galleries, from Scotland the rest of the UK and Europe, representing over 1000 artists.
This picture made it all the way to the final round of The Week in Pictures edit. I agreed with the decision to pull it out, but I still like the picture. Actually, Im interested in the way the Jeff Mitchell was seeing and thinking. I like it when a photographer finds and creates humor with their camera.
Adobe Systems Inc./AP
A screen grab shows Adobe Systems Inc. new basic photo-editing software which will be offered free online beginning Thursday, March 26. Photoshop Express will be completely Web-based so people can use it with any type of computer, operating system and browser.
Let me get all picture editor on ya, and then Ill ask a question. Ive enjoyed working with Photoshop for years. So, I perked up when I heard that Adobe was releasing a web version. Its interesting that such a powerful imaging tool is becoming so democratized, but it concerns me that Adobe used this as their introduction image. I hope that people don't go crazy manipulating their photos. I ask you, what is the value of photography? I suggest that its most meaningful value is as a record. This happened. Let me show you, means a lot to me. Does photographys value as a visual record mean as much to you?
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP - Getty Images
Photojournalists and tourists gather around Tony Khalil as he reenacts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City during the Good Friday procession on March 21, 2008. Psalms and incense filled the air of the Holy City of Jerusalem on what is known as Good Friday.
The contrast between the bloody "Christ" and the throngs of digital SLRs is striking. It got me thinking, "What would Jesus shoot?" Canon or Nikon?
Uriel Sinai - Pool/EPA
US Senator and Republican party candidate for president John McCain arrives for a visit at the southern Israeli town of Sderot, March 19, 2008.
I love the "Agent Smith" quality of McCain in this image. This is as cool of a picture of him as I've seen yet.
Toru Hanai/Reuters
Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka signs autographs for fans during a workout session before a pre-season game against Japan's Hanshin Tigers at Tokyo Dome March 22, 2008. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
This picture reminded me about crabbing in the Summer time by the sea shore.
David W Cerny/Reuters
People stand amidst damaged vehicles after a pileup on the main motorway between Prague and Brno near the town of Humpolec March 20, 2008. Around 100 cars collided in a huge pileup in a heavy snowstorm in the Czech Republic on Thursday.
I was imagining the roar of crashing metal as a wave of cars washed over and around the couple when I first saw this picture.
Daniel Ochoa De Olza/AP
Penitents of the 'Stmo. Cristo de las Injurias' light their candles before a Holy Week procession in Zamora, northern Spain, Wednesday, March 19, 2008. Hundreds of processions take place throughout Spain during the Easter Holy Week.
Every year at this time, we see lots of beautiful photo from Holy Week in Spain. I was struck by this one because of the nice light -the colors and shadows, and its simplicity. Although, I have to admit every time I see these pointy hoods, they remind me of the Ku Klux Klan.
Matt Sayles/AP
Cornell coach Steve Donahue, right, and the team's unofficial mascot, Big Red Bear, take the same position on the floor during the first half of their first round basketball game at the NCAA South Regional on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif.
A humorous image (unless you're a Cornell fan) from yesterday's NCAA tournament action.
Kevork Djansezian/AP
Marquette's Wesley Matthews, center, battles for a rebound with Kentucky's Derrick Jasper, right, as Ramel Bradley gets hit on the face during the first half of their first round basketball game at the NCAA South Regional on Thursday in Anaheim, Calif.
Images from this perspective are shot with a remote camera, so you never know what you're going to get. I think this is a great one though becuase it contains action all the way across the frame.
David Moir/Reuters
A science technician presses her nose against a leather-bound "Mummy" skeleton during a photocall for the Edinburgh International Science Festival in Scotland March 20, 2008.
Here's looking at you, kid.
Mustafa Ozer/AFP - Getty Images
Kurdish workers prepare a platform on the eve of Newroz Day in southeastern city of Diyarbakir, on 20 March, 2008. Newroz Day, which marks the arrival of spring and the Kurdish New Year, has become a platform for Turkey's Kurdish minority to demand greater freedoms.
In deference to Robert Hood's new silhouette rule, I think this shot of Kurdish construction workers meets the "coolness" test. The angles of the lines and the positioning of the figures make this a visual treat.
Rodrigo Abd/AP
A man walks next to a platform where effigies of Jesus Christ are being prepared for a Holy Week procession in Antigua, Guatemala, Wednesday, March 19, 2008.
I was struck by the composition of this image. The cutting off of the man's face at right creates tension in what would otherwise be a more static image. The light and the repetition of the cross with the shadow also repeating the shape makes for a photo that you can stay with.
Brian Sokol/The New York Times via Redux Pic
A Tibetan monk raises his fist in defiance as he is taken into custody during a protest in Katmandu, the capital of neighboring Nepal, on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. Nepali police arrested about 50 protesters who were demonstrating to demand a U.N. investigation into China's crackdown on Tibet, officials said.
I love how the two fists from the opposing sides of this fight are echoing one another in this frame. Whenever I see protest pictures like this, they make me think about what issues I would really and truly go to the wall for.
Aaron Eisenhauer/The Southeast Missourian
Fedex driver Jay McMullin helps 78-year-old Odell Bunch into the delivery truck after Bunch's truck was swept off of Hwy 34 by flood waters on Tuesday. Torrential rains that hammered southern Missouri caused widespread flooding that left two people dead, hundreds homeless, closed nearly 200 roads and sent propane tanks and debris spiraling down lowlands turned into raging rivers.
Not to make light of the situation, but this takes FedEx's slogan, "The world on time," to a new level, don't you think? Anyway, it's a nice spot news image.
Steve Fenn/ABC via AP
In this image released by ABC, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, right, who plays himself, is shown on the set with soap opera icon Susan Lucci, left, and Jill Larson on ABC Daytime's "All My Children," taped in New York. Buffett will come to the aid of Lucci's character Erica Kane while she is in prison on a fraud rap in an upcoming episode. It is Buffett's second appearance on daytime drama.
This is hilarious to me, maybe just because I haven't seen him in this capacity before and he strikes me as being above daytime TV. Not that there is anything wrong with daytime TV, as I have certainly watched my share. Anyway, the world's wealthiest man made a guest appearance on "All My Children." He clearly doesn't need the money, so what do you think? Was it a life-long dream of his to be an actor? Is he trying to cut into Trump's piece of the entertainment market? Or will his salary from this gig extend his lead over Bill Gates that much more on the Forbes list? Good for him, whatever his reasons.
Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters
Men use public bathrooms decorated with mannequins at a shopping center in Portugal March 13, 2008. You might be surprised to come across a scantily clad model in a public bathroom, but shoppers at Portugal's Eight Avenue mall in Sao Joao da Madeira are beginning to like it. Spread across the mens' and ladies' bathrooms, mannequins scantily dressed stand in suggestive poses as visitors meet them.
Mannequins in a bathroom are fairly odd, but can you imagine the shock the guys might get if these were living mannequins?
/Jaergen Kaelle / Home Guard Command via EPA
Danish Crown Princess Mary, 36, brandishes an automatic weapon during an exercise of the Danish Home Guard. She passed the finals in shooting and first aid, according to an announcement in Copenhagen by the quasi-military organisation.
Do you know of other instances of female royals in a military role?
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