Seriously — click to enlarge this view of Manhattan from the air, to take in the full expansive brilliance of it. Of course, this isn't one image, it's a panorama stitched together from smaller images. But the final result is just breathtaking, in any case.
This image by Russian photographer Sergey Semonov won first place in the amateur category of the Epson International Photographic Pano Awards. As Alexis Madrigal explains over in The Atlantic:
Semonov works on a small noncommercial team called AirPano, which travels the globe creating these 3D aerial panoramas. They shoot from helicopters and then stitch the images together. Mostly, they produce these spherical panoramas that I find confusing to navigate, but clearly this one has been flattened for our viewing pleasure.
Check out more of Semonov's amazing panoramas over at AirPano. [Pano Awards via The Atlantic]