Sunday Stills: Intimate portraits of bees, the photo behind Lorde's song 'Royals,' and more

Read: Evidence of Life on Mars View the email on a web browser. Sunday Stills ISSUE 09 Sunday, February 2, 2014 FEATURES Intimate Portraits of Bees PHOTOGRAPH BY SAM DROEGE, USGS Sam Droege and colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey began to inventory all the bee species in North America in 2001. This was partly because the insects are so important to the agriculture industry. “Almost all the fruits and nuts, and a lot of the vegetable varieties, that we eat require some insect—usually bees—for pollination,” he explains. Most of the natives are overlooked because “a lot of them are super tiny,” Droege says. “The bulk of the bees in the area are about half the size of a honeybee.” They also go unnoticed because they don’t sting, he adds. They quietly go about their business gathering pollen from flowers in gardens, near sand dunes, or on the edges of parks. READ NEWS The National Geographic Photo That Inspired Lorde’s Song ‘Royals’ PHOTOGRAPH BY TED SPIEGEL At this week’s Grammy Awards ceremony, New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde won song of the year for “Royals.” In an interview with VH1, she recounts: “I had this image from the National Geographic of this dude just signing baseballs. He was a baseball player and his shirt said ‘Royals.’” READ INSTANCE Photographer Brian Finke A coiffed calf is blow-dried and primped in preparation for the 66th annual Randall County Junior Livestock Show in Canyon, Texas, covering all aspects of America’s love affair with beef. #onassignment #meat LOOK PROOF The Archivist of Photographic Memories PHOTOGRAPH BY Kathryn Carlson Bill Bonner works alone in a cold, windowless room in the basement of National Geographic’s headquarters in Washington. But even though he spends the days mostly by himself, he says he’s kept company by the millions of people immortalized in the photographs he works with. To him, they are his ancestors, and he treats each photo like it is the greatest treasure in the world. “We don’t have pictures of Babe Ruth hitting a home run, but there’s pictures of people like us, just doing their thing, just living their life.” READ PROOF Photographer Erika Larsen Explores the World of Garrison Keillor PHOTOGRAPHS BY Erika Larsen Dear Erika, Glad to hear you’ll be shooting the “Personal Geography” story for National Geographic . . . My wife Jenny and I would be happy to put you up in our large, suddenly empty (with our daughter off to boarding school) house in St. Paul. Queen bed, quiet, your own bath en suite, sunny terrace, free access to kitchen and grand piano, wi-fi, etc etc. Ten minutes from airport. Cat on the premises. Talk to you soon. Garrison Keillor READ Show Your Support: SHOP DONATE SUBSCRIBE TRAVEL BECOME A MEMBER You are receiving this email because las.ratnayake.phototips@blogger.com is signed up to receive National Geographic communications. If you prefer not to receive emails from us, please unsubscribe. To ensure that you receive your National Geographic emails, please add ngs@e.nationalgeographic.com to your address book now. Learn how. Contact Us | Privacy Policy | About Us | Customer Service National Geographic | 1145 17th Street N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036 Copyright © 2014 National Geographic Society. All Rights Reserved.