The amazing photographs that show the world's most famous landmarks replaced by cheap souvenirs

At a moment's glance this picture could be the real Big Ben.

But then you notice the hand below and the incredible optical illusion is revealed.

Tourist Michael Hughes today unveiled his extraordinary holiday snaps of the world's famous landmarks - perfectly blended with cheap souvenirs.

Michael, 56, stumbled across his unusual technique in 1998 and has perfected it after travelling to hundreds of famous sights.

His series of stunning photos include a Golden Gate fridge magnet slotted ideally into the San Francisco landscape.


A plastic Eiffel Tower toy between the camera and the steel structure creates an appearance that the top of the Paris landmark has been painted red, yellow and blue.

And a Big Ben money bank positioned next to the houses of parliament eclipses the original so well it could be mistaken for the real version.

Michael also held The Beatles' Abbey Road album in front of the famous London zebra crossing so it appears that the band members are actually walking across the road.


He has travelled to over 200 countries and has a collection of nearly 100 similar shots - but incredibly says he stumbled on the idea by accident.

British-born Michael, 56, who emigrated to Berlin, Germany with wife Marion, 52, and daughter Lea, 14, in 1983, said: 'I was on the tourist platform at the Lorelei cliffs next to the river Rhine when I held up a postcard I bought for my daughter.

'I was amazed because it just seemed to fill a massive grey hole that was in the sky and it was the exact position the photographer had taken the picture from.

'After that I noticed coffee cups from a shop near the Statue of Liberty had the statue printed on so I poured my drink on the floor, and position it in front of the statue.

'Since then taking the pictures has developed into a hobby and a passion to the point where I have been taking trips recently just to photograph a souvenir next to its landmark.'

Michael, who travels extensively with his job, said the hobby has progressed into a 'sport with its own rules'.

He arrives at the destination, visits the nearest souvenir and buys the cheapest souvenir.

Michael then takes up to 50 photographs with a wide angle lens on a digital camera until he has the ornament positioned in exact proportion to the landmark.
Enlarge Michael Hughes

He has photographed the Egyptian pyramids and Sphinx, London's red buses and the Berlin Brandenburg - all combined with their souvenirs.

The pictures have earned Michael more than 5 million hits on file-sharing website Flickr and an invite to appear on America's prime-time The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Michael, who works as a freelance photographer in Germany, added: 'I used to be a souvenir snob and I'd only buy the most expensive ornaments.

'Now I've turned that on its head by using cheap ones and doing this childish idea of putting them in the picture.

'Several photographers had toyed with the idea and some people do things like putting fingers above buildings but I'm the only person to do this.

'Thankfully it's actually very difficult to do it properly so nobody can copy me, though they do try.'

Michael has released 20 of the best images in a book called Souvenirs published by graphic designers Fivefootsix based in London.

He said: 'Souvenirs are actually something to prove somebody has had a life and they have been somewhere important.

'They are part of something sentimental that most people didn't like to admit to - I think they're pretty damn weird.'

The latest bizarre fashion accessory... 'tear' jewellery which hangs from your eyeball

First it was tattoos, then it was body piercing, but the latest fashion craze looks so painful it's literally eye-watering.

In the frenzy to come up with something different one designer has created a line of jewellery which is intended to be worn on the eyes.

The bizarre range features a number of adornments which hang on wire from contact lenses.

Users attach a range of accessories, such as crystals and flowers, to the new prescription or dummy lenses and wear them throughout the day.

The jewellery, which measures up to 14mmx33mm, is attached to the contact using medical wire and hangs below the eye.

The crystal accessories glimmer in sunlight and look as if the wearer is crying.

Dutch designer Eric Klarenbeek, 29, said: 'People who have worn my eye jewellery are amazed at its comfort.

'You can't feel the wire dangling, it doesn't affect your sight and the lens moves along gently with your eyeball, even while blinking.

'It started out as an experiment but I decided to put it into production when I got positive feedback from wearers.

'I have made small changes to the components and balance of the jewellery as I strive for perfection.'

He added: 'We are working on the certificates which you need to sell it as a product and expect that to be finished in a few months.'

The designer added: 'They have been warmly welcomed around the world and the craze is underway.

'They are perfectly safe.

'If someone tugs on the wire while you are wearing it the lens will just fall out - or at the very worst the wire might break.'

A lens and jewellery attachment will be priced around £200 in the designer's online store

Top 9 Causes of Preventable Death

Here's a list to the top 9 causes of preventable death. Causes that can be eliminated if you get rid or at least minimize this list.

1. Tobacco Use (Smoking)
Tobacco use (smoking) resulted in 435,000 deaths or 18.1% of the total deaths.
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2. Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity
Poor diet and physical inactivity lead to 365,000 deaths or 15.2% of the total deaths.

3. Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol consumption resulted in 85,000 deaths or 3.5% of the total deaths.

4. Microbial Agents
Microbial agents resulted in 75,000 deaths or 3.1% of the total deaths.

5. Toxic Agents
Toxic agents resulted in 55,000 deaths or 2.3% of the total deaths.

6. Motor Vehicle Crashes
Motor vehicle crashes resulted in 43,000 deaths or 1.8% of the total deaths.

7. Incidents Involving Firearms
Incidents involving firearms resulted in 29,000 deaths or 1.2% of the total.

8. Sexual behaviors
Sexual behaviors resulted in 20,000 deaths or 0.8% of the total.

9. Illicit Use of Drugs
Illicit use of drugs resulted in 17,000 deaths or 0.7% of the total deaths.

Builder completes Titanic matchstick model - 15 years after he started it

Dedicated Tim Elkins has finally finished building a scale model of the Titanic made out of 147,000 matchsticks - 15 years after he started.

Builder Tim, 42, has slaved away for 3,500 hours erecting the 1:115 scale of the famous liner at his home in Worthing, West Sussex.

Tim, who spent £100 buying the matches, said: 'It is the first and only model I've built and I'm chuffed it is finished. It has come together better than I ever thought it would.

'The secret is to have a very steady hand and a good pair of tweezers.'

He added: 'I'm not going to start building another one yet because I think my wife Debbie might divorce me.'

The model has been snapped up by Ripley's Believe It Or Not for £8,500 pounds, who will display it at a new museum in Piccadilly Circus, London.

Tim added: 'I'll be pretty gutted when it goes but I'm really pleased with where it's going because everyone's going to see it.'

The model is eight-foot by 39-inches and has 1,600 portholes and Tim even used lettering 5mm tall on the name plate by cutting matchsticks into sixteenths.

Tim was inspired to start the sculpture of the Titanic after seeing a matchstick model of a gypsy caravan at his parent's home.

The great heave forward... Chinese passengers are forced to get out and push their broken passenger plane

Anyone who has ever used budget airlines know only too well how uncomfortable it can be: long queues, cramped seats and every tiny extra costs you.

But at least they are never told to get out and help push their plane.

That is exactly what happened to a group of passengers in China were after their jet broke down just after landing.

The CRJ7 plane, which had just flown some 500 miles from Guilin in the south of the country with 69 passengers and seven crew members on board, conked out before it could taxi to the arrivals terminal at Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province.

At first, airport staff were the only ones required to help push, but they could not budge the plane.

Even with the combined muscle power of staff and passengers, it took the group nearly two hours to push the plane about 1,000 yards to a side lane.

'Thank God it was only a 20-ton medium-sized airplane,' said one of the airport workers. 'If it were a big plane, it would have knocked us out.'

The jet was still parked in the side lane today waiting for technicians arriving on the next flight to fix the problem.

Do not try this at home! From a wing-walking granny to the washing machine Houdini, the world's craziest stunts

There are plenty of crazy ways to risk your life - driving a motorbike at top speed into a parked van, lying pink-faced while a truck drives over your stomach, and allowing yourself to be trapped and handcuffed in a spinning washing machine - but while most people wouldn't entertain such foolishness, stuntmen are queueing up to sample them all.

These jaw-dropping pictures were taken by American photo-journalist Jeffrey R. Werner and are featured in his new book, Incredible Stunts.

They are the results of a 30-year career spent travelling across 60 countries.

'I try to stay out of harm's way as much as possible, but once in a while things go a bit awry,' he says.

'Like when a stunt man was rocketed into the air, got the angle wrong and crashed into my head - that was quite a bloody mess.'

A word of warning: don't, whatever you do, try any of these at home.

Forget bikes, or cars or lorries. When stuntman Doug Danger dices with death, he goes large - the 160ft wingspan of a passenger jet, to be precise. And he makes it look easy, reaching the pre-calculated speed of 73mph before launching himself off a 120ft narrow ramp, straight up and over the parked plane

For escape artist Rick Meisel to get clean away he must negotiate his way out of six pairs of handcuffs and two leg irons, while trying not to drown in a soap-filled, spinning, washing machine. And he takes his 'art' very seriously. He has had himself surgically altered in order to fit better into the machine

Despite the shattering impact - the equivalent of hitting a brick wall at 120mph - both crash drivers walked away uninjured before a crowd of 55,000 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. They owe their lives to incredibly strong strapping, special crash protectors, and a good dose of luck

Dennis Pinto from North Carolina knew that powering a motorbike at 60mph into the side of a parked van would send him pleasingly airborne. But he wanted a bit more excitement than that. So he popped on a flame-retardant outfit and set himself on fire. Amazingly, he landed on a pile of cardboard boxes, unhurt

Granny Mary Ella McLivain, 52, wears just a sun dress instead of protective harnesses as she strides across the wing of a biplane, 1,000ft in the air above Vancouver. Why? She was a secretary, but was tired of being deskbound

John Richmond claims to have shot his brother Ken more than 100 times: in the chest, face and on top of his head. Here, he has another pop at him - from 25ft, aiming not for Ken, but for the watermelon on his head and knowing that a quarter of an inch off target will mean death. Happily, both live to see another day

A truck alone wasn't enough to guarantee Strongman Tom Owen a proper work-out. So he insisted it was loaded with 20 children, before he allowed it to park on his stomach. The result? A thumbs up for the crowd minutes after, then a trip to hospital with a couple of broken ribs and internal bleeding

As world records go, being dragged along a pavement at 236mph by a 14,000-horsepower jet-car for a quarter of a mile isn't one most of us are likely to challenge. But stuntmen Reno Jaton was delighted with his achievement, despite being a little singed by flames by the end of his ordeal

It's not the usual school run - flying 109ft, over 15 motorcycles and through a giant fireball before crashing to earth. But driver Steve Hudis was delighted to break a world record in his yellow bus at this stunt filmed in Las Vegas. Oh yes, and there were no children on board

A-stone-ishing: The artist who balances heavy rocks on top of each other

You probably wouldn't want to challenge Bill Dan to a game of Jenga if your life depended on it, as he claims to be a master of balancing things.

The performance artists insists his skill is genuine but some people believe his work could be fake.

Dan has been wowing the crowds in San Francisco Bay since 1994 with his stunning sculptures of different-sized rocks resting on top of each other.





He has since picked up a legion of fans on the internet - his work on YouTube has clocked plenty of hits - and has been asked to create sculptures for galleries and private events.

In fact his gravity-defying work is so amazing that people sometimes refuse to believe he doesn't use glue or some other trickery.

'I had so many negative e-mails from curious sceptics saying that it is computerised art that I got tired of explaining over and over again,' Dan said.

'Please no more questions about glue!'

The artist, who is in his mid-50s, claims he can also balance shoes, glassware and cans.

Explaining how he does it, Dan said: 'I don't picture what the sculpture looks like beforehand, it just forms as I work. It is not difficult to stack two or three rocks upwards.

'Don't worry if you start with large contact points, you can get smaller and smaller as you build your skills.'

Dan said he enjoyed the art because it was 'uniquely beautiful'.

'Based on curiosity alone I could create a piece of beautiful art, unlike any other.'

Andrew Burton, one of Britain's most respected sculptors, said: 'I would just say that this is possible – after all, he would be found out pretty quickly if it were not.'

The lobster who's feeling a little blue...

Pulled from the ocean to be served in a posh restaurant, this lobster could be forgiven for feeling a little blue.

But his unusual colour has proved a lifesaver for the unusual 5lb crustacean as he has been deemed too interesting to eat.

Saved from the the boiling pot, Blue - as he has naturally been christened - was caught off the coast of the Isle of Man by three stunned lobsters potters.

Scientists say just one lobster in two million is blue - the result of a genetic defect that causes them to produce an excessive amount of protein.

He was caught by John Williams, Bev Cregeen and Wayne Pearson who were pulling lobster pots on to their boat, Whisky Galore, when they spotted Blue sitting forlornly in one of the pots.

Miss Cregreen said: 'He was a different colour from the rest of them, but it was only when we looked it up on the internet we realised how rare blue lobsters are.
lobster

Saved from the pot: This blue lobster is blue because of a genetic mutation

'We don't know what to do with him. It would be nice to put him somewhere for people to see. He's too good to be eaten.'

And because of his different colour, Blue, cannot be released back into the wild as his colour makes him a target for other lobsters.

Until a suitable home can be found Blue is being kept in a stock box where he is safe from the snapping pincers of other jealous lobsters.

A research study conducted by Professor Ronald Christensen, at the University of Connecticut, USA, found that escessive levels of a protein combines with a red caratenoid molecule known as astaxanthin, forming a blue complex known as crustacyanin. It is this that makes the lobster blue.

In 2006 lobsterman David Percy caught a yellow lobster near Whaleback Island in the US at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The odds of finding a yellow lobster are approximately 1 in 30 million.

It is estimated that only about one in 100 million lobsters are albino - lacking in colored pigments. They are known as 'white' or 'crystal' lobsters.

Paws for thought: Pet dog fitted with £10,000 bionic leg

A beloved pet bulldog has been fitted with a £10,000 bionic leg, which will help advance prosthetic techniques used to help bombing victims.

Coal, an eight-and-a-half year old hound had his left paw amputated because of cancer last year. He faced being put down because his other legs would be too weak to carry him.

But his determined owner Reg Walker, shelled out thousands of pounds to fit him with a sophisticated bionic leg, which was designed to be compatible with Coal's own tissue.

The titanium alloy used mimics animal hide, allowing the skin and the bone from above to seal the metal implant below without it being rejected by the body.

It is only the second time such an operation had been performed on an animal, using a technique performed on a survivor of the London 7/7 bombings.

Vet Noel Fitzpatrick told the Enfield Independent: 'This is unique in that its the world's only implant into which skin and bone grow. It is the holy grail of research.

'If you have an accident and your bone sticks out through your shin, skin will try to grow round it. People have been trying for this for years and years -because with this we get an umbrella of skin attached to the metal.'

Mr Walker, who is a music industry security guard was thrilled with the results.

He said: 'When I found out about Coal I was gutted. He goes everywhere with me - he goes on tour, he's the only dog to have allowed into Live 8 and the only dog that has ever been backstage at the Royal Albert Hall.

'Now he has an absolutely normal quality of life, which he wouldn't have had before.'

Pictured: The explosive power of the world's most active volcano

A fiery spurt of lava explodes into the air as it reaches the salty waters of the Pacific Ocean from the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii.

It is just one of the awe-inspiring images taken by photographer Brad Lewis, also simply known as the 'Volcano Man'. In another he snapped the pulsing Pu'u O'o lava lake, which captured the sense of incredible heat inside the furnace.

The 50-year-old has put himself into many death defying situations to capture the natural beauty of one of nature's powerful phenomena.

And while the thought of getting up close to 2200 degrees (F) lava is enough to scare most people off the job, this photographer wouldn't have it any other way.

'I get as close as I can without catching on fire or burning my skin,' explains the 50-year-old. 'If I stay upwind, I can get pretty close usually.'

The island of Hawaii is located over a 'hotspot' located in the middle of the massive Pacific tectonic plate. It is made up of five volcanoes. The youngest and most active in the world is Kilauea.

Several hundred thousand cubic meters of lava gush from its vents and tubes almost every day.

The American photographer does most of his work at dawn and dusk because he believes these times provide the best light.

'All the movement and texture can come together. I always study the situation before I shoot it so I can pre-visualise what I most want, and be in position to get it when the time is right,' he said.

His vivid and detailed work has been of great assistance to the Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, to whom he has donated his images for the past 20 years.

Despite the obvious risks of his job, Mr Lewis insists he always plays it safe.

'My biggest concern is personal safety. I use a special respirator to protect my lungs from the poisonous fumes I am often exposed to,' he said.

'I wear protective clothing, but not the silver heat-resistant suits that some volcanologists wear, because I want to know what kind of heat conditions I am in at all times.'

'But even the best equipment has a short life-span on the volcano as caustic fumes fry the electronics of camera gear.'

Brad has lived with his wife Annabelle, 50, and daughter Heather, 13, on the Big Island of Hawaii for the past 26 years.

'Anytime I am on the volcano, there is more danger than if I stayed at home. But I never feel that I am taking chances or gambling my safety,' he said.

'If my little voice inside tells me that I am in danger, I leave. It's as simple as that.

'It is great fun being a volcano photographer, but more fun being a father and husband. I am not going to risk that.'

What happened when the world's smallest man met the woman with the longest legs

One is the smallest man in the world, the other is the woman with the longest legs and the instructions from the former to the latter when they met this morning: 'Don't look up.'

At just 29.37in tall, He Ping Ping's little head barely reaches Svetlana Pankrtova's knees.

But then, her legs do go on a fair way - measuring 51.96in long.
At 6ft 7in from head to toe, Pankratova is well short of being the tallest living woman. That honour goes to Yao Defen, who stands 7ft 9in.

But the Russian's relatively short body means that those pins are the longest ever recorded for a woman.

An impression she seemed keen to emphasise this morning by wearing what appeared to be the world's shortest skirt.

Not that He Ping Ping seemed to mind, happily posing underneath Pankratova's legs - and he even had a sneaky look up.

The 20-year-old had jetted in from his home in northern China to help launch the latest edition of the Guinness World Records Book in Trafalgar Square, Central London.
Craig Glenday, the book's editor, recently told the Daily Record newspaper how much he enjoyed his work.

He said: 'It's a great job, and there's so much travel involved. Earlier this year I did my own world record for travel, which was 44 hours non-stop.

'I was in Inner Mongolia meeting He Ping Ping, the world's shortest man (74.61cm) who actually lives quite near Bao Xi Shun, the world's tallest man (2m, 36.1cm).

'I was on my way, via Paris, to Chile for a flight to Antarctica with the band Fall Out Boy, who were trying to set a record for the shortest time it would take to play on every continent in the world.

'Unfortunately the weather was so bad that we couldn't make it in the end.'

The Guinness World Record Book is out tomorrow.

US army unveil latest weapon - the robodog of war

The US army is poised to unleash the dogs of war – four-legged, petrol-powered robots to help its troops in battle.

Billed as ‘the most advanced quadruped robot on Earth’, BigDog has been devised to support American troops by carrying up to four packs of equipment on awkward terrain unsuitable for wheeled vehicles.

Standing at over 2ft tall and more than 3ft long, BigDog comes equipped with all manner of high-tech gadgets, including laser gyroscopes, a video camera sensor system and a sophisticated on-board computer – but, sadly, no wagging tail.

The 11 stone machine, created by Boston Dynamics, can trot along at up to 4mph – although researchers are hoping to create a much faster version capable of travelling at 22mph – and will even stay on its legs when it is kicked hard in the side.

Its legs are designed to work in a similar way to a real dog’s, even storing energy in shock absorbers when a foot touches the ground.

The machine looks like some of the robots in the Star Wars movies and has developed a cult following on the internet.

The £14million BigDog project is being tested across a five-mile trail used to train the US Marine Corps, carrying the soldiers’ equipment to prove that it can cope with holes, steep slopes and water hazards.

Project manager Robert Mandelbaum said: ‘Some of the wars we’re engaged in now happen to have that kind of terrain. The idea is to look at the way nature has solved different robotics problems.’

Boston Dynamics hopes that each BigDog will cost about the same as a small car. Ultimately, the firm also aims to use the technology for non-military purposes, such as carrying loads for farmers in areas that are difficult to reach.

Next 9/11 will be in Britain, warn banned Muslim extremists at meeting with exiled cleric

The next 9/11 will take place in Britain, members of a banned Muslim extremist group warned on the anniversary of the terror attacks.

The claim was made at a hate-filled meeting addressed via video link by exiled cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Leaders of the Al Muhajiroun sect said Osama bin Laden had taught the Americans a ‘lesson’ seven years ago, but the ‘crusaders’ had not learned and the next ‘9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 [London bombings] could take place locally’.

Radical preacher Bakri told a 100-strong audience of supporters in Walthamstow, east London, last night that he believed the British government was trying to assassinate him and claimed to have foiled a bomb plot.

Technical difficulties meant much of his speech was inaudible, but his appearance was greeted by cheers of ‘faith’ and ‘god is great’ at the community centre.

Bakri’s right-hand man, Anjem Choudary, led the proceedings in person, under the auspices of a group called Association for Islamic Research.

The most incendiary speech was delivered by Saiful Islam, who lauded Bin Laden and al Qaeda for their ‘courage’ in retaliating against the ‘dictatorship and oppression’ of the West.
He said: ‘The blame of 9/11 belongs to no one but the American government. They are the terrorists.

'Sheikh Osama warned America numerous times, it was because of their own arrogance, because they thought they are a superpower and nobody could match them, that Sheikh Osama taught them a lesson - a lesson they still haven’t learned.’
Mr Islam, who is linked to an organisation called Salafi Youth for Islamic Propagation, warned that unless British and American troops were withdrawn from ‘Muslim lands’ they would be to blame for the consequences, saying the West would ‘never achieve security until our own [Muslim] lands achieve security’.

‘Wake up. Withdraw. Listen to the warnings. Muslims will stand side to side, not just al Qaeda. The actions of the British and Americans have given prominence to al Qaeda.

'All of us have a part to play in stopping the violence or the next 9/11 will take place in Britain, the next 7/7 could take place locally,’ he added.

Mr Choudary was the last speaker and was more guarded in his address to the young Muslim men that made up most of the audience.


But he criticised the Government for persecuting ‘innocent Muslims’, naming Bakri, Abu Hamza, Abu Qatada and Omar Brooks along with the defendants in the airliner bomb plot trial.

He said: ‘They [the Government] say they are civilised. But they don’t act very civilised. They jailed Sheikh Abu Qatada in Belmarsh prison. Is that the way you treat your guests?’

Mr Choudary then referred to Bakri’s notorious aim of flying the ‘flag of Sharia’ over Downing Street, claiming that this would happen by 2020 as 500 people a day were converting to Islam and laughing that Muslim families in places like Whitechapel and Bethnal Green in east London were having ‘10 or 12 children each’.

He ranted against mainstream bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain, who condemned 9/11 and 7/7, accusing them of ‘selling their souls to the devil’.

Pictured: The spectacular icebergs captured on camera before they disappear forever

From deep blue to crystal green these giant icebergs are some nature's most awe-inspiring spectacles.

Floating just metres from the shore, they are the natural backdrop off the Canadian coast in Newfoundland.

They can measure as high as a twenty-storey building and have the potential to weigh in excess of 10 million tonnes.

Amazingly, some of the magnificent blocks are over 15,000 years old.

But as the polar ice caps continue to melt, there are fears that these extraordinary sights may vanish forever.

Travel photographer Rolf Hicker has spent the last 15 years capturing the natural phenomenon.

'Icebergs have always fascinated me, they are all different,' explained the 42-year-old from Germany.

'I love Newfoundland and Labrador because it is the best places to watch icebergs.

'Each year there are hundreds of icebergs in the vicinity and their shape, size and movement so close to the shore make them the perfect subject to photograph.'

Rolf first visited Newfoundland in 1995 returning almost every year during the spring and early summer months to document iceberg movements.

The majority of the icebergs in the North Atlantic come from about 100 iceberg producing glaciers along the Greenland coast while a few originate in the eastern Canadian Arctic Islands.

The glaciers of western Greenland, where 90 per cent of Newfoundland's icebergs originate, are amongst the fastest moving in the world, with speeds up to 7 km per year.

Approximately 40,000 medium to large sized icebergs calve (break off) annually in Greenland, and are carried south in the cold Labrador current.

With their interior temperature ranging between minus 15 degrees to minus 20 degrees celsius the icebergs can range from very large (greater than 10 million tonnes and hundreds of metres long) to large, medium and small bergs and on to 'bergy bits' then 'growlers', which are grand piano-sized pieces.

The icebergs are mostly brilliant white because the ice is full of tiny air bubbles that reflect white light giving the iceberg an overall white appearance.

Ice that is bubble-free has a blue tint which is due to the same light phenomenon that tints the sky.

And their different shapes are categorised in order to understand their melting behaviour and mass.

From huge flat-topped tabular and blocky bergs (which can weigh in excess of several million tonnes) to smaller domed, drylocked (U-shaped) and pinnacled (triangular tipped) bergs, they come in all different shapes and sizes.

The largest Northern Hemisphere iceberg on record was encountered near Baffin Island in 1882 which was 13 km long, 6 km wide and had a freeboard (height above water) of about 20 m.

The mass of that iceberg was in excess of 9 billion tonnes - enough water for everyone in the world to drink a litre a day for over 4 years.

For Rolf however it is the bergs beauty that first attracted him to the area.

Aside from his spectacular iceberg images Rolf's collection of travel photographs include an array of animals, especially Orcas, wildlife, travel photography and the northern lights.

His work has brought him several awards, including the Best Nature Film at the international Film festival in Dresden and the Gold Medal for Best scenic calendar by CMA.

Whether it is wildlife or real life, Rolf employs a stringent routine of preparation before each shoot.

'There is a lot of planning that goes into each photograph - too much,' he says.

'We have to plan every location, not necessarily every photo.

'We pick the main shots and give them priority for light, the rest gets 'standard light', you only really can get two outstanding shots a day, or better to scenes a day, different angles, different light.'

Rolf dedication to finding the perfect shot has spanned over 26 years.

'I became a professional photographer at just sixteen,' says Rolf.

'I was doing live travel shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for almost 20 years.

'This has brought me a lot of experience - the more we specialise the more experience we get.

'We get to know locations better, we learn more about the behaviour of animals - all that are factors for successful specialised photography.'

Earlier this month satellite pictures, produced by Nasa, displayed how the North Pole had become an island for the first time in human history.

The startling images showed that melting ice has opened up the fabled North-West and North-East Passages - making it possible to sail around the Arctic ice cap.

The opening of the passages has been eagerly awaited by shipping companies which hope they will be able to cut thousands of miles off their routes.

But for climate change scientists it is yet another sign of the damage global warming is inflicting on the planet.

Indeed even Rolf himself has noticed some distinct changes in the movements of icebergs in Newfoundland.

'I remember for years in Newfoundland where we hardly saw any icebergs,' recalls Rolf.

'But in 2007, there was a record number of icebergs with four or five times more icebergs then they ever seen in one season.

'For me this is a clear sign that something very bad is happening in the arctic.

'Everywhere across the world there are longer periods of dryness, followed by super extreme rain. temperatures in summer are higher, but winters are colder.

'It almost seems like there are no four seasons anymore. Everything is way more extreme then usual.'