Photographer Peter Alessandria captured hair-raising lightning and a spectacular rainbow as he braved a massive storm that wreaked havoc on the New York City metro area Tuesday night.
As the weather event unfolded, Alessandria set up across the Hudson River in New Jersey at Exchange Place located in Jersey City.
“One of the big challenges is just keeping my equipment dry and the lens clear,” Alessandria said about covering an event like this. On this particular shoot, lightning struck Freedom Tower not once but twice and the photographer’s gear was ready to go. While an impressive sight, that many lightning strikes is not quite as unusual as one might think.
“I’ve gotten as many as 11 hits in one night,” Alessandria said.
He rounded out the evening with the epic rainbow in the aftermath of the storm.
Horsemen fight for a headless calf carcass during a buzkashi match on the day of Nawroz, or Persian New Year, in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, on March 21, 2017.
Discovery (Professional)
Soldiers in China.
Current Affairs & News (Professional)
A Rohingya refugee boy desperate for aid cries as he climbs on a truck distributing aid for a local NGO near the Balukali refugee camp on Sept. 20, 2017, in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
Street Photography (Open)
The most graceful lady of her neighborhood in Hamburg, Germany -- always stylish, colorful, in good spirits, smiling, never complaining, even through everyday struggles. She is never seen without her best friend – her little dog.
Contemporary Issues (Professional)
Every Wednesday at Spurgeons Academy, a school in the middle of the indecipherable maze of Kibera's narrow streets and alleys, students take the chairs and benches out of a classroom and sweep the floor. The school uniforms are switched to bright-colored clothes. When teacher Mike Wamaya enters the classroom, the students get into position and place one hand on the concrete wall as though it were a ballet bar. Classical music plays out of a small portable speaker, and the class begins.
Natural World & Wildlife (Professional)
A young white rhino waits in a boma, blindfolded and partially drugged after a long journey from South Africa, before being released into the wild in Botswana as part of efforts to rebuild Botswana's lost rhino populations.
Natural World & Wildlife (Professional)
A very impressive starling murmuration.
Sport (Professional)
Zamira Myrabekova of Kazakstan keeps her eyes on the ball while being held underwater by Russian defense during the Women's Water Polo Group D preliminary round match between Russia and Kazahstan during the 2017 Budapest FINA World Championships on July 20, 2017, in Budapest, Hungary.
Travel (Open)
Aerial view of Glacial river in Iceland.
Natural World & Wildlife (Professional)
An image from "Horsestyle" series by Wiebke Haas.
Sport (Professional)
Child Disability Swimming Championships at the disability swimming pool in Tehran Province, Iran.
Creative (Professional)
Every day, before sunset, thousands of Palestinian workers spend between two and four hours clumped together to cross the so-called "CheckPoint 300," which divides Bethlehem and Jerusalem, in order to go working in Jerusalem and surrounding areas.
Portraiture (Professional)
Omid, who doesn't know his age, stands for a portrait with his homemade skis in Aub Bala's village mosque.
Discovery (Professional)
A thermal vacuum test area.
Portraiture (Open)
A portrait of a woman with freckles.
Sport (Professional)
The high-dive competition at the 17th FINA World Championship.
Natural World & Wildlife (Professional)
A 40-year-old orangutan named Azy at the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Contemporary Issues (Professional)
Ilona at home with her daughter, Michelle, 4, in Moscow. Ilona’s sweater was produced for her in a custom color by her friend Andrey Artyomov, whose Walk of Shame fashion line is popular among the wives of oligarchs.
Portraiture (Professional)
Rasidatou and Latifatou, 4, pose for a portrait on a street in the Koumassi district of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on July 25, 2017.
Landscape (Professional)
Taken on the outskirts of Hong Kong, this large residential area is supposed to resemble North American-type suburbs with individual homes and even yellow school buses. However, this large lake in the center of it all may have been designed a particular way, which can only truly be recognized from above.
Landscape (Professional)
An area in Kazakhstan.
Natural World & Wildlife (Professional)
"The Roar."
Current Affairs & News (Professional)
Female genital mutilation is the partial or complete removal of external female genitalia. A series called "Scars," which this photo belongs to, shares the personal stories of 12 Gambian women who survived the procedure as children.
Landscape (Professional)
A view of Torano’s "marble valley" in the Apuan Alps, one of Italy’s most marble-rich areas.
Culture (Open)
In China, students have their military training at the beginning of the school term.
Current Affairs & News (Professional)
An elderly woman is driven through the city on the back of one of Golden Division’s Humvees. The temperature is nearly 50 degrees Celcius, and she’s too weak to get away from the frontline on her own.
Portraiture (Professional)
"Veterans" is a series of portraits of people who took part in World War II.
Affluent Americans may want to double-check how much of their bank deposits are protected by government-backed insurance. The rules governing trust accounts just changed.
Former NBA guard Darius Morris has died at the age of 33. He played for five teams during his four NBA seasons. Morris played college basketball at Michigan.
Ohtani tagged Braves ace Max Fried for a two-run shot in the first inning, then hit a solo shot in the eighth as the Dodgers prevailed in a battle of NL favorites.
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