More (Really) Stunning Desktop Wallpapers

Desktop wallpapers are always nice to look at and to draw inspiration from. They may provide with some fresh perspective and offer you some eye-candy for tedious coffee breaks. We are regularly hunting for free high-quality icons, fonts and wallpapers and present them to you, so you don’t need to search for them. As long as we find something beautiful, interesting or useful, we let you know in our posts. And now it’s time for some sweet wallpapers designer’s toolbox.

Smashing Texture Contest Results

Last week was really full of hard work for us. The response to Smashing Texture Contest was impressive and overwhelming. We have received over 740 e-mails from over 600 participants, resulting in far more than 2000 photos. The result, however, is not just literally zillion of textures, but truly brilliant textures you can use in your private and professional projects for free. Thanks to all participants — without Smashing readers this texture gallery wouldn’t be possible.

Texture Gallery: Wood, Bark

These photos have been created by Smashing Magazine readers in our Smashing Texture Contest. What can you do with them? You can use all textures for both private and commercial projects for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to offer these files for download; please respect the interests of over 300 participants of our contest. Please also consider the license information attached to the .zip-archives you download from our server. When it comes to usage of textures, different photographers may have different opinions and intentions.

Actual Beach Volleyball Pictures

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that most beach volleyball pictures focus around a certain subject. Well, here are the actual beach volleyball pictures that will get you pumped for heading to the beach this summer.


Mance

Texture Gallery: Miscellaneous

These photos have been created by Smashing Magazine readeres in our Smashing Texture Contest. What can you do with them? You can use all textures for both private and commercial projects for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to offer these files for download; please respect the interestes of over 300 participants of our contest. Please also consider the license information attached to the .zip-archives you download from our server. When it comes to usage of textures, different photographers may have different opinions and intentions.

Gentle Giraffe Pictures

Giraffes, the tallest of all land-living animal species, are one of those animals that everyone seems to love. With their long necks, legs, and tongue, they are fun to watch moving around towering over everyone. I recently went to a wildlife park where you could feed the giraffes lettuce. It was the most popular attraction there and watching people squirm as 3 giraffes reach for the yummy veggies with their long slobbery tongues was very funny. What amazed me the most was how calm and gentle they were, which of course might differ slightly from those in the wild. Needless to say, they seemed very stress free, which may explain why they only need around 2 hours of sleep a day. They drink large quantities of water, which gives them the ability to withstand dry environments for long periods of time, and live between 20-25 years in the wild and 28 in captivity.

Four Doxn

Texture Gallery: Plastic

These photos have been created by Smashing Magazine readeres in our Smashing Texture Contest. What can you do with them? You can use all textures for both private and commercial projects for free, without any restrictions whatsoever. However, you are not allowed to offer these files for download; please respect the interestes of over 300 participants of our contest. Please also consider the license information attached to the .zip-archives you download from our server. When it comes to usage of textures, different photographers may have different opinions and intentions.


The inside of an old Adidas sandal.

Unique Examples of Magnifying Glass Photography

A photographer is always looking for ways to make photography more fun, create odd perspectives, and find new subjects to shoot. A magnifying glass is the perfect addition to creating those unique images that you may be looking for. Here are 10 examples of magnifying glass photography.

marcomagrini

Perfect Mountain Reflection Pictures

Reflection pictures are some of my favorite. I especially enjoy mountain reflections and how stunning some of them can turn out if the right conditions exist. Here are the perfect ones to inspire you to spend a bit of time outdoors and hopefully catch a few stunning images yourself.



stevewhis

10 Delicious Food Pictures by Mayan Soffia

Myan Soffie’s photography is so bright and soft, it’s not surprising that she lives in California. She has a great series on Los Angeles, but her food photography is worth its own cookbook. With such beautiful pictures, who needs recipes? To see more of Myan’s work, visit her.


Sweets from my sweet