With their grand architecture, castles are some of the world's most scenic, postcard-worthy sights. But these already-majestic structures are elevated to "fairy tale" status when perched on mountaintops or cliff edges. Although these castles set on precarious sites offer spectacular views, their locations were crucial for castle builders for another reason. "Castles were planted in the best place to control road and river routes," Marc Morris, a historian and presenter of the UK television series Castle, told weather.com. "Sometimes this...

Winners of the 2014 National Geographic Photo Conest have been announced. More than 9,000 entries were submitted from 150 countries. The grand prize, which went to Ben Yen for his photo depicting a commuter consumed by her smartphone, was $10,000 and a trip to the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual National Geographic Photography Seminar in January 2015. (MORE:) Other winning images showcase the beauty, diversity and unpredictability of the world—from waves crashing into a...

Photographer Jeffrey Milstein has been fascinated by planes since childhood. His earliest aerial photographs were taken flying a rented Cessna 150 around Los Angeles as a teenager. "I was fascinated by how everything looked from above," Milstein said. Fifty years later, Milstein took to the air again to photograph Los Angeles and New York City, inspired by his years working as an architect. The 71-year-old used high resolution camera equipment to snap images out of the open door of a...