"While it is tempting to document such a huge country from a helicopter or plane (in fact, it has been done several times) I wanted to get closer to the heart of the land. Two inches off the ground seemed about right.
High Water, British Columbia: taken at Roche Lake Provincial Park, near Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Picture: Jeff Friesen / Rex Features

London 2012

Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremonyPicture: Rob Carr/Getty Images

 Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium at the end of the closing ceremony

 The Spice Girls perform during the closing ceremony 
Picture: EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

 Lily Cole, Karen Elson, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell perform in the Olympic Stadium during the closing ceremony
Picture: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages

 Jamaica's triple gold medallist Usain Bolt and Britain's double gold medallist Mo Farah adopt each other's celebratory poses in the Olympic Stadium 
Picture: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/GettyImages

 Mo Farah poses with his two Olympic gold medals 
Picture: Martin Rickett/PA

 Tom Daley is thrown into the pool by the British diving team after he won the bronze medal in the men's 10m platform final at the Aquatics Centre
Picture: REUTERS/Michael Dalder 

 The Bulgarian team compete in their group all-around rhythmic gymnastics final at Wembley Arena 
Picture: REUTERS/Mike Blake

Daniel Smith drops to one knee and proposes to Australian athlete Beki Lee at Pall Mall, after she competed in the 20km walkPicture: Brett Costello/Newspix / Rex Features

Daredevils enjoy a drink on top of an abandoned radio tower in Moscow, Russia. Russian roof-topper Max Polazov, 22, took a series of vertigo-inducing shots with the help of his band of danger-addicted friends.Picture: Max Polazov / Barcroft Media

Gopher finds home near Soyuz rocket launch pad in Kazakhstan

Video of a gopher living under the rocket launch pad at Baikonur has become an internet sensation.

A video of a gopher living under the rocket launch pad at Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has become an internet sensation in the former Soviet Union.

The footage was shot by TSENKI Baikonur - a department of Russian official space agency responsible for Baikonur launches.

The YouTube clip, called "He lives at Baikonur cosmodrome", has been watched by more than 140,000 people to date.

A trio of Russian, Japanese and US astronauts blasted off from Baikonur aboard a Soyuz spaceship for a four-month mission on the International Space Station only last Sunday.

People at Times Square watch the phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge where twice a year the setting sun aligns with the streets of ManhattanPicture: Martin Roe / Barcroft Media

This image of the sun provided by NASA'a Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows gigantic sunspot AR 1520. One of the biggest sunspots in years, AR1520, is turning toward Earth. Forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 25% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.Picture: NASA/SOHOHO/AFP/GettyImages