PHOTOS OF THE DAY: The News in Color

Last night I scanned a number of my favorite photo websites to see which news pictures showed up most often. Below are of some of the images that received the seal of approval of photo editors the world over. I was particularly interested in how color was used to tell stories.

 1. Green Day

Among the visual wonders of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games on November 12, these dancers wearing illuminated hats were a favorite of almost every photo blog this week. And with good reason. This was my favorite shot. Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty Images.

2.  White Night

Another favorite of photo editors around the world was this shot of a farmer walking through his cornfield,  covered in volcanic ash from Mount Merapi's eruption in Muntilan, central Java, Indonesia, on November 8. Look closely—it's a color picture. Photo credited to AP.  

3.  The Red and the Black, Part I

Photographer Finbarr O'Reilly scored two big news photos this month. This one, which showed up on several weekly photo roundups on the web, shows an Afghan man being held by Marines from the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Bravo Company. The man was taken prisoner after a battle against Taliban in southern Afghanistan on November 7. Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters

4. Beige Rage

O'Reilly also made this photo of graffiti left behind by Taliban fighters on the walls of a compound now used as a U.S. Marine Corps command center in Musa Qala, Afghanistan. Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters

5.  White Line Fever

It's not a still from the final sequence of  2001: A Space Odyssey. This glowing line is an unusually slender galaxy, named NGC 4452, seen edge-on by the Hubble Space Telescope, which may be the greatest photographic instrument ever invented. Image credited to ESA/NASA

 6. The Red and the Black, Part II

Antonio Margarito (left) and Manny Pacquiao literally go head to head in their title fight on Saturday. Pacquiao won in a decision. This photo wins my decision as a favorite of the fight.

7. Blue Heat

A spectator takes in the scene as a Shanghai high-rise apartment building burns. The photo turns the event, in which more tha 40 people died, into a eerie spectacle of smoke and shadow. Photo by Aly Song/Reuters. 

 8. Red, White, and Blue

Of all the images up on websites documenting this year's Veteran's Day ceremonies, I picked this one. Can you guess why? Air Force vet Bill Ross and Boy Scout Liam Gallagher raise one of 50 casket flags honoring local veterans  in Freeport, Maine. Photo by Robert F. Bukat/ AP