Is it painting or a photograph?

It's simply stunning. I love photography but I am not sure whether this is a painting or a photograph taken from a camera. Whatever it is, its simply amazing. I got this in an email from my very good colleague and friend Vinay Hegde. It's the usual email forward stuff but this is not any ordinary forward for me!!! I have no idea who created it or captured it and where was it taken from. I like both of them but the second is simply mindblowing.