Iberian lynx Mistral jumps in a field after being released by Portugal's Minister of Environment Joao Matos Fernandes (unseen) and others in the Mount Milhouro (Herdade da Cela) region in Mertola, Portugal, 13 May 2016. Mistralis the 18th lynx bred in captivity released since late 2014. (Photo by Nuno Veiga/EPA)

“In the late afternoon after a rain, genji botaru fireflies (luciola cruciate) dance above the swollen creek. The rocks darkened by the rain reflecting the blue sky, and the yellow-green ribbon of the glow from the fireflies, make a beautiful contrast”. – Takehito Miyatake. (Photo by Takehito Miyatake/Steven Kasher Gallery)

Rescue workers try to help a driver out of his car, after the vehicle was stuck over an alley in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, August 4, 2014. The car rolled off the edge of a road after the driver was late to brake, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Going nowhere in a hurry, this friendly Javan Tree frog can be seen casually hopping aboard the slow-paced snail who like a lonely highway trucker is only too happy to have the company. These cute critters chew the fat until froggy reaches his destination and alights at the top of the branch. Creative Designer and amateur photographer Kurit Afsheen (34) was able to capture this special sequence while out in his back garden in Ciledug, Indonesia. (Photo by Kurit Afsheen/Media Drum World)

We place too much value into something as elusive as time. This is the lesson that Arina Pozdnyak, the creator of Perpetual Calendar, is trying to teach us. Days fly by, and even months are mere speckles of sand in an hourglass of eternity. People do not realize that the time given to us by fate cannot be measured using months or even years. It is measured using emotions and impressions. If a person lives to be 150 years old without experiencing any emotions, he might as well have lived one day, for all it’s worth. On the other hand, a person who lived an exciting, fulfilling life, read countless books and cherished every moment that he had, is actually the one who lived a longer life, even if in reality his flame was snuffed out much too soon. (Photo by Arina Pozdnyak)

Todd Bretl specializes in underwater photography, and is able to capture striking photos of aquatic life big and small. His photos of sharks are particularly striking; though he rarely faces hostility from the animals, he tries not to spend too much time looking through his viewfinder and many shots are framed by educated guesses and impeccable timing. What follows are photographs taken over the past several years on trips to the Bahamas and Isla Guadalupe, an island off the coast of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. (Photo by Todd Bretl)

A) 1st place WINNER – Roy Rimmer. “This rat was in an outdoor set I made, the set up is two meters long and a meter wide made of Perspex,it has a plywood front with holes cut in for my camera and flash guns, I placed two rusty paint cans in the set up and the rat would leap from one can too the other, I had to use flash to freeze the action”.

People wearing bear furs perform during a festival of New Year ritual dances attended by hundreds in Comanesti, northern Romania, Wednesday, December 30 2015. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs, toured from house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil, in the present the tradition has moved to Romania's cities too, where dancers travel to perform the ritual for money. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)