A girl looks out of a car at a checkpoint set up by Venezuelan security forces in Taguanes, Venezuela, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters)
A reveller wearing a mask and a period costume takes part in the Venice Carnival on February 24, 2019 in Venice, Italy. The carnival in Venice takes place until March 5, 2019. (Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/AFP Photo)
Each year Nikon Small World recognizes the excellence of photography taken under the microscope. The contest showcases the beauty and complexity of life. Anyone interested in microscopy and photography can enter the contest and in its 42nd year, Nikon Small World received 2,000 entries from 70 countries. Here: 11th Place; Scales of a butterfly wing underside (Vanessa atalanta). (Photo by Francis Sneyers/Nikon's Small World 2016)
During the spring harvest season, a group of traditional Malaysian honey hunters travel to the rainforest near the Thai border to collect honeycombs from giant bees – and risk their lives climbing 200ft trees. Here: Bees are sensitive to light, which makes them follow the glowing embers down to the ground. (Photo by Hasnoor Hussain/The Guardian)
A young Hindu priest crawls under a cow as part of worship rituals during Tihar festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, October 30, 2016. Cows are considered sacred to Hindus and are worshipped during Tihar festival, one of the most important Hindu festivals dedicated to the Goddess of wealth Laxmi. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)
California-based photographer Seth Casteel made his name taking photographs of dogs underwater, but before that, he was snapping cats on land. In fact, they were his first animal subjects. Casteel’s new book, Pounce – a follow-up to his bestselling Underwater Dogs and Underwater Puppies – features more than 80 photographs of playful cats doing what they do best. Here: Fuzzbucket. (Photo by Seth Casteel/Hachette Australia)
Revelers celebrate during fireworks marking the start of the New Year on Copacabana beach on January 1, 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilian revelers traditionally dress in white to honor the New Year's holiday along with the Brazilian Goddess of the Sea- Iemanja. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Tiffany Noreuil at the Oregon Humane Society in Portland, Oregon, holds feline Hercules, a 20-pound stray whose girth got him stuck in a pet door while trying to plunder some dog food. (Photo by AP Photo)