Horizontal lightning was captured in this picture taken over an hour in Ensenada, Mexico on October 28, 2021. (Photo by Edgar Lima/Animal News Agency)

Scared of Heights. “Taken from the highest residential building in Asia: the Zenith in Busan. This was taken with official permission (which took me months to get) and safety measures were taken. I had to hang myself over the edge to get this shot. Not for the faint of heart! But when you’re at a height like this, the world below you just seems different. It takes away the fear one would normally have, and gives a sense of peace instead”. (Photo by Albert Dros/NatGeo Cities Travel Photographer of the Year 2017)

“Touring the Koko-en Gardens adjacent to the Himeji castle was an unexpected highlight of our visit”, wrote Jeff Solar, 64, of Silver Spring, Md., about his trip to Japan. “The fall colors were outstanding and the gardens were both amazing and a bargain (just a few Yen added to the cost of the Himeji Castle admission)”. (Photo by Jeff Solar/2017 Washington Post Travel Photo Contest)

Soap Bubble Structures by Kym Cox. Bubbles optimise space and minimise their surface area for a given volume of air. This phenomenon makes them a useful tool in many areas of research, in particular, materials science and “packing” – how things fit together. Bubble walls drain under gravity, thin at the top, thick at the bottom, which interferes with travelling lightwaves to create bands of colour. Black spots show the wall is too thin for interference colours, indicating the bubble is about to burst. (Photo by Kym Cox/2019 Science Photographer of the Year/RPS)

Shortlisted. Dragonfly, North York Moors national park, by Jonathan Green: “In June I was at May Beck with some colleagues when someone spotted this Hawker perched in a gorse bush. I love the detail on the wings, and it’s rare to be able to get so much of such a small subject in clear focus. Getting a few scratches was worth it”. (Photo by Jonathan Green/2020 UK National Parks Photography Competition)

Young category winner. Great autumn morning by Fabian Dalpiaz. (Photo by Fabian Dalpiaz/2018 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

A tourist stands at an edge of the singing sand, the 150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

“Show us our butts! Mucawana tribe – Angola. In Soba village, the Muhacaona (Mucawana) tribe, perhaps the best place i have visited. They use cow dung and fat to make this so nice haircut, and love the beads. They asked me to make pictures of their backs... and butts to see on the camera screen if everything was perfect!”. (Photo and comments by Eric Lafforgue)