A young Thai man jumps in the air and cheers as his rocket takes off at the Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival on May 10, 2015 in Yasothon, Thailand. During the Bun Bang Fai rocket festival, Thai residents launch enormous home-made rockets into the air to gain Buddhist merit and to celebrate the beginning of the rainy season. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/Getty Images)

Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

Close Encounter of the Insect Kind: “Check out the awesome face on this praying mantis. I can't get over the mouth, it's like something from a science fiction movie. Of all photographic styles macro is definitely my favorite. I am constantly amazed, in every photo that I take, by the intricate level of detail that exists on even the smallest of creatures. It's a stark reminder that a very complex and infinitely beautiful world exists just beyond our human-sized level of perception. Photo taken in Donnybrook, Queensland, Australia” – Andrew Young. (Photo by Andrew Young/National Geographic Photo Contest via The Atlantic)

Ornamental chicken breeding clubs have emerged in Indonesia, Thailand, North America and even European countries such as the UK and France. Malaysia is however the epicenter of this cultural phenomenon. These chickens are prized for their build, size, behavior and showmanship by their owners and competitions or beauty contests as they are often described are held almost every week in at least one village in Malaysia. Judges sit around a square table inspecting each chicken for a few minutes trying to determine a champion specimen in its own weight class based on its stance, temperament and physical assets like wings, tails and comb. The walk or strut by an ornamental chicken in a beauty contest, much like a runway model, constitutes a large part of the scoring system. (Photo by Ernest Goh/2013 Sony World Photography Awards)

Bob Steele, of Jefferson, Texas, positions his bears during The Great Bear Show at the Dubuque (Iowa) County Fair on July 25, 2012. (Photo by Jessica Reilly/Telegraph Herald)

Italian police officers carry away a FEMEN activist during a protest in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Friday, November 14, 2014. Members of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen staged a protest against the upcoming visit of Pope Francis at the European Parliament and Council. (Photo by AP Photo)

Ukrainian state emblem is seen on a gun's holster as soldiers guard naval base in the village of Novoozernoye, some 91 km west of Crimean capital Simferopol, Ukraine, on Monday, March 3, 2014. Ukraine says Russian forces controlling the strategic region of Crimea are demanding that the crew of two Ukrainian warships in Sevastopol's harbor must surrender. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)

Fearless daredevils clamber up the worlds highest man-made climbing wall – running up the face of a 540ft dam. The Diga di Luzzone in Switzerland is considered by climbers as the Everest of wall climbing. (Photo by Ilana Marcus/Caters News)