“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

A woman carries her child, both wearing traditional red clothes celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year in Bangkok February 19, 2015. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

The first red panda cub was born on May 30 in zoo Zlin. Zoologist Roman Vrzal holds a male of red panda. The Red panda is pictured in Zlin, Czech Republic, August 20, 2014. (Photo by Dalibor Gluck/CTK)

This lemur looks like he is channelling the spirit of Buddha – as he sits meditating. Sitting with his legs crossed, the lemur clasps his thumb and fore finger together with outstretched arms – just like the spiritual teacher. And amateur snapper Sebastien Degardin, 32, was on hand to capture the bizarre moment the animal searched for enlightenment on film. Sebastien, who moved from his native Belgium to Finchley, North London, said: “I was gobsmacked when I saw this lemur meditating”. (Photo by Sebastien Degardin/Caters News)

Hundreds of hardy swimmers across Britain braved jumping into freezing cold waters for a annual Christmas Day dip on December 25, 2017. (Photo by Dave Nelson/The Sun)

Street vendosr prepare grilled pigs to sell for the Chinese New Year celebrations at a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 11 February 2021. Chinese people around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which marks the year of the Ox. (Photo by Kith Serey/EPA/EFE)

Evangelia Platanioti of Greece competes in the Solo Technical Routine at the Glasgow 2018 European Synchronised Swimming Championships, Glasgow, Britain, 06 August 2018. (Photo by Neil Hall/EPA/EFE)

A man sleeps at Beirut's Corniche, a seaside promenade, in Lebanon May 2, 2016. (Photo by Alia Haju/Reuters)