Touching and dramatic portraits and landscape shots have won prizes at Australia's prestigious photography prize. Photo: Winner of the NSW (New South Wales) prize: Peter Solness said: “I wanted to re-imagine the lost waterways, so I got my light-painting tools to work. In this image, water is being released from the top of the historic Centennial Park No. 2 Reservoir, which was built in 1925 and holds 90 megalitres of water. After 89 years of incarceration these waters now run free!”. (Photo by Peter Solness/Head On)

Snakes wearing hats is now an internet meme and it’s kind of cute but also kind of terrifying. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think there’s anything more evil than a giant cartoon snake wearing a bowler hat – the hat just makes it even more sinister. As you can see below, some of these snakes look cool and cute, but some of them are pretty frightening. Either way the addition of a dumb hat definitely has an effect on them. I definitely won’t be getting a pet snake any time soon.

As you look at the set of pictures created by Tom Kondrat during his travels in Iceland, the first thing that comes to mind is the word “loneliness.” These pictures lead you to believe that Iceland is a desolate expanse of icy wasteland. You can almost imagine the strong wind howling in your ears, as it chills you straight to the bone. And as you’re walking down so beaten path, you’re all alone, with not a human soul for miles in any direction. This may prove unbearable for some, yet others find comfort in such places. With no one there to bother them and distract them from their thoughts, they can finally be at peace. (Photo by Tom Kondrat)

“After taking LSD. I lighting up a candle in the middle of the wood and during the 30 secondes of exposure, i make a meditation about the holism of nature surrounding me. Feeling the crystal vibration irradiating from the center of the Gaia mother earth. So in this picture i try to show you the magic, sacred metaphysical quality of the nature and new age bullshiting you”. – Benoit Paillé. (Photo by Benoit Paillé)

No. 10: Sphynx. A suede-like coat is the sphynx's most unmistakable feature, but he's also curious, smart and a clown who craves applause for his antics. In fact, he loves attention so much that you may want to consider getting him a fellow sphynx playmate. (Photo by Quentin Descotte)

The characters fighting for Westeros in Game of Thrones are fighting mostly for CGI backdrops. Like many others TV series and movies, visual effects is a huge part of the production process as it handles details both great and small. A great credit to Game of Thrones is that the story is so good that we forget about the effects, and another great credit goes to the VFX team because their work is seamless. If you want to see the seams, you have to get a visual breakdown of how the shots are put together.

Light painting photographer Trevor Williams, also known as TDUB303, is a present day light painting pioneer. He creates some of his light painting imagery alone and also works with the group Fiz-iks, which he founded. Trevor is from Canada, he has lived in Japan since 2002 which is where he creates the majority of his work. His light painting images are produced with special attention to location, Trevor says, ““If you want to take an epic picture you need to go to an epic location.”

Most probably, every person who has read the Harry Potter books imagined themselves as a wizard. Wouldn’t it be cool to perform all sorts of magic or to whizz around on a broom? Well, actually, if you think about it, whizzing around on a broom might not be such a good idea after all… Just think of all the bugs you’re going to come across! Such an encounter might prove fatal for the bugs. However, you will most likely lose all your desire to ride the Nimbus 2000, once a few dozen bugs will smash into your face! (Photo by Halno)