“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)

Habimana, 45, and her children walk to market to sell pottery on Idjwi island in the Democratic Republic of Congo, November 23, 2016. (Photo by Therese Di Campo/Reuters)

Cave Diver, Anhumas Abyss, Bonito, Brazil: The Anhumas Abyss is an underground cavern with a crystal-clear lake below, more than 260 feet (79 m) deep. A visitor must enter through a narrow opening at the top of the chamber and rappel into the cave. Snorkeling and scuba diving in the lake reveal amazing scenery. Distinctive, conical limestone stalagmites and stalactites occupy the lake and the surrounding area, some reaching 65 feet (20 m) high. (Photo by Marcio Cabral/Nature’s Best Photography Awards 2017)

Starlings are seen at their nesting box in a private garden in the town of Bobruisk, Belarus, April 8, 2018. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

People stand in front of an murals at Lodhi Art District in New Delhi on March 24, 2019. Visitors throng Lodhi colony which has murals by dozens of Indian and international artists. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

The music group, Boyfriend, performs at the Gentilly Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Thursday, April 25, 2019. (Photo by Doug Parker/AP Photo}

Seth Moniz and Kelly Slater, of the United States, embrace after Slater won the Billabong Pro Pipeline contest just short of his 50th birthday in Haleiwa, Hawaii, US on February 5, 2022. (Photo by Brent Bielmann/World Surf League via AP Photo)

Egrets stand on a field as an Egyptian farmer plants rice seedling in Egypt's fertile Delta in Tanta, Algharbeya governorate, 100 km from Cairo, Egypt, 22 June 2022. Egyptian Government reduced the planting of some crops that need a massive amount of irrigation water, while the government said it will reduce the rice agriculture area in Egypt, amid fear the Renaissance Dam project in Ethiopia could affect the amount of River Nile water reaching Egypt. (Photo by Khaled Elfiqi/EPA/EFE)