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)

Afghan children play soccer in front of the war-damaged Darul Aman Palace in the suburbs of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. (Photo by Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP Photo)

People take pictures of the sunset in Berlin October 27, 2014. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

Myanmar national award second-place winner: Kyaw Win Hlaing. “Mount Bromo is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. The name Bromo derives from the Javanese pronunciation of Brahma, the Hindu creator god”. (Photo by Kyaw Win Hlaing/Sony World Photography Awards 2018)

A Typhoon jet flown by Flt Lt Jim Peterson practising over RAF Coningsby in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England on September 27, 2019 producing a rainbow effect over the plane. The rainbow is made of crystalized or frozen water vapor that reflect and refract sunlight, causing the rainbow effect. (Photo by Claire Hartley/Bav Media)

Revellers take part in the Els Enfarinats festival, in the town of Ibi near Alicante, Spain, Saturday December 28, 2019. For about 200-years the inhabitants of Ibi annually celebrate with a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers, outside the city town hall. (Photo by Alberto Saiz/AP Photo)

Natural world and wildlife shortlist. Lop Buri in Thailand is home to hundreds of macaques, which local residents consider to be disciples of the Hindu god Hanuman. While some people love them, others fear or even hate them. Despite the inconvenience they often cause, the macaques are generally respected and considered sacred. (Photo by Joan de la Malla/Sony World Photography Awards)

The Predator’s Fins: Atho Ullah, Indonesia. 3rd place, Portfolio category. A freshly caught shark is taken ashore. Efforts to regulate shark fishing in Indonesia are not effective enough. Lack of awareness of the role sharks play in the ocean’s ecosystem poses a major threat to marine life. (Photo by Atho Ullah/2020 Hamdan International Photography Award)