Second place, Nature: double trapping. Picture taken in the Brazilian Pantanal ... when I downloaded the CF did not want to believe it ... The nature knows we always give magnificent events but sometimes extraordinary. (Photo by Massimiliano Bencivenni/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Sharafkhaneh port and lake Urmia. Masoud Ghadiri (Iran). The summer Milky Way is very prominent in this photo. On the galaxy zone, Saturn is located besides the Lagoon nebula. On the right of the horizon, you can see the extreme light pollution of Urmia, which is caused by ever-increasing city development. (Photo by Masoud Ghadiri/National Maritime Museum)

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station experiences months of darkness. The sun dips below the horizon on March 21, after which follows several weeks of twilight before complete darkness results. Photo taken on June 25, 2009. (National Science Foundation/Jeremy Johnson)

A dog rests on a buffalo near Ravi River in Lahore, Pakistan, on Febuary 4, 2013. (Photo by Mohsin Raza/Reuters)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

A Thai mahout and his elephant, both dressed as Santa Claus pass in font of a large photograph of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej following a Christmas event at a school in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 December 2015. The annual event is held to celebrate the Christmas season in the overwhelmingly Buddhist kingdom. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

For his Behind a Little House Project Italian photographer Manuel Cosentino found an unsuspecting muse: a tiny nondescript house on an unexceptional hill. He returned to photograph the small building from the exact same location for nearly two years in order to capture the dramatic changes in weather and light that utterly changed the scenery just beyond the horizon

Speed Team’s Joan Font and co-driver Themis Lopez attempt to retrieve their vehicle after it was stuck in water during stage 9 of Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on January 10, 2023. (Photo by Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters)

A woman poses on the flooded St. Mark's square during an acqua-alta (high-water) alert in Venice, on November 19, 2013. (Photo by Andrea Pattaro/AFP Photo)

P.S. All pictures, as usual, are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).