“Mountain Goats, Colorado”. A herd of mountain goats huddle together on top of Mount Evans, Colorado during a lightning storm. This photo was selected out of more than 5,000 entries to go on display in “Wilderness Forever: 50 Years of Protecting America’s Wild Places”, a new photo exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, which will run through summer 2015. (Photo by Verdon Tomajko/Smithsonian Wilderness Forever Photo Contest)

Dublin student beat depression by befriending sharks, stingrays and pigs in the Bahamas. Awesome underwater pictures show the 23-year-old diver cosying up to a range of animals including turtles, stingray and sharks. The sunny selfies were taken in the Bahamas by Stuart’s Cove dive instructor and native of the island, Amelia Klonaris – who beat depression by embracing her incredible beach paradise lifestyle. (Photo by Amelia Klonaris/Mediadrumworld)

Pamukkale, Turkey, is home to these terrace pools, formed by the build-up of carbonate mineral from the warm water flowing from the thermal springs above. (Photo by Image Courtesy of Jennifer Hayes/Getty Images)

Rebelling against political propaganda, acclaimed photographer Antanas Sutkus embarked on a life-long journey to capture the everyday scenes around him. Antanas Sutkus, born in 1939, studied journalism at Vilnius University in the late 1950s before becoming disillusioned by the confines of the Soviet-controlled press. He began taking photographs instead, and soon co-founded the Lithuanian Association of Art Photographers. Here: The first Lithuanian bikers, 1974. (Photo by Antanas Sutkus)

Third place: the rear leg, claw and respiratory trachea of a louse (Haematopinus suis). (Photo by Frank Reiser/Nassau Community College/Nikon Small World Photomicrography 2021)

The opening of sculptor Carole Feuerman solo outdoor public art show, Sea Idylls, on Park Avenue in NYC on April 27, 2023. The hyperrealistic sculptures in conjunction with Les Galeries Bartoux and Patrons of Park Avenue line the median. (Photo by Milo Hess/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

This extraordinary series of close-up photos turns mundane insects into terrifying beasts from another world. The bugs are captured in intricate detail by photographer Javier Ruperez, using a special lens, revealing just how complex the tiny creatures are. (Photo by Javier Ruperez/Solent News & Photo Agency)

Joseph Ford is a 39-year-old photographer from Brighton, UK. He creates images seamlessly camouflaging people into backgrounds using knitwear made by Nina Dodd. It can take Dodd, 51, up to 40 hours to knit one item of clothing. This image of a man posing in knitwear, camouflaging into tiles of the steps and wall, is a personal favourite of Joseph’s. (Photo by Joseph Ford/South West News Service)