In a simpler time all a child or an adult needed to enjoy the outdoors was a ball and a stick. Or maybe an old tire tied to a high branch to fashion a swing. And the only instruction given to children was to “be home before dark”. Now there are iPads and computers and television screens and shrinking safe public spaces. But despite the distractions and limitations of space, these images show the charm of kicking a ball or skipping rope endures. Sometimes with modifications as a nod to changing times. Here: in this Saturday, June 20, 2015 photo, a boy runs while playing with a motorcycle wheel in Samugari, Ayacucho, Peru. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

The eruption of Cordon Caulle began on June 4, 2011, located in the Region of Los Rios in Chile. For about 12 months, people and animals became accustomed to living with the daily fall of ash, which also caused problems in the air traffic in South America. The explosions and lightning during first days of the eruption could be seen from hundreds of miles around. This photograph was taken on the second night of eruption from the town of Lago Ranco. (Photo and caption by Francisco Negroni/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! 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.

“For a bouquet of flowers”. Photographs made ​​in the last hours of the day. A goat is directed by a dangerous way to eat a small bouquet of flowers. Location: España, Barcelona, Montserrat. (Photo and caption by Renato Lopez Baldo/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! 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.

Special Merit Award. Mallory Franklin (2019). The British slalom canoeist has competed internationally since 2009 and won nine medals in total at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships with four golds, four silvers and a bronze. She has also won eleven medals at the European Championships. (Photo by Richard Pelham/World Sports Photography Awards 2021)

This year’s World Nomad Games, a celebration of nomadic heritage, took place in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan. Eleanor Moseman photographed female competitors who had travelled from all over central Asia and eastern Europe, and explored the difficulties and challenges they face as competitors. (Photo by Eleanor Moseman/The Guardian)

Brazil's forward Debinha (up) vies with Jamaica's goalkeeper Sydney Schneider during the France 2019 Women's World Cup Group C football match between Brazil and Jamaica on June 9, 2019, at the Alpes Stadium in Grenoble, central-eastern France. (Photo by Emmanuel Foudrot/Reuters)

By making use of digital colour grading and composites, Romanian photographer Caras Ionut created these dreamy blue-themed landscapes. The work is even more impressive when you consider that Caras, who has been a mariner for the last 24 years, only picked up an interest in photography a few years ago. For more of his work, including fashion composites and semi-surrealist scapes.

1st prize in the People Observed Portraits Stories category. Carla Kogelman, the Netherlands. The photo shows Hannah and Alena, two sisters living in the rural village of Merkenbrechts, Austria. (Photo by Carla Kogelman/World Press Photo)