“Models decorated with glow-in-the-dark paint manage to stand out in a new series of pictures shot in the dark. Its well known that capturing beautiful photos without natural light is a tricky undertaking even for the most talented photographers but Hid Saib Neto has found a way to make the most of the darkness. The 26-year-old Brazilian photographer covered the group of models in neon paint before illuminating them with just a single ultra-violet light”. – Caters News. Photo: A model wearing the neon make up. (Photo by Hid Saib Neto/Caters News)

These picture look like an artist has painted abstract patterns on canvas – but in fact they are natural rivers captured on camera. The spectacular rivers in Iceland's central highlands and southern parts originate from glaciers, which is why the water is a milky colour. They are shallow rivers and the water spreads quickly over a flat and sandy surface, creating random and beautiful patterns. Photographer Andrey Ermolaev from Moscow, Russia, flew 500ft above the unique sight in a small plane. (Photo by Andrey Ermolaev/Solent News)

These images have been created using a colour scanning electron microscope (SEM) by the award-winning Eye of Science, comprised of snapper Oliver Meckes and biologist Nicole Ottawa. For a decade the pair, based in Reutlingen in the south of Germany, worked with an old SEM they saved from the scrapheap, but for the last five years they have used a £250,000 FEI Quanta Series Field Emission SEM. Oliver said: “Flowers are beautiful in 'normal' view, but when you look closer, some parts get very bizarre and unexpected structures appear – flowers within flowers, worlds within worlds”. Photo: The floret of a Chamomile flower up close and personal. (Photo by Oliver Meckes/Barcroft Media)

“Microscope images forge an extraordinary bond between science and art, said Hidenao Tsuchiya, Olympus America's Vice President and General Manager for the Scientific Equipment Group. We founded this competition to focus on the fascinating stories coming out of today's life science research laboratories. The thousands of images that people have shared with the competition over the years reflect some of the most exciting work going on in research today – work that can help shed light on the living universe and ultimately save lives. We look at BioScapes and these beautiful images as sources of education and inspiration to us and the world”. – OlympusBioScapes

Photo: Pretarsus of the third leg of a female drone fly (Eristalis tenax), ventral view, by Dr. Jan Michels, Institute of Zoology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany. (Photo by Olympus BioScapes)

These may look like alien creatures from another planet, but the odd organisms are, in fact, colorful, microscopic life forms found in our forests. The bizarre slime molds, known as mycetozoa or fungus animals, were captured by geologist Valeriya Zvereva. She spent months documenting the common life forms that are found beneath our feet – but are rarely seen. Incredibly, the organisms can move and hunt for other microscopic life forms on which to feed. Zvereva, who is from Moscow, used a special macro lens to capture the vibrant and up-close shots, which show off the organisms’ unlikely beauty. (Photo by Valeriya Zvereva/Caters News)

“These are the stunning shots of one photographer who is putting everyday “selfies” to shame. Paul Zizka, 34, began experimenting with night photography just two years ago and immediately became fascinated with the spectacular scenes he discovered. To create something more unique he started adding himself into the shot – as well as showing others the beautiful surroundings he had been exploring. Using lengthy exposure, the photographer felt that featuring himself in some of his shots – the night sky illuminating the mountains around him – created a relationship between the central figure in the image and the nature around him”. – Caters News. Photo: Paul Zizka in “Galactic Gateway”, Bow Lake, Banff National Park, May 11, 2013. (Photo by Paul Zizka/Caters News)

“I'm Josh Fancher, a 21 year old with an avid interest in photography, including macro, nature and wildlife, night photography, landscapes, cityscapes and architectural photography. Inspired by the beautiful and amazing water drop photography of Martin Waugh, I started doing water drop collisions in December of 2007. I use a 105mm Micro Nikkor lens for water drops, along with a pair of Nikon SB 600 flashes. I recently got a StopShot system (Nov 2009), which makes timing a lot easier. Before then, timing was manual, with an eye dropper, eye-hand coordination, and a lot of patience” – Josh Fancher. (Photo by Josh Fancher)