Fireworks light up the skyline over Sydney Harbour during the midnight fireworks session as Sydney Celebrates New Year's Eve with the theme of “Time To Dream” on on January 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

A model has her hair done backstage before the Taoray Wang fashion show during New York Fashion Week in New York, New York, 09 February 2019. New York Fashion Week for designer's autumn and winter lines is being held from 06 to 13 February 2019. (Photo by Peter Foley/EPA/EFE)

Wasibi, (r), yawns at backstage before the Algonquin Hotel’s Annual Cat Fashion Show in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., August 1, 2019. The theme of this year's show was “It's a Small World”. The cats represented countries including Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

A participant runs towards the waters of the North Sea during the annual New Year's plunge event in Ostend, Belgium, January 2, 2016. (Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters)

It’s a bug’s life for these colorful insects – whose natural markings resemble incredible smiling faces. These dazzling insects, with their colorful patterns and markings, look as if they are living a happy bugs life. But they’re also the spitting image of a whole host of stars from stage and screen from a creeping Charlie Chaplin to Elvis Presley. Photo: Pentomid bug. (Photo by Darlyne Murawsk/National Geographic Creative/Caters News)

This photo of an elephant seal and Gentoo penguin shot by Andrew James in Yankee Harbour, Antarctica. (Photo by Andrew James/Travel Photographer of the Year)

Tuvalu Beneath the Rising Tide by Sean Gallagher, Tuvalu. Changing environments prize: Fallen trees lie on a beach as the waves from the Funafuti lagoon in Tuvalu lap around them. Land erosion has always been a problem for the South Pacific country but problems are intensifying as sea levels rise. Rising seas are on the verge of completely submerging the tiny archipelago’s islands. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2019)