With the humpback calving season drawing to a close, here’s a look at some of Rita Kluge’s distinctive marine photos from the south Pacific. The Sydney-based photographer fell in love with whales after witnessing southern rights from the New South Wales coastline as they travelled to and from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. She has since been to Tonga, where humpbacks breed and calf in winter months, to photograph them in the water. (Photo by Rita Kluge/The Guardian)

Aerial shots always amaze us by their magnificence. Human-sized footprints look like ant trails, trees resemble little pieces of broccoli, and landscapes are transformed into breathtaking images, which look like something that can be seen under a microscope. This set of pictures features surreal aerial shots of Botswana taken by Zack Seckler. In the past, to make these kinds of shots, someone had to go up in a helicopter to take a picture. However, today, such images can be easily made using quadcopters, such as DJI Phantom or any other. Thanks to the new technology, we are able to view our world in new ways, allowing us to better appreciate its complexity and beauty. (Photo by Zack Seckler)

We are all drawn to fire, entranced by its beauty and ferociousness. Its brilliance draws us in like moths to a candle flame. Thus, many of the celebrations that humans have involve lighting fires. They can be big or small; there could be many little lights or one giant inferno; they may float on water, burn on land, or rise high into the skies. Loi Krathong is a festival that is held each year in Thailand and a number of other places. During this festival thousands of little fires are lighted, presenting a marvelous sight for all the onlookers. It is believed that this tradition is an adaptation of Brahmanical festival, which was adopted by Thai Buddhists to honor Buddha.

Nobumichi Asai has used projection mapping to put CGI onto cars, docks, building and more. What is his latest canvas? A real, live human face! Asai used Omote, a combination of real-time face tracking and projection mapping to transform a model's face into mesmerizing patterns. It's called “electronic makeup”, but as you will see in the (creepy-ish) video, it goes much, much beyond anything makeup can possibly do.

The artworks that Alexa Meade makes are very unique and original. A usual painter creates a 2D or a 3D drawing on flat 2D surface. Alexa, on the other hand, draws over the body of a regular person, making them look like a 2D painting. The pictures of these people are almost uncanny, as you realize that the eyes “paintings” are real, and suddenly it dawns upon you that you are seeing a living and breathing human being. It is weird how we perceive this world, and how easy it is to trick our brain into thinking that it’s seeing a two-dimensional object. (Photo by Alexa Meade)

Wildlife are hunted down for consumption or for sale in the India eastern state of Nagaland. Hunters can make a good living, with some bred for food or to be sold as pets. These baby parrots, photographed by Caisii Mao via Sipa USA, are seen after they were caught and preserved by a local hunter and for sale at a private residence in Dimapur, India north eastern state of Nagaland on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. (Photo by Caisii Mao/NurPhoto/Sipa USA)

The landscape series we’ve selected from Leo Caillard photography is a series of panoramic views of negative and information-filled spaces. The French photographer describes his remarkable work in the following terms: “a landscape series I chose to shoot in very high definition. A work about the action of humans in diverse types of environments; void of activity or full of information.

Artist Victor Nunes combines every-day objects with simple illustrations to turn them into pictures of faces, animals and other playful scenes. His images invite us to look at the world differently and find creative images in our surroundings. Nunes’ art is a great example of pareidolia, which is our propensity to give meaning to random objects (like in this post about seeing faces in random objects). It’s the reason why we associate a smiley face with a human face and why some of Nunes’ pieces of popcorn or bread resemble faces to us.