“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

Musicians of the alphorn band "Holdersberger Alp- Traum- Blaeser" perform their skills on a raft floating on the Elbsee lake near Aitrang, southern Germany, on June 11, 2017. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP Photo/DPA)

Syrian refugee boys play with toy guns at Eminonu district in Istanbul, Turkey, 08 January 2019. (Photo by Sedat Suna/EPA/EFE)

A Tibetan wearing a traditional headgear performs during a function organised to mark “Losar” or the Tibetan New Year in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 5, 2022. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)

Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of Prime Minister Imran Khan shout slogans outside the Parliament House building in Islamabad on April 3, 2022. Pakistan will go to the polls to elect a new government within three months after Prime Minister Imran Khan foiled an attempt to boot him from office April 3 by getting the president to dissolve the national assembly. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)

A person takes part in the annual LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Phuket, Thailand on June 4, 2023. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

A Boeing 777-300 from Swiss International Airlines lands on a foggy morning at Zurich Airport, on Friday, October 13, 2017, in Zurich, Switzerland. The high humidity renders the air vortex visible. (Photo by Christian Merz/Keystone via AP Photo)

Rescuers attempt attempt to push stranded whales back into the ocean at Ujong Kareng beach in Aceh province, Indonesia, Monday, November 13, 2017. An official said a small pod of whales was stranded at the beach and attracted hundreds of onlookers who posed for pictures with them. (Photo by AP Photo/Zulkarnaini)