“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)

People walk in a field of California poppies and other wildflowers outside of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, after recent rains moved the region's second-driest winter on record up to its seventh-driest, near Lancaster, California, on April 2, 2022. The California Department of Water Resources reported that about one-third of the Sierra Nevada snowpack's water equivalency melted last week under higher-than-normal temperatures, leaving the statewide snow-water equivalent at 38% of normal for the date. (Photo by David Mcnew/AFP Photo)

An Oktoberfest visitor swings her dirndl, at the start of Oktoberfest, on Munich's Theresienwiese, in Germany, Saturday, September 20, 2025. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP Photo)

Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain sprays champagne at a grid girl as he celebrates his victory on the podium after the Chinese F1 Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, April 12, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Cosplayer Monzerath Gutierrez, who portrays Dragon Ball Z character Trunks, female version, poses for a portrait during the 4th edition of the MiniCon Anime convention, at the School of Dance, in Managua, Nicaragua, Sunday, July, 26, 2015. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)

Models prepare backstage before a presentation as part of Fashion Weekend Plus Size Summer 2015 collection show in Sao Paulo, July 25, 2015. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

National police transport an anti-government protester detainee during a protest against Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas March 13, 2014. Venezuela's state prosecutor said on Thursday the death toll from a month of violent protests had risen to 28, after the nation's top court ordered opposition mayors to dismantle barricades set up by street protesters. State prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, speaking on the sidelines of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, also said 1,293 detainees had been released and 104 remained in custody accused of serious crimes during the anti-government demonstrations. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

A Romanian female soldier adjusts her helmet before taking part in weapons training with US Marines female counterparts at the Capu Midia Surface to Air Firing Range, on the Black Sea coast in Romania, Monday, March 20, 2017. About 1,200 US and Romanian troops take part in the Spring Storm 17 exercise, meant to simulate defense of the Romanian Black Sea coastline and urban areas. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)