“On the Li River near Xingping in China, Cormorant fishermen work the waterways before dawn amidst the spectacular limestone towers of the Karst landscape. The birds are trained to fetch fish from the inky depths but not swallow them. The fisherman accepts the fish from the birds who dive back for more. Here, still before dawn, the fisherman and his birds head for home”. (Photo and caption by Neville Jones/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“The Independence day”. While on storm chasing expeditions in the Tornado Alley in USA I have encountered many photogenic supercell storms. This photograph was taken while we were approaching the storm near Julesburg, Colorado on My 28th, 2013. The storm was tornado warned for more than one hour, but stayed an LP storm through all its cycles and never produced a tornado, just occasional brief funnels, large hail and some rain. Photo location: Julesburg, Colorado, USA. (Photo and caption by Marko Korošec/National Geographic Photo Contest)

“Suri tribes boys are collecting the blood of a cow in a calabash the vein of the animal was opened with a bow and an arrow. Like most pastoralists the Surma people are drinking fresh blood which is from the cow vein. Only some minutes after the wound at the vein is closed again the animals are back with their herd”. (Photo and caption by Anthony Pappone)

Initially the project started when I was working in Atlanta. About four years ago, a roommate of mine had a Yorkie and we thought it would be funny to take some photos of this really cute dog with a few handguns. Once my friends saw the photos they started asking me to take pictures of their dogs with other firearms... (Photo and caption by Ben Haulenbeek/Puppies with guns calendar 2015)

The Belgian photographer Anton Kusters spent two years photographing the Yakuza, Japan’s most notorious gang. He returned with some amazing images that he made into a book called “Odo Yakuza Tokyo”. (Odo means “the way of the cherry blossom” and is the credo of the Yakuza family he followed. Photo: An erotic danser picks up fake 2-dollar bills during a private dance with a Yakuza customer in a strip tease bar in Kabukicho, a bar which is controlled by the ODO family – 2010. (Photo and caption by Anton Kusters)

“Michael Jackson, the performer, consistently transcended racial and gender perceptions; Michael Jackson tribute artists, impersonators and lookalikes reflect this in that they embody a wide span of inspiration and intention. The current crop of impersonators are people who take great care in their appearance – some spend a lot of money and time on their make up and clothing, while others are more concerned with the physical gestures associated with his dances while expressing very little concern in the creation of an illusion”. – Lorena Turner. (Photo and caption by Lorena Turner)

“Freedom”. After the 30 years banning import large motorcycle, in 2007, the Taiwan government reopened the import licensing of the motorcycle displacement over 550 cubic centimeter. Those large bikes, which were never seen before, were strange thought and treated unequally frequently. However, those adversity will not stop those enthusiastic bike riders from chasing the road of freedom. Photo location: Taiwan. (Photo and caption by 火花 羅/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)