“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)

The Sphinx breed of cat “Adam vom Feisastern” of the German breeder Sabine Braeuer waits on a jury table during an annual International Pedigree Dog and Cat Show in Erfurt, Germany on June 10, 2012. (Photo by Jens Meyer/Associated Press)

A lioness bares its teeth inside an enclosure after a raid at a zoo-like house on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand Monday, June 10, 2013. Thai police and forestry officials searched and seized a number of imported and endangered animals including 14 lions from Africa and arrested the house's owner. (Photo by Apichart Weerawong/AP Photo)

GDT Naturfotograf 2014 – “Die besten Naturfotografien des Jahres”. Radomir Jakubowski – Spieglein Spieglein. 2nd place: Mammals. (Photo by Radomir Jakubowski)

While photographer Thomas Herbrich is not a smoker, he said he has always been fascinated by cigarette smoke. These photographs have been featured in arts fairs such as ART Cologne, ART Karlsruhe, Art Fair Hong Kong, as well as several exhibitions. (Photo by Thomas Herbrich)

Since 2003, photographer Sergey Fomin has been shooting Russia’s most attractive natural, historical, and architectural objects from different aircrafts. Photo: “An Explosive Scene”. The 1,486-meter-high Karymskii Volcano in Kamchatka. (Photo by Sergey Fomin)

Most probably wouldnt think of snakes, spiders and lizards as beautiful animals – but these photographs could change some minds. The images show the reptiles seemingly playful sides, from a gleeful looking Budgetts frog, a cheeky leopard sticking out its tongue at the camera and a stack of four colourful iguanas. Contrasted against a white background and shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark 2 and macro lens, photographer Mickael Leger really made sure they could be seen in all their glory. Here: Gecko. (Photo by Mickael Leger/Caters News)

Residents move the wreckage of cars that were swept away by flood in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia, Friday, January 3, 2020. Severe flooding in greater Jakarta has killed scores of people and displaced tens of thousands others, the country's disaster management agency said. (Photo by Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)