Best portfolio winner. Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea ajaja, by Petr Bambousek, Czech Republic. (Photo by Petr Bambousek/2018 Bird Photographer of the Year)

A brave photographer managed to get within metres of an active volcano despite it spewing out lava waves over 140 metres high. Silhouetted against a fiery fountain of red, Icelandic photographer, Tómas Freyr Kristjánsson, 37, braved blistering temperatures to get as close the volcano as possible. Although very few were brave enough to get so close, Tómas managed to photograph nearby tourists to give some scale to the spraying molten rock, including that of a nearby motorcyclist. (Photo by Tómas Freyr Kristjánsson/Caters News)

October winner. “A burst of the aurora borealis over Kirkjufell, taken in September 2016. This shot has been a holy grail for me and was finally captured after many trips”. MICK RYAN, JUDGE: Iceland is a hotspot for aurora photography and this composition of the symmetric, free-standing Kirkjufell and the trident waterfall is much-sought after. If you can time your visit when the aurora “kp” index is high and know the settings for nighttime aurora images, you may end up with a beautiful photograph like this. (Photo by DВ/The Guardian)

Two horses appear to burst into laughter before a sweet embrace. The horses both turn their head to look at the camera and flash their teeth, treating the lucky photographer to a rare shot. Moments later the pair show their affectionate side by coming together and “hugging”. Photographer Nir Amos, 34, said he was “amazed” to capture the horses “laughing” in a field near Skógar, in the south east of Iceland on July 31, 2018. (Photo by Nir Amos/Solent News & Photo Agency)

“Camille Lepage, a 26-year-old French photojournalist who had spent months documenting deadly conflict in Central African Republic has been killed, the French presidency said Tuesday, May 13. Lepage, a freelance photographer whose work was published in major French and American newspapers, died in western Central African Republic not far from the border with Cameroon, authorities said”. – Associated Press. Photo: Anti-balaka fighters from the town of Bossembele patrol in the Boeing district of Bangui, Central African Republic, February 24, 2014. (Photo by Camille Lepage/Reuters)

A women sell food under the wing of a plane wreckage being used as housing in M'Poko Internally Displaced Persons camp in Bangui, Central African Republic on Saturday, February 13, 2016. The M'Poko IDP camp, just outside the capitol's airport, currently houses close to 20,000 people displaced due to the ongoing conflict in Central African Republic. (Photo by Jane Hahn/The Washington Post)

Men wear masks as they sit in the metro in Prague, Czech Republic, 17 March 2020. According to media reports, the Czech government decided to impose a two-week quarantine in the country on the evening of 15 March, and ban all international travel from 16 March 2020. Currently 383 cases of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the Covid-19 disease, have been officially confirmed in Czech Republic. (Photo by Martin Divisek/EPA/EFE)

Republic of Korea Air Force's (ROKAF) aerobatic unit “Black Eagles” maneuver their T-50B aircraft as they perform an air show at Clark Air Base on March 03, 2024 in Pampanga, Philippines. The Republic of Korea Air Force's (ROKAF) aerobatic unit “Black Eagles” is in the Philippines to conduct a series of air shows to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and South Korea. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)