“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)

“Don't Leave Any Food On Your Plate”. The giraffes at Nairobi's Giraffe Manor are totally at home with humans. They will eat out of your hand, or even off your plate. Photo location: Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Gavin Werbeloff/National Geographic Photo Contest)

People work to rescue a dog from under rubble, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Iskenderun, Turkey February 8, 2023, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. (Photo by Gurcan Ozturk via Reuters)

The sign above the door of restaurant and hotel “Am Paulusbogen” is partially submerged in the flooded centre of the Bavarian town of Passau, about 200 km (124 miles) north-east of Munich June 3, 2013. (Photo by Michaela Rehle/Reuters)

A pigeon eating cherries in Bydgoszcz, Poland on September 14, 2018. The pigeon was captured at dinnertime, as he was caught on camera with its mouth full of a cherry. (Photo by Piotr Grny/Caters News Agency)

People wear face masks as they ride an E-scooter in the Old Elbe Tunnel in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, October 15, 2020. To avoid the spread of the coronavirus the use of a face mask in the 117-year-old tunnel under the Elbe river is mandatory. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

19 giant panda cubs, all born this year, meet the public at the Shenshuping Base of the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda on October 13, 2017 in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, China. So far China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda has successfully bred 42 giant pandas this year. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Renowned aerobatic pilots Sean D. Tucker, flying the Oracle Challenger III, and Jeff Boerboon, flying the Jack Link's Screamin' Sasquatch, take to the skies over EAA's 2015 AirVenture Oshkosh, on Monday, July 20, 2015 in Oshkosh, Wis. (Photo by Matt Ludtke/AP Images for Jack Link's)