Here are the bravest of the brave in 2016. Weve gathered some of the finest images showing daredevils taking their lives into their own hands and going to the very brink this year. Whether they are perched hundreds of feet up on a high wire, courageously clinging to a rockface or taking on a volcano, these adventurers take the breath away. Here: Morgane Choquet and Samuel Cobb relax in a vertical campsite on the slopes of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park. (Photo by Alexandre Eggermont/Caters News)

A frog appears to have a big smile for the camera, Russia. Things are heating up at the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards as the shortlisted final 40 entries are revealed. This year's competition has featured over 2200 hilarious entries from around the world with photos including a fox face planting in the snow, a dancing brown bear and a pair of seemingly headless penguins – all beautifully photographed with perfect comedy timing and a strong conservation message. (Photo by Artyom Krivosheev/Barcroft Images/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2016)

Miners pulling up lazy tourists to the rim of Kawah Ijen (Ijen Volcano), East Java, Indonesia on September 21, 2017. They will earn as much as they would bring down a load of sulfur. Nomadic Explorer, Cultural Lifestyle Photographer Claudio Sieber captured striking images of miners working at Ijen volcanic range in East Java, Indonesia. The sulphur miners risk their lives daily as they climb the active volcano carrying heavy loads, which they sell to sugar refineries. (Photo by Claudio Sieber/Barcroft Images)

A cenote is a natural phenomenon, a sinkhole in the Earth’s surface. The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has an estimated 7,000 cenotes because it is primarily made up of porous limestone. For millions of years, rainfall slowly ate away at the limestone and a huge system of underground caves and caverns was formed. Many filled with water from rain or from the underground water table. When the roof of a water filled cave collapses, a cenote is born. The water found in a cenote may be fresh water, salt water, or both. Structurally it may be completely open, like a lake, almost completely closed with just a small opening at the top, or somewhere in between.

“After taking LSD. I lighting up a candle in the middle of the wood and during the 30 secondes of exposure, i make a meditation about the holism of nature surrounding me. Feeling the crystal vibration irradiating from the center of the Gaia mother earth. So in this picture i try to show you the magic, sacred metaphysical quality of the nature and new age bullshiting you”. – Benoit Paillé. (Photo by Benoit Paillé)

Michael Hughes creates cool optical illusions by placing cheap souvenirs in front of famous landmarks. Michael has discovered the technique back in 1998 when he held up a postcard he bought for his daughter on the tourist platform at the Lorelei cliffs next to the river Rhine. “I was amazed because it just seemed to fill a massive grey hole that was in the sky and it was the exact position the photographer had taken the picture from,” said Michael to Daily Mail.

In the desert near Joshua Tree, California, there stands a 70-year-old homestead cabin that isn’t all there. The ethereal cabin is part of an outdoor art installation by artist Phillip K. Smith III called Lucid Homestead. To give the cabin its striking appearance, the artist replaced strips of the wall with mirrors and the windows with mirrored panels that light up at night. The building reflects the desert sun and environment around it, making it seem like an airy and transparent space

This picture taken on December 17, 2013 shows people taking photos of a pole dancer (R) practising after it snowed in Tianjin during a promotional event by members of China's national pole dancing team and students of the sport. China set up its first national pole dancing team in Tianjin in 2012 in order to compete in the World Pole Dancing Championships. (Photo by AFP Photo)