Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)

Champagne Taittinger Food for Celebration – Dinner with the King and Queen of Sweden. “Sverigemiddagen (the Dinner of Sweden), an annual event held at the Royal Castle in Stockholm, celebrates individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to their local communities. Invited guests are honoured for their achievements and are hosted by the King and Queen of Sweden at a grand dinner”. (Photo by Jonas Borg/Pink Lady Food Awards 2023)

The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) has selected its Nature Photographer of the Year 2020. Here: Winner, Other animals. Jens Cullmann – Danger in the Mud. Crocodile in a drying pool. (Photo by Jens Cullmann/2020 GDT Nature Photographer of the Year)

Night lovers; Hormozgan province, Iran. “In this picture, you can see the Milky Way rising on a fascinating spring night on the Persian Gulf coast. The stunning cliffs of this area make every viewer imagine and even talk to them! The light pollution from a faraway city was quite strong, so it was a challenging post-processing process. I’m a nightscaper who tries to achieve an artistic look in my images, and in this image, I tried to convey and capture the magic of this location”. (Photo by Mohammad Hayati/Milky Way Photographer of the Year)

Participants take part in a New Year's Jump into the Sea in Portoroz , Slovenia, January 1, 2016. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters)

A worker inspects unfinished firecrackers as they make pyrotechnics at a makeshift factory in Bocaue town, Bulacan province, north of Manila December 27, 2014. Firecracker makers in Bulacan province, the pyrotechnic capital of the Philippines, are in haste to meet the demands for the coming New Year revelry. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Firework display from the top of the Sky Tower to welcome the New Year on January 1, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images)

A view of a stampede is seen during a New Year's celebration on the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai, December 31, 2014. The stampede killed at least 35 people and injured 43 during New Year's Eve celebrations in Shanghai, on the city's famed waterfront tourist strip known as the Bund, authorities said. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)