Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

Happiness on a Rainy Day by Fardin Oyan, Bangladesh. Winner of the young environmental photographer of the year. Many children in Bangladesh love to bathe and play in the rain. The country, which is flat and occupied by the huge Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, is exposed to floods, especially during monsoon season. (Photo by Fardin Oyan/2018 Ciwem environmental photographer of the year 2018)

These photos were snapped at just the right moment – leading to some truly unusual images. Some of the pups are sticking out their tongue, while others are just looking at the camera – and the results are hilarious. Cat Race, 33, a dog photographer from Preston, Lancashire, in the U.K., captured the funny moments in the northwest of England over the past two years. Here: Tillie. (Photo by CatsDog Photography/Caters News Agency)

Sequence photography is a technique of shooting a series of images in where the subject is captured in successive motion. This technique conveys motion in a static image, and comes in great use for sport based photography. A merged photo sequence can radically show a different perspective much more than what can be captured in a single image, you get to experience the entire process of the action taken by the athlete.

Bottlenose dolphins leap off the Southern California coast on January 30, 2012 near Dana Point, California. A coalition that includes Native American tribes, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council is on the National Marine Fisheries Service for more protection for dolphins, whales, and other migrating marine animals from the use of sonar in training by the US Navy on the West Coast. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

These kaleidoscopic images are the work of one persistent photographer’s efforts to capture vibrant hues at the exact moment a wave breaks. Ryan Pernofski‘s stunning shots feature brilliant yellows, reds, blues and purples as an array of sunlight hits the water at the perfect time. What’s even more impressive: Ryan, a 27-year-old Australian, began shooting his popular masterpieces without using a professional camera, taking his iPhone out into the water instead. Ryan began experimenting with this method in 2012, using an underwater housing to protect his phone, as he could not afford a professional camera. (Photo by Ryan Pernoski/Caters News Agency)