Autumn colors border a road leading through a small valley near Blankenburg am Harz, Germany, Wednesday, November 1, 2023. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

People celebrate the start of the New Year as fireworks illuminate Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Monday, January 1, 2024. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

In this May 8, 2015 photo, sisters Zoraida Infante, left, and Graciela Trujillo pray on Fishermen's Beach before therapeutic swimming in the Pacific Ocean in Lima, Peru. Under overcast skies, the bathers practice thalassotherapy, which derives from the Greek “thalasso”, for “sea”, and draws on the ocean's healing properties. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

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)

Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in the North Sound of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. It is a tourist attraction, where southern stingrays are found in abundance and visitors can pet and interact with the animals.

Cloud inversion taken at Sunrise in Mam Tor, Derbyshire, UK on August 30, 2016. (Photo by David Zdanowicz/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An Indian woman dressed as Hindu Goddess Kali participates in a “Shivratri” procession in Allahabad, India, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. “Shivaratri”, or the night of Shiva, is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar SinghAP Photo)

The Leshan Giant Buddha, a 71-metre tall stone statue, is carved out of a cliff face in the southern part of Sichuan province in China. (Photo by Suchet Suwanmongkol/500px)