“Sometimes i feel like photographers have uncovered a special secret. A crazy, amazing, and beautiful secret. The key to truly living. All i want is to be alive”. – Karrah Kobus

Photo: “All my life i lived in a bubble”. (Photo by Karrah Kobus)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

The kinetic sculptures created by Anthony Howe are nothing short of a miracle. You simply cannot wrap your mind around the fact that these creations are real. The magic comes from the fact that all the creations of Anthony Howe were first digitally modeled and only then wrought from metal. The resulting pieces of art are mystifying, entrancing, and sometimes even terrifying. For example, one of the earlier creations of Howe is an installation called “About Face”. It is a human face, pieces of which move from side to side, even if there is just a gentle breeze. However, most of his creations are mesmerizing, capturing your mind, as you marvel at their intricacy.

Clay Lipsky has created a great series called Atomic Overlook. The project takes terribly boring scenic shots and combines them with some exciting nuclear testing. “Tourists will line up for anything and I always found humor in vacation destinations that are nothing but a bunch of people looking into a great abyss”, he says. “I understand the allure of a beautiful landscape, but as the world’s population grows so do the lines to view the “nothingness”. Atomic Overlook flips the script on that and gives new purpose to those suntanned masses”. (Photo by Clay Lipsky)

It would have been so much better if the pictures created by Mister Blick were real. How wonderful it would be if these men were actually holding flowers, and none of these wars happened. Regretfully, all these wars have left their mark on the history of mankind. Wars are always bad. They bring nothing but destruction and terror to the regular people, while the big players make huge profits off of the suffering of the common folk. However, establishing dominance is an integral part of the human nature, and the desire to wage wars is simply an extension of this trait. Strong countries always suppress the weaker ones to gain even more power. Unfortunately, this is as inevitable as the sunrise or sunset. (Photo by Mister Blick)

Meet Rupert the whippet who loves nothing better than dressing up and posing for the camera. Whether playing a game of tennis, reading the morning newspaper or even doing the ironing, these hilarious pictures show the dog has a real knack for striking a fetching pose. Rupert began starring in the snaps at 10-months-old, when his owner Janet Burton, 56, noticed him standing with his front legs rested on the lawnmower.

If you think you are looking at stunning sunset safari photographs, think again. From a herd of elephants trailing the savanna at sunset to a crocodile hungrily engulfing a baby impala, amazingly these clever pictures are actually made using nothing but props, toy animals and vegetables. Julia Wimmerlin has always dreamed of going on safari and found a way to channel her dream in a seriously creative way. Here: An elephant with plants of parsley, rosemary, tamarind and coconut boulders. (Photo by Julia Wimmerlin/Caters News)