Nature – first prize, stories. Pandemic Pigeons – A Love Story. The photographer’s daughter, Merel, cowers after Dollie flies past and perches on the balcony before entering the house in Vlaardingen in the Netherlands on 6 April 2020. “She’s still frightened when Dollie suddenly lands on the balcony railing. I hide my smile behind the camera, as I try to comfort her by saying they won’t hurt you. “I thought he was going to attack me”, she replies. As the nesting pigeons keep coming back to our place, slowly my girls have started to appreciate them – perhaps not as much as I do, but it’s a start”. (Photo by Jasper Doest/World Press Photo 2021)

Bebe Rexha attends the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 10, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Palestinians scuffle with Israeli forces at Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on December 8, 2017. Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces after calls for a “day of rage” as US President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital sent shockwaves through the region for a second day. (Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP Photo)

Tourists ride a cable car in the form a of a Chiva, a bus used to serve rural routes, in Pitalito, Colombia, Tuesday, April 5, 2017. The ride called “La Chiva Voladora” costs about $0.70 and you zip along about 800 meters from one side of a hill to another. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

Under Exposed: Pekka Tuuri (Finland) – Great white shark, Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. “Isla Guadalupe is the world capital when it comes to observing great white sharks, but cage diving seriously limits the possibilities to take ‘fresh’ pictures. When I took this, the water close to the surface was quite milky, making photography very challenging. From out of the “mist”, I saw this great white shark lurking behind a school of fusiliers. I quickly focused on the shark and set a wide aperture to get focus blur on the fish, along with a fast shutter to avoid excessive motion blur”. (Photo by Pekka Tuuri/The Outdoor Photographer of the Year/The Guardian)

A woman dressed in traditional costume smiles at the Royal Plaza, as interest for historical clothing rises within the country, in Bangkok, Thailand April 6, 2018. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

“Leopard Hunting a Stork”. “One-shot capture. I watched the leopard stalking the stork, I only had time to focus at 400mm, no time to change to high speed, I watched the stork, and as soon as it flapped its wings, I shot one shot”. (Photo by Paul Rifkin/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Two three-month-old female white Bengal tiger cubs play with a zoo keeper in their enclosure at the Buenos Aires' Zoo, in Argentina, on April 17, 2014. Captive white Bengal tiger Cloe, gave birth to three cubs – two females and one male – on January 14, 2014. (Photo by Juan Mabromata/AFP Photo)