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)

A boy plays with pelicans in Yoff, commune of Dakar, Senegal March 14, 2018. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

In this February 19, 2017 photo, a couple dances during the “If you don't give me....then you lend me” Carnival street party on Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The typical view of Carnival in Brazil is anything goes, with no headdress too big, no outfit too small, no song too ribald, but this year some organizers of the world's best known party are drawing the line at lyrics that are sexist, homophobic or racist. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

A Gnawa traditional group performs in the city of Essaouira on December 14, 2019, to celebrate the decision of adding the Gnawa culture to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Gnawa culture, a centuries-old Moroccan practice rooted in music, African rituals and Sufi traditions, was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity earlier in the week. Gnawa refers to a “set of musical productions, fraternal practices and therapeutic rituals where the secular mixes with the sacred”, according to the nomination submitted by Morocco. Often dressed in colourful outfits, Gnawa musicians play the guenbri, a type of lute with three strings, accompanied by steel castanets called krakebs. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP Photo)

A Guarani Mbya man smokes a pipe next to a cut tree as he occupies land as a protest against real estate developer Tenda which plans to build apartment buildings here, next to his indigenous community's land in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, February 6, 2020. In response to an injunction filed by the builder, a judge has authorized the eviction of the indigenous protesters from the builder's property. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

A young Iraqi shepherdess cools down buffaloes in wastewater filling the dried-up Diyala river which was a tributary of the Tigris, in the Al-Fadiliyah district east of Baghdad, on June 26, 2022. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

British holidaymaker Sean Chinn captures a crocodile on camera during a dive at the Jardines de la Reina marine park in Caribbean Sea, Cuba. (Photo by Sean Chinn/Caters News Agency)

A cyclist shops for a gift from a roadside open-air vendor during Valentine's Day celebrations amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Kamwokya, Kampala, Uganda on February 14, 2022. (Photo by Miriam Watsemba/Reuters)