“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

Children wearing cardboard lion dance masks walk along a street in Beijing on January 13, 2023. China has announced its first overall population decline in recent years amid an aging society and plunging birthrate. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Zulu maidens dance during the memorial service for King Goodwill Zwelithini in Nongoma, South Africa, March 18, 2021. King Goodwill Zwelithini died on March 12, 2021 in the eastern city of Durban, aged 72, after weeks of treatment for a diabetes-related illness. (Photo by Phill Magakoe/Pool via Reuters)

People take a photo next to a blooming tree during cherry blossom season in Yuyuantan Park in Beijing, China on March 31, 2021. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

People view an installation over a lake that forms part of the Enchanted Forest Winter Illuminations at Stockeld Park in Wetherby, North Yorkshire on Monday, November 14, 2022. Light effects, a captivating soundscape, and animated installations come together in the ancient woodland once a year over the Christmas period. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

National Guardsmen are put through riot training in Boston's Commonwealth Armory on Friday, October 18, 1974. Massachusetts Gov. Francis W. Sargent called up the guard to quell school violence, but the city has been relatively calm and the guard has remained in the armories. (Photo by JWG/AP Photo)

Indonesian women sit on a hill as the Suralaya coal power plant looms in the background in Cilegon, Indonesia, on January 8, 2023. A plan for how Indonesia will spend $20 billion to transition to cleaner energy was submitted Wednesday, Aug. 16, to the government and its financing partners, the planners said. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

People run into the sea at the beach of Scheveningen on New Year's Day, Scheveningen, Netherlands, 01 January 2023. The traditional New Year's dive was resumed after the two previous editions were canceled due to the corona crisis. (Photo by Remko de Waal/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)