These spectacular landscapes may look like something from another planet – but they are in fact colorful salt ponds which stretch for miles. Despite being better known for tech companies and expensive property – San Francisco, California is also home to this vibrant quilt of color spanning the South Bay Area. From eerie green pools to gothic shades of red the surreal landscapes are caused by the organisms or micro-algae living within them. Photo: Aerial view of the salt ponds in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Cris Benton/Caters News)

Landscape second place: Denis Ferreira Netto, Brazil. “In a helicopter flight through the sea mountain range, I came across this white cloud cover, which resulted in this magnificent image that resembles the head of a dinosaur”, the photographer said. (Photo by Denis Ferreira Netto/TNC Photo Contest 2021)

Austrian artist Erwin Wurm on Thursday, June 8, 2023 with his work Truck II, 2011, as he presents first UK museum exhibition and his largest show to date featuring over 100 works indoors and in the landscape at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Images via Getty Images)

Aerial view of a clear and turbid landscape at the intersection of the Sanjiang Estuary during the flood season on July 4, 2023 in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. (Photo by Chen Guanyan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

A picture made available on 17 July 2015 shows the bright line of the Milky Way above the old oaks at the Rogalin landscape Park in Rogalin village, near Poznan, on the night of 16 July 2015. (Photo by Lukasz Ogrodowczyk/EPA)

A landscape photographer has captured a stunning picture of the Isle of Wight's iconic Needles emerging from the sea mist early February 2023. Jamie Russell captured this moment on the most western part of the island. (Photo by Jamie Russell/IslandVisionss/Bournemouth News)

People visit the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in Lancaster, California, to view the flowers blooming on April 6, 2023. California’s biologically diverse landscapes are home to more than 7,000 species of native plants, and the California Poppy, also known as golden poppy, a flowering plant native to the United States and Mexico became the official state flower in 1903. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

A groundskeeper uses a bamboo broom at Kasumigaike Pond at Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, Japan on January 12, 2016. The japanese garden, located next to Kanazawa Castle, encompasses over 28 acres in downtown Kanazawa. With two ponds, rolling hills with streams and bridges, is considered a strolling-style landscape garden. It's regarded as one of the top three most beautiful gardens in Japan. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)