Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)
Britain's Princess Elizabeth clasps her hands in sympathy as Sergeant Jean Bayliss faints at her feet during an inspection of the guard of honour of the Women's Royal Army Corps at Shrewsbury Castle, Shropshire, on July 6, 1949. (Photo by AP Photo)
Indian girls apply colored powder on each other as they wear protective masks as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, during Holi festival celebrations in Bhopal, India, 26 March 2021. Holi marks the beginning of the spring season. Holi will be celebrated as the Hindu spring festival of colors across the country on 29 March. (Photo by Sanjeev Gupta/EPA/EFE)
A Bengal tiger grabs a bag of food belonging to labourers at the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur, India in the first decade of February 2024. The workers were cutting the grass to avoid forest fires in the area. The wild feline, watched on by its family, later dropped the bag without any harm caused. (Photo by Jignesh Patel/Solent news)
With Haystack Rock in the background, Julie Amschler, of Springfield, Mo., walks along the beach on Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Cannon Beach, Ore. (Photo by Jenny Kane/AP Photo)