Arctic treasure by Sergey Gorshkov (Russia). An arctic fox carries its egg trophy from a raid on a snow goose nest and heads for a suitable burial spot. Finalist 2017, Animal Portraits. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

This 1950s photo provided by the Estate of Vivian Maier and John Maloof Collection shows Maier in a self-portrait as she looks into a storefront wearing a hat in New York. New research about Maier shows the enigmatic Chicago nanny was obsessive about honing her skills as a photographer starting in 1950. (Photo by Vivian Maier/Estate of Vivian Maier and John Maloof Collection via AP Photo)

Danusorn Sdisaithaworn, 10, poses for a portrait during an annual Poy Sang Long celebration, a traditional rite of passage for boys to be initiated as Buddhist novices, while he visits a relative's house outside Mae Hong Son, Thailand, April 4, 2018. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

Volunteers transport an inflated sphere into a canoe to be lowered in MacArthur Park Lake during the installation of Portraits of Hope's exhibition “Spheres at MacArthur Park” in Los Angeles, California August 21, 2015. The installation will feature about 3,000 inflatable hand-painted spheres. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Enthusiast Desirae Hepp, dressed as "Immortan Joe," poses for a portrait during Wasteland Weekend event in California City, California September 26, 2015. The four-day event has a post-apocalyptic theme and is inspired by the Mad Max movie franchise. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Tempering the violence of modern weaponry with charmingly rendered creatures, artist Xiau-Fong Wee captures a dark humor in her quirky drawings. While some of the weapons appear terrifyingly realistic, others such as in the ray gun wielding bunny portrait, speaks more to the fantastical worlds of science fiction. The anthropomorphic dispositions of the spectacle-wearing creatures also range in merry reverie to stern seriousness, adding to the delightful nature of these well-executed portraits. View more of the drawings below.

Young Legong dancer portrait, Ubud, Bali on October 25, 2023. While the childrens' parents are out working, in pursuits including farming, fishing and clothes making, their offspring spend the long sunny days making their own fun, and as these pictures show not a minute is wasted. (Photo by David Lazar/Animal News Agency)

“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)