Tony North; First place, Breathing Spaces; Overall Winner; Blue Tajinaste, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. “Echium thyrsiflorum is endemic to the mountains of La Palma island – from high up, there was a magnificent view of both the caldera below, and the stars above. The Unesco La Palma biosphere reserve encompasses the entire island, with the Caldera de Taburiente containing mountains with a highest peak of 2,426 metres – the Roque de los Muchachos”. (Photo by Tony North/IGPOTY)

The galactic core of the Milky Way glows brightly in the clear night sky above St Catherine?s Chapel at Abbotsbury in Dorset, UK on August 2, 2024. (Photo by Graham Hunt/Alamy Live News)

An aerial view shows a packed parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, November 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (Photo by Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

A giraffe appears almost to be doing the splits as it bends to drink at a watering hole on a reserve in Mkuze, South Africa in September 2023. (Photo by Peter Batty/Solent News)

A family of children share a bath in Japan, circa 1965. (Photo by Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Iraqi paramilitary troops fire towards Islamic State militants during a battle with Islamic State militants on the outskirts of the ancient city of Hatra near Mosul,Iraq April 26, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

“The Challenge!” Young boy relishes in a game of tug of war before school. Photo location: Lake Titicaca, Peru. (Photo and caption by Paul Heyman/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Kevin and Merith Starren have their picture taken by Merith's brother Mark Ernst (R) and nephew Logan Ernst (L) in front of a 50-foot snowman named “Granddaddy” in Gilman, Minnesota, March 6, 2014. (Photo by Eric Miller/Reuters)