The winners of The London’s Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year for 2013 have finally been unveiled. Selected from almost 43,000 entries from 96 countries, the winners offer a glimpse of the stunning array of natural beauty on our planet. Photo: Canada: “Lucky pounce”. “Anticipating the pounce – that was the hardest part”, says Connor, who had come to Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, in search of wildlife as much as the spectacular landscape. He had found this fox, his first ever, on his last day in the park. It was so absorbed in hunting that Connor had plenty of time to get out of the car and settle behind a rock. It quartered the grassland, back and forth, and then started staring intently at a patch of ground, giving Connor just enough warning of the action to come. When it sprung up, Connor got his shot. And when it landed, the fox got his mouse. (Photo by Connor Stefanison/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013)

In this January 8, 2015 photo, a monk Kenmyo Muta bows at the condominium construction site and the gate of Sengakuji temple in Tokyo. The “47 ronin” samurai who inspired the long-loved saga of loyalty and honor eulogized in films, books and plays are fighting a new kind of battle in urban Japan. An apartment complex is going up next to the curved tile-roofed Sengakuji temple where the three-century-old graves of the ronin, or masterless samurai, lie. The banner reads: “We only hope to protect landscape of Sengakuji temple”. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Intrigued by photographing time, Singapore-based photographer Fong Qi Wei created single, composite pictures from a sequence of images spanning 2-4 hours. He concentrated on capturing sunrises and sunsets as they evolved over different landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes. He then digitally stitched the images together to get a snapshot of time passing over the scene for his series “Time is a Dimension”. “Most paintings and photographs are an instance of time”, Wei explained in his artist’s statement. “That’s not the way the world works. We experience a sequence of time, and that’s why a video is somehow more compelling than a freeze frame”. (Photo by Fong Qi Wei/Thoughtful Photography)

Memory Suitcases is a thought-provoking series by Israeli artist Yuval Yairi that uses old, worn suitcases as canvases for nostalgic landscapes. Like scenes out of one's memory, the propped up traveling cases feature a range of sepia-toned settings. The series presents the objects as though they are relics of a civilization from yesteryear, each with their own story to tell.
There's something both heartbreaking and sentimental about the images. It appears to tell a number of stories of leaving one lifestyle for another. The suitcases hold within them a picture show of memories from a life-altering journey. Like a number of his other works, Memory Suitcases "mimics the natural process of memory."

Touching and dramatic portraits and landscape shots have won prizes at Australia's prestigious photography prize. Photo: Winner of the NSW (New South Wales) prize: Peter Solness said: “I wanted to re-imagine the lost waterways, so I got my light-painting tools to work. In this image, water is being released from the top of the historic Centennial Park No. 2 Reservoir, which was built in 1925 and holds 90 megalitres of water. After 89 years of incarceration these waters now run free!”. (Photo by Peter Solness/Head On)

“I'm Josh Fancher, a 21 year old with an avid interest in photography, including macro, nature and wildlife, night photography, landscapes, cityscapes and architectural photography. Inspired by the beautiful and amazing water drop photography of Martin Waugh, I started doing water drop collisions in December of 2007. I use a 105mm Micro Nikkor lens for water drops, along with a pair of Nikon SB 600 flashes. I recently got a StopShot system (Nov 2009), which makes timing a lot easier. Before then, timing was manual, with an eye dropper, eye-hand coordination, and a lot of patience” – Josh Fancher. (Photo by Josh Fancher)

Usually, we can only expect mischief from a group of overactive students. However, three talented students from Germany have amazed us with their dedication for beautifying their hometown. The electrical towers were always considered to be big ugly things. Most of the time, the electrical towers look awkward and completely ruin the beautiful landscape behind them. Nevertheless, the young minds have thought of a way to turn these towers into multicolored lighthouses, which immediately draw the attention of all the passersby and look as if they were brought here from a different world. All that was needed to achieve this was a little bit of imagination, colored plastic, and some spare time. Let us hope that this is only the beginning of the journey of these young artists. (Photo by Günter Pilger)

Kevin Russ, a photographer & image moderator for iStockphoto, grew up in Arroyo Grande, California. In 2003, he made the move to Portland, planning to study at Multnomah Bible College. Finding the workload to be minimal, Kevin invested in a camera, filling his free time and finding himself instantly smitten with the craft. A year and a half later, photography had evolved into his full-time job. However, after 4 years of consistent portrait work, Kevin became burnt out and took a step back from photography altogether. Two years later, he picked up the camera again and now spends the majority of his time on the road, exploring & photographing the rustic landscapes & wildlife he encounters.