“Two Brothers”. We found about 20 lions eating a buffalo. When the male leaved the group we anticipated him to take photos. It is 8AM, light is perfect and the position too. The lion stops and looks down from the hill, another lion is coming up, it stiffens, I think that will be a fight, i'm tense, the camera is OK, the shots previously made perfect. The two meet, looking directly into their eyes, they sniff, rub against their heads, the tension drops, they start walking with the same step as when they were puppies, they are two brothers. Photo location: Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Massimo Mei/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Wide-angle category winner. Part of the Illusion by Marcus Blatchford (UK). Location: National Dive & Activity Centre, Chepstow, Wales. “This is the deepest inland dive centre in the UK. The dive plan was to explore the deep end, but this time I dived ‘unplugged’ (without my strobes). With the exception of this change to my camera technique, there were no planned shots I wanted to achieve – just a fun dive with ad-hoc photos along the way. Shortly after this photo was captured, in 6C water and two hours of decompression ahead of us, we turned and started the long ascent back to the surface”. (Photo by Marcus Blatchford/Underwater Photographer of the Year 2016)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

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)

An Indian woman reacts while performing yoga at a railway station on International Women's Day, organised by Heal-Station in association with Western Railway, in Mumbai, India, 08 March 2023. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Spot, a robot with dog-like movements, walks past a dog in Cathedral Square in Erfurt, Germany on April 20, 2021. Security service provider Ciborius, a provider of robotic security solutions with artificial intelligence, presented its artificial employee with high-resolution 360-degree all-round camera, ultra-bright LED light and a light detection system on Domplatz. (Photo by Michael Reichel/dpa)

Ivanelis Jimenez, front, and Veronica Barreto pose for the camera wearing Puerto Rican flag dresses as they welcome passengers exiting Carnival's Mardi Gras cruise ship, docked in the bay of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, August 3, 2021, marking the first time a cruise ship visits the U.S. territory since the COVID-19 pandemic began. (Photo by Carlos Giusti/AP Photo)

Japan's computer giant Fujitsu employee displays the world's first personal computer with Intel's RealSense 3D camera “FMV Esprimo” in Tokyo on October 9, 2014. The new desktop PC with 23-inch LCD display can make avatars which mimic the user's look and motion for chatting on the Internet. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)