David Nickerson, 28, competes dressed as artist Bob Ross, during the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California October 26, 2013. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
Timbuktu: A UN peacekeeper from Burkina Faso stands guard at the Djinguereber mosque, built in the 14th century, during a visit by a UN delegation on election day in Timbuktu, Mali, July 28, 2013. (Photo by Joe Penney/Reuters)
Takehiko Yagi is a rising star in Japanese photography, and his vibrant pictures of the Hindu spring festival of Holi won the Grand Prize at the fourth annual Nikkei National Geographic Photo Prize. Diving into the Colors of Holi is his first exhibition in the US, on show at Foto Care Gallery in New York until 28 September, 2016. Here: Jaipur, India, 2013, (Photo by Takehiko Yagi/The Guardian)
Tommy Lindsey holds an enormous maple leaf that he found in Mount Vernon, Wash., October 28, 2013. Lindsey was walking with his family when he picked up the leaf that is more than two feet from stem to tip and more than 21 inches wide. (Photo by Frank Varga/The Skagit Valley Herald)
Two women look at a mobile phone as they stand on Tiananmen Square during a sand storm in heavily polluted weather in Beijing on February 28, 2013. Beijing residents were urged to stay indoors as pollution levels soared before a sandstorm brought further misery to China's capital. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)
A man poses with his water buffalo during “Mekepung” traditional water buffalo race on July 28, 2013 in Jembrana, Bali, Indonesia. Meaning “to chase around”, Mekepung was originally designed as a fun game for peasants to spend their free time when the harvest time was ended, as they were waiting for the start of the planting season. (Photo by Putu Sayoga)
Rob, a British man in his late 20's in Magaluf, Majorca on his stag party, kisses a participant in a wet t-shirt competition hosted at Mambo's Terrace on June 28, 2013. (Photo by Peter Dench/Getty Images Reportage)
It’s time to start watching for Comet PANSTARRS, one of two comets to get excited about in 2013. Photo: This image provided by NASA shoaws the comet PANSTARRS as seen from Mount Dale, Western Australia on March 5, 2013. According to NASA on March 10, it will make its closest approach to the sun about 28 million miles (45 million kilometers) away. As it continues its nightly trek across the sky, the comet may get lost in the sun's glare but should return and be visible to the naked eye by March 12. (Photo by AP Photo/NASA)