“Lofoten Glow”. I was desperately searching a good sunrise spot this particular morning. Normally Storvatnet Lake is completely covered in snow, so you can only imagine my surprise when I saw these crazy ice formations almost being shot out of the frozen lake. I put my crampons on and took a big risk walking out. I could hear the ice cracking underneath my feet, and when you’re all alone in a fjord/canyon like this – the cracks are echoed and sound really frightening. Was it worth it? I sure think so! Photo location: Storvatnet, Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway. (Photo and caption by Stian Klo/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A young woman dressed as a zombie takes part in a zombie parade as part of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2014 in Brussels, Belgium, 12 April 2014. More than a hundred of participants took to the streets of Brussels. (Photo by Ulien Warnand/EPA)

Tourists take a “selfie” as demonstrators burn a trash container during a May Day rally in Barcelona, Spain, on May 1, 2014. Tens of thousands of workers marked May Day in European cities with a mix of anger and gloom over austerity measures imposed by leaders trying to contain the eurozone's intractable debt crisis. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/Associated Press)

Last Friday, in Afghanistan's mountainous northeastern province of Badakhshan, an enormous landslide took place, burying much of a small village, and killing hundreds. Officials say that at least 300 residents of Abi Barik village were killed, but are uncertain about exact numbers, cautioning that the final number could be 500 or more. Rescue teams gave up hope on Saturday of finding any survivors, focusing energy on helping the hundreds suddenly made homeless. Many of the surviving families have struggled to get aid. Some have gone to nearby villages to stay with relatives or friends, while others have slept in tents provided by aid groups.

Inês Carvalho (C), accompanied by her sister and cousin, is helped by her aunt to dress up at Alfama neighborhood in Lisbon on June 12, 2014. Carvalho, 18, is one of the revelers from the Alfama march and every Saint Anthony's day, Lisbon's protector, she parades with several other typical neighborhoods of the city. (Photo by Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP Photo)

Wedding photographer, Josh Newton, has managed to turn a natural disaster into an amazing photo shoot opportunity. On June 7, 2014 Michael Wolber and April Hartley were getting ready to walk down the aisle in Rock Springs Ranch, Bend, Oregon, USA when firefighters alerted them to nearby wildfires gaining momentum and instructed them to flee to a safer location. Instead of leaving immediately, the wedding coordinator talked the firemen into letting the couple get married if they shortened the ceremony. “Everyone was on the edge of their seats”, says Newton, “it was so nerve racking!”. (Photo by Josh Newton/IMP)

A giant river otter, the world's largest otter species, looks out of its enclosure at the newly completed River Safari in Singapore, on March 25, 2013. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/Associated Press)

Typhoon Bopha moves toward the Philippines, observed from the ISS, on December 2, 2012. (Photo by AP Photo/NASA via The Atlantic)