“Tough Times for Orangutans”. Nature, first prize stories. Tim Laman, USA. Location: West Kalimantan, Indonesia. A Bornean orangutan climbs over 30 meters up a tree in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, August 12, 2015. The lives of wild orangutans are brought to light. Threats to these orangutans from fires, the illegal animal trade and loss of habitat due to deforestation have resulted in many orphan orangutans ending up at rehabilitation centers. (Photo by Tim Laman/World Press Photo Contest)

A hot air balloon in the likeness of Yoda from Star Wars prepares for liftoff at the 21st Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival at the former Clark US Air Force base in Pampanga Province, Philippines on February 9, 2017. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

High-wire artist Kane Petersen successfully walks a tightrope 300 metres above the ground at Eureka Skydeck on September 16, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. The walk was the highest tightrope walk ever attempted in the Southern Hemisphere. The stunt is to mark the arrival of the film “The Walk” to Australian cinemas in October. The stunt saw Kane mimic the film's French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who successfully walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia plays a backhand return to Maria Sharapova of Russia during their women's singles final match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, January 10, 2015. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Fishermen pull up a live 2.5 metre crocodile in their net in the Western Amazon region, Brazil on September 20, 2017. The fishermen were fishing for a large river fish called Arapaima but sometimes crocodiles become stuck in the nets as well. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)

“Woman with Umbrella in Rain” by Raimund von Stillfried. Artist: Kusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841–1934), 1870s. Commercial photography studios in Meiji-era Japan were renowned for the subtlety and refinement of their coloring techniques. This hand-tinted image of a young woman caught in a heavy rainstorm achieved its naturalistic effect by knitting together multiple strands of artifice: the greenery in the foreground was a studio prop; the flaps of the kimono were suspended by thin wires to create the impression of a strong wind; and long, diagonal marks were made on the negative to suggest streaks of rain. (Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

“Artist of the light”. While shooting sunrise in the Vermilion lakes area of Banff national park, Canada, I met a fellow photographer on the scene. Most of the time, we tried not to get in each other's way, however, just by accident, I snapped a picture with him in it working on his tripod settings, and it turned out to be a great photo compared to my sunrise shots. (Photo and caption by Victor Liu/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Riot police use a water cannon to disperse LGBT rights activist before a Gay Pride Parade in central Istanbul, Turkey, June 28, 2015. Turkish police fired water cannon and rubber pellets to disperse a crowd gathered in central Istanbul for the city's annual gay pride parade, a Reuters cameraman at the scene said. The police appeared intent on stopping the crowd gathering near Taksim Square, the cameraman said. Taksim is a traditional rallying ground for demonstrators and saw weeks of unrest in 2013. (Photo by Kemal Aslan/Reuters)