It’s a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, where two stallions fight over a female to ring the Chinese new year. And when it’s the Year of the Horse, the fights are considered to be even more significant. They’re held in small villages across southern China and have been condemned by animal rights groups, including Hong-Kong based Animals Asia. But those who participate in the events defend the fights and insist they take care of the animals.

Physicist Arie van't Riet uses a series of duel X-ray cameras to capture flowers, plants and small animals in living dioramas. The x-rays are then finished and colorized in Photoshop. Giving way to some breathtaking nature scenes. Photo: “Chameleon and Begonia”. (Photo by Arie van't Riet)

They say the great photographers are out of bed before sunrise and always late for dinner. Photographer Alex Robciuc does just that; waking at 5 AM to capture the gorgeous morning light spilling over a small county in Transylvania, Romania. This dedication to early rising and sticking around for the "perfect light" has offered Alex some seriously beautiful landscape images.

Dargavs is a small necropolis outside the village of Dargavs in North Ossetia-Alania. It comprises 99 different tombs and crypts. It is often called city of the dead. Some sources say the oldest of the crypts dates back to the 12th century, though others say the oldest crypt dates back to 14th century and some say it dates to the 16th century. At the back of the complex there is a tower, though the top of it is destroyed.

Hunter Chiaki Kodama guts a deer in a shed in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, November 17, 2016. A small but growing number of Japanese women enter the male-dominated world of hunting, where it was once taboo for men to even speak to a woman before going on a hunt. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Customer Andreas Kroker looks at a 3D-printed figure of himself at the Twinkind 3D printing studio in Berlin, December 13, 2013. A 3D-printed likeness is produced by taking a 360 degree photographic scan of a person, which is then rendered into a 3D digital model and retouched to meet the requirements for printing. The printing machine uses this digital model to produce a high-resolution solid figure. Twinkind co-founder Timo Schaedel said, people often come to the session well-groomed, with fresh hair-cuts and their best clothes, “just as they used to do in the past, when they had their portrait taken in a photo studio”. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

“Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) has achieved fame in her homeland and that fame is now spreading to other parts of the world as more and more people become familiar with her beautiful paintings. This Taiwanese artist depicts these beautiful ladies in classic, traditional dress that would have been worn by members of the royal court or an empress herself. Traditional hair styles and jewelry depicted in her pieces are also considered authentic. Der Jens art can be found in Chinese advertising, childrens magazines, romance novels, tarot cards, and even on public transit tickets. Its also making its way to our pcs as desktop wallpaper”.

Photo: Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) – “The beauty of Brocade” (please click to enlarge).