“After taking LSD. I lighting up a candle in the middle of the wood and during the 30 secondes of exposure, i make a meditation about the holism of nature surrounding me. Feeling the crystal vibration irradiating from the center of the Gaia mother earth. So in this picture i try to show you the magic, sacred metaphysical quality of the nature and new age bullshiting you”. – Benoit Paillé. (Photo by Benoit Paillé)

Those lights are actually bioluminescent shrimp, better known as sea fireflies, or, in Japan, as “umibotaru”. Visible every year from May until the end of October, they live in the sand around very shallow sea water and are often seen floating between the extremes of high and low tides. Here: Bioluminescent sea fireflies glittering like diamonds on the rocks and sand. Okayama, Japan. July 2016. (Photo by Trevor Williams/Jonathan Galione/Getty Images)

Alexandra Crockett, a musician and jewelry designer, has been present and active in the metal community since the age of 15 and is currently a doctoral student in the Bay Area. Beginning her idea for the book by doing promotional photos for bands and friends she would cat-sit for, she found an interesting dynamic between men in the metal scene and their cats. The idea for the book formed around giving accolades to local musicians and artists in the metal scene, while also bringing to light no-kill shelters and their importance for animal rights.

The annual calendar features stunning shots of lighting, cloud formations and the aurora australis. Hundreds of photographers from every Australian state and territory submitted images to the Bureau of Meteorology for selection in the year’s calendar, with only the best chosen to represent the full spectrum of Australian weather. Here: April. A path through the clouds between Townsville and Richmond, Queensland. (Photo by Captain Victoria Harrison/Australian Bureau of Meteorology)

A Chinese man wears a mask to protect against pollution as he waits at a red light while commuting to work in heavy smog on December 8, 2015 in Beijing, China. The Beijing government issued a 'red alert' for the first time since new standards were introduced earlier this year as the city and many parts of northern China were shrouded in heavy pollution. Levels of PM 2.5, considered the most hazardous, crossed 400 units in Beijing, lower than last week, but still nearly 20 times the acceptable standard set by the World Health Organization. The governments of more than 190 countries are meeting in Paris to set targets on reducing carbon emissions in an attempt to forge a new global agreement on climate change. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

“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.

Syrian girls carry bags with bread as people queue up outisde a bakery in a rebel held neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo on July 12, 2016. Since mid-2012, Aleppo has been roughly divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east, and has suffered enormous destruction in the war that has killed more than 280,000 people nationwide. Last week, a government advance brought regime troops within firing range of the Castello Road, the only remaining supply route into the opposition-held east, effectively severing rebel neighbourhoods from the outside world. With their route to the outside world cut, there is no new flour coming to the city's bakeries, and fuel to light their ovens is also now hard to find. (Photo by Karam Al-Masri/AFP Photo)

Convicts showcase creations during a fashion show at female penal colony No 10 in the village of Gornoye, Primorye Territory, Russia on June 7, 2017. Prisoners of the colony sew clothes at a garment factory and every year they celebrate Day of Light Industry by presenting the clothes they made. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)