A hogweed bonking beetle and yellow dung fly in a stalk standoff (the fly gave in), in Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire, England. (Photo by Rebecca Cole/Alamy Stock Photo)
Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)
In this July 10, 2014 photo, Chris Minore, of Orange, Conn., performs the under chop technique at the Adirondack Woodsmen's School at Paul Smith's College in Paul Smiths, N.Y. Eighteen young students in matching gray sports shirts took part recently in a weeklong crash course on old-school lumberjack skills such as sawing, chopping, ax throwing, log boom running and pole climbing. (Photo by Mike Groll/AP Photo)
The endangered antipodean albatross, which is often caught in fishing nets, won most first-choice votes out of the more than 55,000 votes cast during the 2020 New Zealand’s bird of the year competition. (Photo by Wildestanimal/Getty Images)
“Sunward”. When the Mediterrenean Mantis opened its wings, It seemed very impressive at the sunshine... Photo location: Nicosia, Cyprus. (Photo and caption by Hasan Baglar/National Geographic Photo Contest)
Oakland Athletics left fielder Tony Kemp (5) catches the ball during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California on August 22, 2022. (Photo by Stan Szeto/USA TODAY Sports)
Two men pull their boat over a railroad crossing in Nidderau-Eichen near Frankfurt, Germany, Friday, January 13, 2023. They came over the fields that were flooded by heavy rainfalls and continued their trip on the other side. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)