“After an afternoon of hiking and exploring the caves of Rhossili Bay, West Glamorgan, we caught the sun breaking through the clouds”. (Photo by Megan Warren-Davis/The Guardian)

Runner-up. “The heavens opened and the streets around Shibuya, Tokyo, were suddenly drenched in even more colour and movement. I was taking photos (my friend was holding the umbrella) when I noticed this woman at the crossing. I’m pleased with the futuristic feel of the image”. (Photo by Katherine Bridgestock/The Guardian)

Elephant fights off hyenas to save baby. “This is the incredible moment an elephant came to the rescue of one of its babies being attacked by a pack of hyenas. The elephant is seen charging at the hyenas to ward them off its offspring. The photos were captured by American photographer Jayesh Mehta, 47, in the Savuti region of the Chobe National Park in Botswana”. Photo: The elephant is seen charging at the hyenas to ward them off its offspring. (Photo by Jayesh Mehta/Caters News)

Two keepers at the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales struggle with Leonardo, an alligator snapping turtle weighing 45 kilos at the park in Gosford, NSW 2 July 2015. The 50cm long Leonardo – who was smuggled illegally into Australia and found in a Sydney sewer in November 2000 – was removed from his tank for an annual health check. And as a gesture to onlooking press photographers demonstrated his strength by snapping a piece of bamboo in half. (Photo by EPA/HO)

“One Third” – a project on food waste by an Austrian photography Klaus Pichler. According to a UN study one third of the world's food goes to waste – the largest part thereof in the industrialized nations of the global north. Equally, 925 million people around the world are threatened by starvation. The series “One Third” describes the connection between individual wastage of food and globalized food production.

Photo: Pineapple. Place of production: Guayaquil, Ecuador. Cultivation method: Outdoor plantation • Time of harvest: All- season. Transporting distance: 10.666 km (linear distance) • Means of transportation: Aircraft, truck. Carbon footprint (total) per kg: 11,94 kg • Water requirement (total) per kg: 360 l. Price: 2,10 € / kg. (Photo by Klaus Picher)

For her series “Dolce Vita in Hell”, Swiss photojournalist Stéphanie Buret headed to Eritrea and found a country struggling to haul itself out of oppression – but with its art deco buildings still looking stunning. (Photo by Stéphanie Buret/The Guardian)

People walk past a New Year fir tree made of toys at a park in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia January 2, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Aerial photography platform SkyPixel received 27,000 entries to its 2016 competition. Here are the winning shots plus some of our favourites. Here: Dam near perfect. Second prize in the same category was of the Huia Dam in Auckland, New Zealand. Hong Kong-based SkyPixel was launched in 2014. (Photo by Brendon Dixon/SkyPixel)