“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

“When you think of Darrell Eager, you think of a journeyman photographer with taste and a talent for conceptual thinking. Darrell's great at working with vague ideas and concepting back and forth until they become real and concrete, appropriate for each project”.

Close Encounter of the Insect Kind: “Check out the awesome face on this praying mantis. I can't get over the mouth, it's like something from a science fiction movie. Of all photographic styles macro is definitely my favorite. I am constantly amazed, in every photo that I take, by the intricate level of detail that exists on even the smallest of creatures. It's a stark reminder that a very complex and infinitely beautiful world exists just beyond our human-sized level of perception. Photo taken in Donnybrook, Queensland, Australia” – Andrew Young. (Photo by Andrew Young/National Geographic Photo Contest via The Atlantic)

A cyclist rides past a tumulus tomb in Gyeongju, South Korea on November 1, 2025. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

People wait for Pope Francis to celebrate mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Irbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2021. The Vatican and the pope have frequently insisted on the need to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and create the security, economic and social conditions for those who have left to return (Photo by Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)

People drink in the street in the Soho area of London, on April 12, 2021 as coronavirus restrictions are eased across the country in step two of the government's roadmap out of England's third national lockdown. Britons on Monday toasted a significant easing of coronavirus restrictions, with early morning pints – and much-needed haircuts – as the country took a tentative step towards the resumption of normal life. Businesses including non-essential retail, gyms, salons and outdoor hospitality were all able to open for the first time in months in the second step of the government's roadmap out of lockdown. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP Photo)

Clash of the storms, New Mexico, US by Camelia Czuchnicki. “A clash between two storm cells in New Mexico, US, each with its own rotating updraft. The curved striations of the oldest noticeable against the new bubbling convection of the newer. It was a fantastic sight to watch and it’s the rarity of such scenes that keep drawing me back to the US Plains each year”. (Photo by Camelia Czuchnicki/Weather Photographer of the Year 2016)

A ballet dancer poses in a giant plastic bubble as she entertains Christmas shoppers in Melbourne on December 13, 2020. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)