Shortlisted: Pooyan Shadpoor, Houcheraghi. While walking along the shore of Larak, Iran – an island in the Persian Gulf – Shadpoor came across this luminous scene. The “magical lights of (the) plankton ... enchanted me so that I snapped the shot”, he writes. (Photo by Pooyan Shadpoor/2016 EPOTY)

Astronaut Donald R. Pettit would often rig an array of as many as six cameras in the cupola windows and set them all to fire continuously for events such as sunsets, which only last around seven seconds on the ISS. (Photo by Donald R. Pettit)

Jennifer Lawrence reacts as she poses backstage with her Oscar after winning the best actress award for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook” at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, February 24, 2013. Lawrence reacted to some photographers telling her to watch her step as she went onto the platform. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Harris & Ewing Inc. photographed people, events, and architecture, particularly in Washington, D.C., during the period 1905-1945. Photo: Tests of Curtiss Palne for Army, Single Control. Created by Harris & Ewing. Published in 1912.

Vivid colors and bizarre shapes come together in a false-color image that could be an illustration for a fantasy story. This labyrinth of exotic features winds its way along the edge of Russia’s Chaunskaya Bay in northeastern Siberia, seen as a vivid blue half-circle at the bottom of the image Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn opens into the Arctic Ocean. Ribbon lakes and bogs are present throughout the area, created by depressions left by receding glaciers. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

Indian girls apply colored powder on each other as they wear protective masks as a precautionary measure against coronavirus, during Holi festival celebrations in Bhopal, India, 26 March 2021. Holi marks the beginning of the spring season. Holi will be celebrated as the Hindu spring festival of colors across the country on 29 March. (Photo by Sanjeev Gupta/EPA/EFE)

Ecuador's Ronald Zabala G., riding, Forever Young Wundermaske, fall off their horse during the Equestrian Cross Country competition at Chateau de Versailles for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Versailles, France. (Photo by Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo)

The Liberty Flames take the field before a football game against the Florida International University Panthers at Williams Stadium on October 08, 2024 in Lynchburg, Virginia. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)