Run by the Society of German Nature Photographers (Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotografen), the prestigious annual contest celebrates the best wildlife photography from members in Germany. Here: Landscapes, second place: Florian Smit, “Rainforest” (Danum valley, Borneo). (Photo by Florian Smit/2019 GDT Nature Photographer of the Year)

Dancers wait backstage during a dress rehearsal for the new “THE ONE Grand Show” at Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin, Germany, September 21, 2016. From silver body suits with giant mohawks to revealing fishnet tops with huge feathers, colourful, extravagant costumes take centre stage at a new theatrical show in Berlin. French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier has swapped the Paris runway for the German stage to create some 500 costumes for “THE ONE Grand Show”, an 11-million euro ($12.2 million) production showcasing plenty of singing, dancing and acrobatics. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

“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)

“Echus Chasma is a chasma in the Lunae Planum high plateau north of the Valles Marineris canyon system of Mars. Clay has been found in Echus Chasma that means that water once sat there for a time. Echus Chasma is approximately 100 km long and 10 km wide, with valleys ranging in depth from around 1 km to 4 km”. – Wikipedia

Photo: In this handout image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, 2008, The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, is pictured from ESA's Mars Express. The data was acquired on September 25, 2005. The dark material shows a network of light-coloured, incised valleys that look similar to drainage networks known on Earth. It is still debated whether the valleys originate from precipitation, groundwater springs or liquid or magma flows on the surface. (Photo by ESA via Getty Images)

Inhabitants of the community of Coyolillo celebrate their Afro-descendant carnival in Veracruz, Mexico on February 25, 2020. This carnival has more than 100 years of history and is the heritage of the African workers who arrived in that area more than 300 years ago to work in the sugar cane fields. (Photo by Hector Adolfo Quintanar Perez/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Double tornadoes, lightning storms and rotating supercells – this is what it's like to chase storms for a year. These dramatic images show apocalyptic weather throughout 2014 from a lightning storm to a pair of rainbows. Roger Hill, 57, has been chasing storms in the United States for thirty years and runs a tour operation with his wife Caryn. Here: a hailstorm rolls over fields, on July 22, 2014, in South Dakota. (Photo by Roger Hill/Barcroft Media)

A competitor calls with a shell at the German championships in Deer-Calling at the “Jagd & Hund” (hunting & dog) exhibition in Dortmund February 6, 2015. Competitors use specially designed instruments or ox horns to imitate the mating call of red deers. About 750 exhibitors will present their latest developments at the 34th “Jagd & Hund” exhibition, which runs from February 3 to February 8. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Sunday, February 15, 2015 a girl runs away from a “Mamuxarro” during the carnival, in the small town of Unanu, northern Spain. In the northern Spanish ancient village of Unamu, people dress up as “Mamuxarro”, folkloric figures in white with a red sash and a metal mask to cover their faces as they pursue townsfolk with sticks. According to custom, their “victims” (usually young women) must kneel and kiss the mamuxarro’s knee after he makes the sign of the cross on their forehead. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)