Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

Spanish Patrulla Aguila (C-101), aerobatic demonstration team of the Spanish Air Force performs during the Radom Air Show at an airport in Radom, Poland August 23, 2015. (Photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

Laborers lay down upon a field to cut off the tulips that remained uncut by the tractor in Den Helder, Netherlands April 22, 2017. (Photo by Cris Toala Olivares/Reuters)

When Colin Garratt went to photograph the traditional sentinels of the British countryside, he found they ranged from the dapper to the downright sinister. “They are not from the anaesthetised world of the craft fair”, says Colin Garratt, “but are the direct descendants of the ancient spectres which have haunted the landscape for centuries”. The Scarecrow Exhibition is at Geddes Gallery, London, from 25 to 30 March. (Photo by Colin Garratt)

Children play amid icebergs on the beach in Nuuk, Greenland, June 5, 2016. (Photo by Alister Doyle/Reuters)

“I was on Durga Puja Festival vacation, travelling on a local train. A boy was singing devotional song and begging for alms. He was guised as a Hindu god, Lord Shiva. This is a common view in Indian trains but this boy was charming, bright and did have a melodious voice. My camera was ready hanging on my neck so I took a picture”. (Photo and caption by Arup Ghosh/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

Aerial view huge cliff rockfall at East Cliff at West Bay in Dorset, UK which happened overnight and has blocked the beach below on December 30, 2024. Golfers can be seen playing on the 15th green at Bridport & West Dorset Golf Club which is next to the latest landslip. The cliff has had frequent rockfalls in the past year which forced Dorset Council at the beginning of 2024 to close the South West Coast Path which runs along the top of the cliff due to safety concerns. (Photo by Graham Hunt/BNPS)

The Angel of The North at Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, UK with a halo drawn in sky using a light on a drone, captured during a 25-second exposure on January 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)