Stunning photographs from around the world. Pictures of sailfish attacking a shoal of sardines to the pinnacle of Sgurr Dearg on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, this gallery has them all. The picture of a Hindu festival was mainly included because I am enraptured by the stunning sublime colours produced by the commingled light and smoke.
Main picture: Light and smoke commingle to cast a misty glow over devotees during Rakher Upobash, a Hindu fasting festival, in Bangladesh
The fastest fish in the ocean—the sailfish—hunting fish shoals
The summit of Sgurr Dearg, the Inaccessible Pinnacle, a famous feature of the Cuillin Ridge on Scotland’s Isle of Skye
The Nazca Lines in the Atacama Desert taken from a Cessna aircraft. The mystery of these lines which are only visible from above still mystifies
The mangroves of the Cayapas Mataje Mangrove Reserve in northwestern Ecuador are the tallest in the world
Walking between the mountain village of Kalaw and Inle Lake in Myanmar
A double rainbow captured in Vancouver Canada
Using the sun and an Arizona landscape a photographer creates this self-portrait
Lion cubs tussling in a play fight
This polar bear with its catch of the day in Kaktovik, Alaska
The fanged carniverous pitcher plant and the carpenter ant have a symbiotic relationship
Woodgate Frogmouths
Stormy weather sweeping the Arizona’s Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park landscape
Springboks pronking in delight in the Karoo, South Africa
Predawn sunlight strikes the Southern Rim of Arizona’s Grand Canyon
A panda climbs a leafless tree in the dead of winter
Moonlight floods snow-covered peaks in this high-altitude shot captured in the Tyrolean Alps
Buddha statues along the River Yi in China
Bushfire season in Australia
Late winter snow cascades down the rocky slopes of Valsavarenche valley in Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park
In the Bolivian salt desert turned into an almost perfect mirror due to a thin layer of water that accumulated on it overnight
High-foraging chamois in Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park
Fuego, a highly active volcano in Guatemala
Fireflies flash and streak through a Tennessee summer night
Evening snowfall at the Blue Pond in Biei in Hokkaido, Japan
Ermines in Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park shown here wearing its white winter coat
During the winter season some manatees find sanctuary from the chilly Gulf of Mexico by migrating to the freshwater springs of Kings Bay in Crystal River, Florida
Dispersing fog and a moment of sunshine bring the falls and foliage of Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes National Park into view on an early autumn morning
Cubs in India’s Ranthambore Tiger Reserve the cubs engage in several bouts of play-fighting
Coyote on a NY City Roof, now a resident
Cincinnati Fire Department recruits participate in a morning drill
Cabo Pulmo, a marine park off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula
Belén Cruz’s feathered costume represents the nandu, or rhea, sacred bird of the Suris in Argentina
An aurora photographed at Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon Iceland
A Northern Flicker along the Bow River in Fish Creek Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada
A bright-red Sally Lightfoot crab climbing onto an iguana
A doe moving through the dried up sunflowers, trying to hide
A fox in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park navigating confidently among the rocks, moving small ones with its paws and picking up food scraps
A grizzly bear stealing whitebark pine nuts from a squirrel’s cache
The wetlands of Gujarat, India, are thronged by millions of birds including flamingoes migrating south in winter