Doug Perrine / Bioluminescence from glowing plankton in sea tide line on beach, with stars above and ship lights on horizon, Vaadhoo Island, Raa Atoll, Maldives, Indian Ocean, October 2010

SCOTLAND: The Big Picture / Close up of a colony of Jewel anemones (Corynactis viridis) Scotland, UK, October.

Ross Hoddinott / Close-up of backlit Porcelain fungus (Oudemansiella mucida) showing gills, Golith Falls, Bodin, Cornwall, UK. September.

Jurgen Freund / Timelapse of a Strangler fig (Ficus virens) at night lit by the moon, known as the Curtain Fig Tree, this individual is over 500 years old, Atherton Tablelands, Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Queens...

Klein & Hubert / Head portrait of young domestic Landrace pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), organic open air breeding, Germany.

Michel Poinsignon / Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) catching fish in lake, Pusztaszer, Hungary, April

Wim van den Heever / Lion (Panthera leo) male with scars photographed with side-lit spot light at night. Greater Kruger National Park, South Africa, April.

Pedro Narra / Scientists observing lava and ash plume erupting from Fogo Volcano, Fogo Island, Cape Verde, 29th November 2014.

Erlend Haarberg / Woman pulling a sledge up a slope, Rapadalen, Sarek National Park, Laponia, Sweden, March 2015.

Nuno Sa / Long snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) in captive breeding laboratory at University of Algarve, Portugal. June 2010. Overall winner of the Underwater Photographer of the Year competition 2015.

Paul Hobson / Glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca) at night, Cambridgeshire, England, UK, August.

Pal Hermansen / Herd of domesticated Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) moving around, Norway, September.

Wim van den Heever / Quiver tree forest (Aloe dichotoma) at night with stars and the Milky Way, Keetmanshoop, Namibia.

Wim van den Heever / Lion (Panthera leo) male in darkness, Okavango Delta, Botswana.

Alex Mustard / Backlit detail of branching fire coral (Millepora alcicornis) showing the hair like polyps, filled with stinging nematocysts. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Caribbean Sea.

Alex Mustard / Red eye medusa (Polyorchis penicillatus) with hitchhiking amphipods (Hyperia medusarum). Browning Pass, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. North East Pacific Ocean.

Bence Mate / Leafcutter ants (Atta sp) colony harvesting a banana leaf, Costa Rica. 3rd place in the Insects and Spiders category of the Terre Sauvage Nature Images Awards competitions 2015.

Steve Downer / Yellow slug (Limax flavus) back lit embryo moving around in egg case.

Alex Hyde / Round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) backlit at sunset. Isle of Mull, Scotland. June. Highly commended in the Botanical Britain Category of the British Widllife Photography Awards (BWPA) Competi...

Colin Varndell / Badger (Meles meles) with face lit up at sunset. Dorset, UK July.

Sven Zacek / Eilean Donan Castle lit up at twilight with dark clouds. Scotland, UK, September 2013.

Steve Downer / Banded snail (Cepaea nemoralis) on rear of a backlit rose leaf, controlled conditions.

Andy Rouse / Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus cristatus) courtship dance Cardiff, UK, March.

Solvin Zankl / By-the-wind sailor (Velella velella) colony. Sargasso Sea, Bermuda.

Konrad Wothe / View up into canopy with sun rays shining through the leaves, lowland rainforest, Panguana Reserve, Huanuco province, Amazon basin, Peru.

Juan Carlos Munoz / Tourists looking down onto underground stream, from illuminated pathway, Skocjan Caves, Green Karst, Slovenia, October 2014.

Staffan Widstrand / Great white egret (Egretta alba or Ardea alba) catching cyprionid fish or carp in fish farm, Pusztaszer Protected Landscape, Kiskunsagi, Hungary, May

Mark MacEwen / Firefly squid (Watasenia scintillans) close to beach during mating season. Toyama Bay, Japan.

Mark MacEwen / Japanese firefly (Luciola cruciata) light trails at night above stream in rural Japan. June.

Yukihiro Fukuda / Light trails of Japanese fireflies (Hotaria parvula and Luciola cruciata), Nichinan-chou, Tottori, Japan, July, Endemic species.

Claudio Contreras / Boat on canal between chinampas, a wetland agricultural system. Xochimilco wetlands, Mexico City, September

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) in mud collecting nesting material, collecting nesting material, with golden bokeh affect in puddle, Svalbard, Norway, June.

Chris & Monique Fallows / Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) flying off coast of South Georgia Island.

Erlend Haarberg / Herb-paris (Paris quadrifolia), Norway, June.

Alex Hyde / European Cave Spider (Meta menardi) in limestone cave. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. January.

Alex Hyde / Cave Cricket female (Troglophilus cavicola) on the side of stalactite in limestone cave. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. January.

Alex Hyde / Egg sac of European Cave Spider (Meta menardi) suspended from roof of limestone cave. Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. January.

Orsolya Haarberg / Northern lights above the pine forest, Gjenvollhytta, Klaebu. Sor-Trondelag, Norway. March 2013.

Markus Varesvuo / Willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus), Kiilopaa, Inari, Finland, January.

Floris van Breugel / Aurora Borealis over yellow tent lit from within and mountainous scenery, Arrigetch Peaks, Gates of the Arctic National Park, Brooks Range, Alaska, USA, August 2014.

Floris van Breugel / Ice cave with melt water running through, Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska, USA, August 2014.

Floris van Breugel / Aurora borealis / Northern Lights seen from entrance to tent, Brooks Range, Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska, USA, September 2014.

Alex Hyde / Long exposure of light trail from bioluminescent click beetle (Pyrophorus sp) walking on ground at night. Danum Valley Sabah, Borneo.

Alex Hyde / Cup fungus (Cookeina sp) Danum Valley, Sabah, Borneo.

Markus Varesvuo / Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix) displaying with breath vapor at dawn, Utajarvi, Finland, April

David Noton / Stars and Milky Way over Durdle Door and the Jurassic Coast, with the lights of Weymouth and Portland beyond, Dorset, England, UK, December 2013.

Denis-Huot / Three Lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor) silhouetted in front of geyser, Lake Bogoria National Reserve, Kenya.

Radomir Jakubowski / Lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus), Bavaria, Germany, May. 2nd Prize in the Melvita Nature Images Awards competition 2014.