With luminous colours and alien- like features, these magical mushrooms look like they belong on another planet. These mesmorising pictures, however, capture the beautiful variety of fungi here on Earth. The incredible images were taken by Australian photographer Stephen Axford, 62, after he became familiar with the importance of fungi in everyday life, and decided to document it twelve years ago..
A TEN-THOUSAND square foot wide Avatar-style grove is such a beauty it will leave you feeling VINE .
STARING intently into the camera, a polar bear appears to be lost in thought while relaxing in the snow .
ROLLING across a 65-metre-high viaduct in the Alps, the red carriages of the Bernina Express add a splash of colour to the spectacular snow-covered Swiss surroundings .
A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .
WITH A wide smile plastered across his face, this little gecko is ready for his close up .
Surveying its surroundings, a tiny harvest mouse climbs the stem of a dandelion .
BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .
SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .
A BRITISH couple are the first to tie the knot inside an enormous GLACIER in Iceland .
WITH THEIR adorable big round eyes and fluffy white fur, these baby seals are cute enough to melt any heart .