FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature. The series of extraordinary images were taken by German software engineer Thorsten Scheuermann after he decided to examine his surroundings. A trip to the city of Kalapana in Hawaii, home to the Kilauea Volcano, provided Thorsten with the setting for his lava picture, while a visit to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon offered him the opportunity to photograph ice bubbles up-close. The 37-year-old, now of Washington, USA, said: 'These are sights that can gain greater significance and have their beauty exposed when excluding everything else around them.'
A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .
CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .
A diver explores the crystal clear waters of the Silfra canyon in southern Iceland, which is the only place on Earth where you can dive or snorkel between two continental plates .
FLOATING effortlessly on his back, this little otter laps up a rare glimmer of English spring sunshine .
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book .
A TEN-THOUSAND square foot wide Avatar-style grove is such a beauty it will leave you feeling VINE .
A pair of chicks bravely decided to befriend a python, despite being the snake's favourite choice of food .
SPARKLING bright inside their box, it’s hard to believe these diamonds are made from the cremated remains of the deceased .
With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .
