NATURE'S MOST STUNNING SHAPES AND PATTERNS

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.'

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ABANDONED FARM HOUSE LEFT TO ROT

With a dust covered coat hung from a wardrobe door and a pair of glasses left on a shelf, a remote farmhouse lies abandoned in the Welsh countryside .

ADORABLE HARVEST MOUSE CLIMBS DANDELION

Surveying its surroundings, a tiny harvest mouse climbs the stem of a dandelion .

STUNNING ALICE IN WONDERLAND WEDDING RECEPTION

A couple celebrated tying the knot with a spectacular Alice in Wonderland-themed wedding reception .

INDONESIAN TRIBE UNTOUCHED BY MODERN LIFE

An Italian photographer travelled to the highlands of New Guinea where he met an Indonesian tribe untouched by the modern world .

FISHERMEN IN MYANMAR BALANCE ON ONE LEG

Fishermen in Myanmar have perfected an unusual fishing technique by carefully balancing on one leg .

TUNNEL FOR VICTORY

What lies beneath this building site? Britain's great hope of winning the pre-WW2 arms race against Nazi Germany .

MONKEY BATH

RAISING his foot into the air, this cheeky monkey offers an unusual wave .

CHEEKY GORILLA

A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .

FLYING PENGUINS LEAP OUT OF THE OCEAN

Leaping out of the ocean, a group of gentoo penguins fly through the air before landing safely on an iceberg .

BASHFUL ORANGUTAN

A young orangutan comes over all shy as she hides her face behind a broken bucket .

LONDON HELICOPTER CRASH

A helicopter has crashed landed in Central London .

CHILD SHEPHERDS OF THE SIMIEN MOUNTAINS

CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .