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 .
FROM KISSING an alligator on the nose to walking over broken glass, this fearless daredevil is a real life female JACKASS .
A diving guide leaves a shark completely docile and balanced in the palm of his hand .
Swimming side by side with divers, these manatees will do anything they can to stay warm .
AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .
A blanket of fog is lit up by the colourful glowing lights of the city below .
FROM A mini table and chairs to a detailed violin, it’s hard to believe these incredible sculptures are all carved into the nib of PENCILS .
FULL OF STUNNING colours and swirling shapes, the furrows on these fields create a mix of mesmerising patterns .
HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .
HUDDLED together on a branch, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls soak up the sun .
TUGGING on the wing of his sibling, this needy owl is after some attention .
This was the chaotic scene when the driver of a 4x4 vehicle became periously trapped under his vehicle for an HOUR when it overturned after a crash on a busy motorway .