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.'

Other great stories
STORM CHASER PHOTOGRAPHS STUNNING EXTREME WEATHER

These photographs of extreme weather capture storms furiously rolling across the sky above America .

MONSTROUS WAVES DWARF DARE-DEVIL SURFERS

Gigantic 100ft waves create the perfect playground for dare-devil surfers from across the world .

ADORABLE STOAT HUNTS IN THE SNOW

DASHING through the snow, this little stoat is on the lookout for a Christmas feast .

AN OTTER-ONE BITES THE DUST

Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .

BEAR AND FOX IN SHOWDOWN

This is the moment a nimble red fox and a lumbering Alaskan brown bear were locked in a tense stand-off .

WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR

HOTSPOT MEDIA - WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR: WHILE most workers endure commuting chaos by road or rail everyday, one entrepreneur has come up with a novel way to get to the office - by KAYAK .

LIVING ON WATER: REFUGEES BUILD A LIFE AT SEA

SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .

BACKFLIPPING SHARK SOARS DURING SEAL HUNT

Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .

IN FLIGHT MEAL

This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .

FISH TSUNAMI

A TSUNAMI of predatory fish gather for their annual hunt .

INCREDIBLE PHOTOREALISTIC DRAWINGS CREATED WITH A BALLPOINT PEN

FROM a HOLLYWOOD actress to the face of an innocent child, these are incredible drawings with an unlikely twist .

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 .