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.'
STARING eagerly into the camera, this little toad is full of curiosity .
AN EXERCISING turtle and an ice-skating chick are hardly everyday exploits in the animal community .
STOOD side by side next to a busy road, these buildings were once bustling with life .
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .
This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .
With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
THESE are the Disney Princesses you wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley .
THESE kaleidoscopic-like photographs capture England’s churches and cathedrals in all their glory .
SNUGGLED up in the hay away from the elements, this adorable hoglet has sought solace with a familiar friend .