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 PLAZA HOTEL

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DAREDEVIL DIVERS HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME

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POLAR BEAR STRETCHES

Raising his arms above his head and lying flat on his back, a polar bear stretches as he sprawls out across the ice .

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 .

FIREFLIES ILLUMINATE AN ENCHANTING FOREST IN TAIWAN

Like a scene from a fairytale, THOUSANDS of fireflies create an enchanting glow as they dance in a forest .

LONDON LANDSCAPES PHOTOGRAPHED FROM ROOFTOPS

A British photographer has captured the beauty of London in a stunning series of landscapes shots .

TUNNELS OF WAVES

With blue waves tumbling over them, these surfers glide underneath a tunnel of water .

DAZZLING BEAUTY OF THE MILKY WAY ABOVE UK AND ITALY

A photographer has captured stunning photographs of the Milky Way above picturesque landscapes in the UK and Italy .

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An artist has transformed traditional Thanksgiving dinners into mini-masterpieces .