Lightning bolts illuminate the ash cloud from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain in Chile. Photographer Ricardo A. Mohr Rioseco's images, taken on 5 June, have recently won plaudits from National Geographic. He explains: "They were taken on at 21:30, two days after the beginning of the Caulle volcano eruption. It was very loud and dark in the night but I decided to find a good place to take some picture of the eruption at night. The power of the eruption and the lightning was very frightening, but the pictures obtained were able to reflect all the energy that we have under our feet." Monica Corcoran, National Geographic senior photo editor, said of the images: "Sometimes taking a step back makes all the difference. Instead of zooming in on the eruption, the photographer wisely chose to show all of the layers, complexity, and power of nature."

Credit : Ricardo A. Mohr Rioseco / Rex Features