Airplane Shadow, California

"It was a clear and beautiful day as I took off from San Francisco Airport heading eastbound," says Your Shot contributor Avani Agarwal, who spotted the plane's shadow while taking in the city from a window seat. "At first I thought it was another airplane, or some figment of my imagination," Agarwal says, "but I quickly realized it was my airplane's shadow and furiously grabbed for my camera," an iPhone.

Snowy Evening, Tokyo

"The snow season in Japan is long … but Tokyo receives only small amounts of snow," says Danilo Dungo, a member of our Your Shot community. Dungo captured this shot in Shibuya, a busy commercial district known for the crowds of crisscrossing pedestrians that stream over a large intersection. "My hand was numb and soaking wet," says Dungo, who tried "to capture the expressions of the people passing me by."

Cheetahs and Tourists, Kenya

When Yanai Bonneh saw a pair of cheetahs jump onto the top of a tourist vehicle, the Your Shot contributor "didn't think too much, only realized it was an unusual moment, pulled out my camera, and started clicking." For Bonneh, it was "the opportunity of a lifetime" during a visit to Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. "Later in the evening, I stopped on this photo, and what came out was only a big 'wow.'"

Festival Dancers, India

A cloud of marigold, rose, and jasmine petals envelops raas leela dancers during a Holi Festival performance in Vrindavan, India. According to Your Shot contributor Priyanka Telang, performers and organizers work hard to preserve the ancient dance, "a dramatic presentation of the events of Lord Krishna's childhood days." In the scene pictured, Lord Krishna celebrates Holi with friends, mostly female. "All the roles are played by male artists dressed up in female costumes," writes Telang. "Being a part of it and watching it live is one of the most wonderful and spiritual experiences—you are spellbound and everything in the world around you disappears … "

Jal Mahal, India

At Jal Mahal in Jaipur, India, a flock of pigeons burst into the sky just as Mahesh Balasubramanian was contemplating the landscape's misty backdrop. "It was an early morning, and I was roaming around Jal Mahal," says the Your Shot contributor. "I was in the right position to [capture] those floating structures' reflections, with one nearby and another a bit far, balancing the frame. The water was very still." The pigeons coming out of Jal Mahal surprised Balasubramanian, but "that is what made this shot for me."

Copper Plant, Congo

"The sun, like a magic wand, turned everything into copper," writes Your Shot contributor Loes Schalekamp, who worked as a safety manager at this copper plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's mineral-rich Katanga Province, known as the Copper Belt. "In this plant, copper is plated using blanks suspended in an acid-copper solution in electrowinning cells," Schalekamp writes. "In daylight the plant looks bland and gray … But I noticed, while doing my rounds, that as the sun sets it shines for just a few moments under the roof, seemingly turning everything to copper. It took a few goes to get all the elements together—the light, the people, and the blanks above the cells."

Winter Drive, Canada

Sebastien Lefebvre, a member of our Your Shot community, encountered difficult winter driving conditions while in search of snowy owls near Ottawa, Canada. "Heavy winds, blowing snow, and freezing temperatures proved very challenging for wildlife photography," he writes. "By constantly swapping batteries from inside my winter jacket in order to keep them warm, I was able to prevent the camera from locking up." Lefebvre didn't find any snowy owls that day but "still managed to come home with one decent shot."