If you’re suffering from the mid-week blues, then taking a few minutes out of your day to marvel at some jaw-dropping photos is exactly what you need.

The photos of a peacock in full bloom, an elephant riding a penny farthing and a man swimming are among the first selection of entries to the Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition.

If these photos light a creative spark inside you, photo entries for the 2017 competition close on 5 January and 10 January.

The full rundown of deadlines are:

•        5 January 2017 – Open competition – best single images across 10 categories
•        5 January 2017 – Youth competition – best single image responding to a set brief by a photographer aged 12 – 19
•        5 January 2017 – National Awards – best single image from over 60 countries entered into the Open competition
•        10 January 2017 – Professional competition – 10 categories judged upon a body of work

All entries to the Sony World Photography Awards are free at www.worldphoto.org.

The 2016 competition received a record-breaking 230,103 images from 186 countries.