Fix your gaze on 31 awesome photos from July 2014

By ANDREW TAVANI

The Duchess of Cambridge once again leads our roundup of the month's most memorable photos. (Back in May, a priceless photo snapped of her checking out a Maori warrior's ... ahem ... physique as she stood alongside Prince William was a big hit.) This time, Kate and her hubby were photographed in the midst of a strong reaction elicited by a turn in a women's field hockey game the two we're watching in Glasgow last week. The royal couple typically wears their emotions on their sleeves while viewing sporting events, the 'Today' show reported.

So, as the calendar turns from July to the dog days of August, look back at 31 awesome images from the month that was. The July edition takes you around the globe, from the heated competition of the World Cup in Brazil to the war zone and tragic site of the MH17 crash in Ukraine to an odd nearly 80-foot-tall inflatable toad on a lake in China that was meant to inspire enthusiasm for art, but backfired and instead triggered an Internet crackdown.

And there are plenty of great shots from America, too, including a cool, abstract image of President Obama's Marine One helicopter captured by Associated Press photographer J. David Ake, a once-in-a-lifetime shot of a cloud-to-ground lightning strike from the window of an airplane by Gina Hyams (a passenger on a Southwest flight heading into Denver) and a baseball player who managed to bunt a ball off of his own head.

Of her extraordinary lightning strike photo, Hyams says the pilot was circling while giving the thunderstorm time to pass and that gave her an opportunity to nail the shot. 'I pulled out my iPhone and did a photo burst and caught the shot,' she wrote in an email to AOL. 'I #gotlucky!'

Take a moment to view life on earth through the camera lens, and see you next month.

For 30 amazing photos from June, click here.

For 31 amazing photos from May, click here.

For 30 amazing photos from April, click here.

For 31 amazing photos from March, click here.

For 28 amazing photos from February, click here.