A Vietnamese woman, wearing the traditional “ao dai” long dress, poses for photos along peach blossom flowers ahead of the Vietnamese “Tet” (Lunar New Year festival), in a field in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 2, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

Four hundred buyers from around the world join 260 diamond manufacturing and trading firms on International Diamond Week as some 1,500 people are expected to trade more than billion of polished diamonds this week in Ramat Gan, Israel on February 16, 2016. The Israel Diamond Exchange is considered the most secure in the world, covering an area of 100,000 square meters with 3,500 bourse members. (Photo by Nir Alon via ZUMA Wire)

Second Place Winner: “Thunderstorm at False Kiva”. I hiked out to these ruins at night hoping to photograph them with the Milky Way, but instead a thunderstorm rolled through, creating this dramatic image. – Max Seigal. National Geographic Traveler Director of Photography Dan Westergren, one of this year's judges, shares his thoughts on the second place winner: “This photo combines two different scenes into one: the small kiva in a cliff dwelling and the grand vista of Canyonlands National Park across the valley. I really like the two different color palettes – warm inside and purple outside. This two-for-one scene was caused by the lightning storm outside the dwelling, which lit up the landscape like it was a huge electronic flash. Looking at this picture I can imagine what a wonderful sight it must have been for the ancient people who lived here. It doesn't seem too amazing now in our modern world, but might have been mind-blowing for the prehistoric residents”. Location: Utah. (Photo and caption by Max Seigal/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

The antennas of the European Southern Observatory's Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array, also known as ALMA, are set against the splendor of the Milky Way in this picture by Babak Tafreshi. Construction of the full ALMA array is due to be completed in Chile's Atacama Desert in 2013, but the facility is already making scientific observations with a partial array of antennas. (Photo by ESO/B. Tafreshi/TWAN)

World War II veteran Jack W. Schlegel, 91 years-old, from Mount Tremper, New York, of the 508th Parachute Infantry Division of the 82nd Airborne who parachuted near Sainte-Mere-Eglise on June 6,1944, poses with American and French flags as he visits the American War cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the Normandy coast June 2, 2014. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

In this January 6, 2017 photo, transgender inmates get a security check from female officers before entering their cell at Pattaya Remand Prison in Pattaya, Chonburi province, Thailand. The prison separates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners from other inmates, a little-known policy despite being in place nationwide since 1993, according to the Department of Corrections. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

The giant metal structure sits 330ft above the ground on the roof of a 22 storey office block in Dutch capital Amsterdam on September 6, 2016. Tourists sit in a playground-style chair as they propel themselves them over the edge of the building with only thin-air between them and the ground below. Engineers spent several years designing and building the breathtaking swing. By being fixed to the top of a building it reaches new heights – dwarfing other swings around Europe but trailing behind the 1,150ft high mechanical rides at the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Huub Zeeman/SWNS.com)

Bride Yulia Tagil sits on the backseat of a bike as she arrives for her alternative wedding ceremony on a square in Tel Aviv July 25, 2010. The alternative wedding ceremony was intended to demonstrate against the current situation in Israel, where the only way for Jews to get married by law is through the Chief Rabbinate. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)