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)

A local resident dressed as Yamraj or Hindu god of death, wearing a novel coronavirus-themed balloon necklace, gestures as he poses during an awareness about social distancing and staying at home organised by Delhi police during a nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, April 28, 2020. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer's Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire on Friday October 21, 2016. (Photo by Fabio De Paola/PA Wire)

Manuela (L) and Marta, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), pose for a picture at a camp in the Colombian mountains on February 18, 2016. Many of these women are willing to be reunited with the children they gave birth and then left under protection of relatives or farmers, whenever the peace agreement will put an end to the country's internal conflict. (Photo by Luis Acosta/AFP Photo)

Staff of a boat restaurant on the Taedong River line up at the entrance as they wait to greet customers Sunday, June 18, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The boat is berthed along the river, which is the fifth longest river on the Korean Peninsula and runs through the country's capital, Pyongyang. (Photo by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo)

A woman sits as she gets a tattoo on her leg during the annual Panama City Ink Fest in Panama City August 16, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

A member of a local swimming club holds a Russian national flag as he dives in at the start of a 24-hour swimming marathon near the western Siberian city of Barnaul March 29, 2014. Thirty members of the club will swim in turn during the event, held to mark Crimea becoming part of Russia, local media reported. (Photo by Andrei Kasprishin/Reuters)

American model Kendall Jenner hides from the camera as she arrives with Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny to Richie Akiva's “The After” party hosted by Diddy and Doja Cat at The Box, presented by Armand de Brignac and CIROC Vodka on May 1, 2023. (Photo by Rommel Demano/BFA.com)