Takamoto Katsuta of Japan and Aaron Johnston of Ireland with their Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 #18 during the Shakedown of the FIA World Rally Championship Kenya on June 21, 2023 in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo by Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, returns the ball to Magda Linette, of Poland, during the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Friday, April 26, 2024. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)

The Radio City Rockettes perform during a rehearsal for their Christmas show in New York City, on October 13, 2021. The 2021 production will run from November 5, 2021, to January 2, 2022, at Radio City Music Hall. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

The World Enduro Super Series roared back into life this weekend with Mario Roman coming out on top at the Toyota Porto Extreme XL Lagares on May 12 to stake an early claim for the title of Ultimate Enduro Champion 2019. The Spaniard beat the 300 competitors, including 50 pros, who entered Sunday's Hard Enduro feature race in the baking Portuguese heat. Here: Graham Jarvis and Billy Bolt race at Toyota Porto Extreme XL Lagares, Portugal on May 12, 2019. (Photo by Future7Media/Red Bull Content Pool via AP Images)

A Garba (folk dance) participant gets her back painted with an awareness message on vaccination against the Covid-19 coronavirus during the ongoing Navratri festival in Ahmedabad in western India on October 8, 2021. (Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP Photo)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Girls of the Long Horn Miao ethnic minority group wear headdresses as they prepare gather for Tiaohua or Flower Festival as part of the Lunar New Year on February 6, 2017 in Longga village, Guizhou province, southern China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

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)