Children play football on March 10, 2022 on a concrete slab in Mukuru Kwa Njenga informal settlements, where structures have been demolished in November 2021 to pave the way for the construction of the Nairobi Expressway. (Photo by Simón Maina/AFP Photo)

Models use their phone lights during a power outage to put on make-up before the start of the third Ouaga Fashion Week in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Friday May 13, 2022. Ouaga Fashion Week returned to the Burkinabe capital after a two year COVID-19 related break. (Photo by Sophie Garcia/AP Photo)

A man carries a child as he wades trough a flooded road following heavy rains in Strand, Western Cape, South Africa on September 25, 2023. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

Models in action at the Kibera Fashion Week event in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, October 14, 2023. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)

China perform during the mixed team free preliminaries on day seven of the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships at Aspire Dome on February 8, 2024 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

Members of the police forces of the Republic of Srpska march during a parade marking the 32nd anniversary of the Republic of Srpska, in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, 240 kms northwest of Sarajevo, Tuesday, January 9, 2024. The United States on Tuesday warned that ongoing celebrations of a Bosnian Serb self-proclaimed national holiday were in violation of Bosnia's constitution and a 1995 peace agreement, and as such amounted to a criminal offense. The Jan. 9 holiday commemorates the date in 1992 when Bosnian Serbs declared the creation of their own state in Bosnia, igniting the country's devastating four-year war that killed more than 100,000 people. (Photo by Radivoje Pavicic/AP Photo)

Aspiring models wait for their turn to be judged during auditions for the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, India, June 30, 2016. (Photo by Shailesh Andrade/Reuters)

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)