In this photo taken Tuesday, February 2, 2016, asylum seekers gather round a fire as they cook a meal overlooking the temporary Altnes camp refugee camp on the island of Seiland, northern Norway. Waiting for their asylum claims to be processed, hundreds of people in emergency shelters in Hammerfest and neighboring towns are slowly getting used to the extreme climate and unfamiliar customs of the High North. They say they have adapted to the cold – the temperature rarely drops below minus 10 degrees C (14 F) along the coast, though it gets much colder further inland. It’s the darkness that throws them off. (Photo by Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

An Indonesian woman known as Linda (C) is helped by two Sharia officials after being caned for spending time in close proximity with a man who is not her husband, which is against Sharia law, in Banda Aceh on February 2, 2017. Aceh is the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law. People can face floggings for a range of offences – from gambling, to drinking alcohol, to gay sеx. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

Four pillars of light from the 4 Laser Guide Star Facility on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) are shown reaching into the Chilean night sky in this image from ESO Photo Ambassador Fred Kamphues, on September 2, 2016. The lasers are a key part of the adaptive optics system on the VLT. Adaptive optics allows astronomers to drastically reduce the atmospheric distortion present at even the best sites in the world for astronomy, including Paranal in Chile, the home of the VLT. (Photo by F. Kamphues/ESO)

Participants of the so called “Victorian Picnic” walk in fancy costumes during the Wave Gothic Festival (WGT) in Leipzig, Germany, Friday, June 2, 2017. Approximately 20,000 goths and other dark subculture fans such as cybergoths, metalheads, steampunks, neo- Victorians, dark romantics, dark electro, industrial, medieval and fetish fans are expected to attend the world' s largest gothic and “dark” culture festival until June 5, 2017. (Photo by Tobias Schwarz/AFP Photo)

An Zi, is squashed amongst other commuters in a subway train on his way to work in Beijing, China, November 12, 2015. An, a movie producer, moved to Dongsanqi village in Changping this year. His commute to work can take about 2 hours, with transportation costs topping 200 yuan a month, or about a fifth of his monthly rent. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A child prays next to a woman during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, May 2, 2022. Members of the Romanian Muslim community gathered for Eid al-Fitr prayers, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the Dinamo stadium in the Romanian capital, in the largest Muslim public gathering of the year in Romania. (Photo by Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo)

Family members collect clean water from supply pipes in Machimpur, Bangladesh on June 2, 2024, where people have been stranded after heavy flooding. Although the water has receded slowly in the last three days, there is still flood water in the low-lying areas of the city.(Photo by Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ZUMA Press Wir/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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)