Three Iranian women bathe in the sea on a shore of the Caspian sea in the city of Babolsar north of Tehran, on July 14, 2023 in Babolsar, Iran. The 7th National Festival of Sand Sculptures is being held in this town on the edge of the Caspian Sea. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

A woman with the Ukrainian national colours painted on her body and reading “Stop raping us” protest on the red carpet during the screening of the film “Three Thousand Years of Longing” during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2022. (Photo by Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain serves to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their Men's Singles match at the 2023 US Open Tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on August 30, 2023. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

A participant wearing costumes takes part in the Pride Parade in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, June 1, 2024. Thailand is kicking off its celebration for the LGBTQ+ community's Pride Month with a parade on Saturday, as the country is on the course to become the first nation in Southeast Asia to legalize marriage equality. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

Pupils look at an orphaned baby elephant at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage within the Nairobi National Park, near Kenya's capital Nairobi October 15, 2014. The orphanage under the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is operated by Daphne Sheldrick, wife of late famous naturalist David William Sheldrick. The orphaned elephants raised by the trust will be returned to join the undomesticated elephant population in Tsavo National Park, where David was the founder warden from 1948 to 1976, when they mature, usually between eight to 10 years old. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/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)

Beach Policeman, Potomac River, 1922. (Photo by National Photo Company/Colorized by Patty Allison)