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)

“For centuries, the Moken sea nomads have traveled the islands between Thailand and Myanmar fishing and foraging for food on the sea floor. Throughout the Mergui Archipelago, Moken migrate in flotillas of Kabangs (traditional boat of the Moken people), stopping at different islands and beaches. Expert freedivers, the Moken have adapted physically to an aquatic life, developing unique characteristics that let them see better and hold their breath longer while underwater”. – Taylor Weidman. Photo: Hook, an indigenous Moken man, holds a three-pronged throwing spear and searches for fish in the waters of Ko Surin National Park. March 1, 2013 – Ko Surin, Thailand. (Photo by Taylor Weidman/zReportage via ZUMA Press)

Yan Zhengming (R), 94, and his wife Zhou Suqing (C), 90, attend their wedding ceremony at their home, on the 70th anniversary of their marriage, in Quxian county of Dazhou, Sichuan province, China, May 15, 2015. The wedding, organized by local charity groups, was a long-time wish of veteran of the World War Two Yan, who married Zhou 70 years ago, but could not afford to have a wedding ceremony, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Workers lay railway track in a tunnel of the Crossrail project in Stepney, east London, Britain, November 16, 2016. Crossrail, which is Europe's largest construction project, is a railway link which will connect outlying areas to the east and west of London with tunnels under the centre of the capital. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Model Kendall Jenner poses on the red carpet as she arrives for the screening of the film “Mal de pierres” (From the Land of the Moon) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 15, 2016. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

North Korean youngsters sing and play accordions to entertain foreign visitors including United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, who visited Pyongyang, May 4, 1979. Visitors report music education in North Korea begins at an early age and is taken seriously by children and adults. (Photo by Peter Arnett/AP Photo)

A woman holds broken umbrella as a powerful typhoon hits Osaka, western Japan, Tuesday, September 4, 2018. A powerful typhoon blew through western Japan on Tuesday, causing heavy rain to flood the region's main offshore international airport and high winds to blow a tanker into a connecting bridge, disrupting land and air travel. (Photo by Nobuki Ito/Kyodo News via AP Photo)

A staff member demonstrates how she puts on the helmet of a mock space suit at the C-Space Project Mars simulation base in the Gobi Desert outside Jinchang, Gansu Province, China, April 17, 2019. The facility – comprising several interconnected modules including a greenhouse and a mock decompression chamber – opened its doors to the public. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)