Revelers celebrate the Indian festival of Holi on a boat cruise around part of Manhattan on March 17, 2012 in New York City. During the Hindu festival of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, which marks the arrival of spring, participants throw colored powder and water on one another. Many of the New York participants are Indian-American. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

After school and civil service, Thomas Mangold went off to study Visual Communications in Dortmund where he still lives. During these studies, he had the opportunity for an internship at the advertising agency Grey Dusseldorf and also began to receive invites to publish his photographic series in magazines. Around this time, a new professor at the college arranged a one week intensive seminar in Strata 3D.

Gothic enthusiast poses during the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen music festival on May 26, 2012 in Leipzig, Germany. The event began in the 1990s and has since grown into one of the biggest gatherings of Goth scene followers in Europe with around 20,000 participants. (Photo by Adam Berry)

Revellers attend the 25th edition of the Sziget Festival on August 9, 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. The Sziget Festival, one of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe, celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2017, taking place from August 9-16 on the Hajogyari Sziget in Budapest. (Photo by Laszlo Mudra/Rockstar Photographers)

Members of rival teams fight with oranges during an annual carnival battle in the northern Italian town of Ivrea, Italy on February 11, 2018. Established in 1808, the Carnival of Ivrea is one of the oldest and most particular festivals in the world. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/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)

A sinkhole is seen on the shore of the Dead Sea near Kibbutz Ein Gedi, Israel July 27, 2015. The Dead Sea is shrinking, and as its waters vanish at a rate of more than one meter a year, hundreds of sinkholes, some the size of a basketball court, some two storeys deep, are devouring land where the shoreline once stood. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)