Military vehicles surround a wreckage of a trolleybus, in Volgograd, Russia, Monday, December 30, 2013. A bomb blast tore through a trolleybus in the city of Volgograd on Monday morning, killing at least 10 people a day after a suicide bombing that killed at least 17 at the city's main railway station. Volgograd is about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Sochi, where the Olympics are to be held. (Photo by Denis Tyrin/AP Photo)

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)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

A young anoa, also known as midget buffalo, named Tycoon runs around at the Zoo in Berlin, Germany, on November 9, 2012. (Photo by Maurizio Gambarini/EPA)

Sellers sort persimmons for sale at a wholesale market in Hanoi, Vietnam October 3, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

These goats threw caution to the wind and scaled this Argan tree right to the very top, even balancing on the most unsturdy of branches. It looks like a bit of a baa-lancing act, but the goats hooves are perfectly adapted to climbing the trees, where they graze on the Argan fruit. Amateur photographer Burak Senbak, 51, took these photos whilst travelling through Morocco in July 2016. Burak is originally from Turkey and works as a mechanical engineer, but has pursued his passion for photography for 10 years. Intrigued by the sight of goats in a tree, Burak couldnt resist the opportunity to take some photos, and said the goats proved a perfect subject. (Photo by Burak Senbak/Caters News)

Frida, a rescue dog belonging to the Mexican Navy, with her handler Israel Arauz Salinas, takes a break while participating in the effort to look for people trapped at the Rebsamen school in Mexico City, on September 22, 2017, three days after the devastating earthquake that hit central Mexico. (Photo by Omar Torres/AFP Photo)

Balinese man watches Mount Agung volcano almost covered with clouds as he stands at a temple in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, September 26, 2017. An increasing frequency of tremors from the volcano indicates magma is continuing to move toward the surface and an eruption is possible, a disaster agency official said Tuesday. Tourists are cutting short their stay to the island, where an eruption would force the airport to close and strand thousands. (Photo by Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo)