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)

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)

Girls of the Long Horn Miao ethnic minority group wear headdresses as they prepare gather for Tiaohua or Flower Festival as part of the Lunar New Year on February 6, 2017 in Longga village, Guizhou province, southern China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

This September 22, 2014 photo, shows a building with street art murals in the Santurce neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AP Photo)

Irish television personality, model, and social media influencer Maura Higgins looked unrecognisable as she transformed into Pamela Anderson for Halloween on October 30, 2021. The 30-year-old star looked glam in a blonde curly hair as she channeled the Baywatch babe for an Ann Summers bash last night. (Photo by Shutterstock/Splash News)

American actress and model Megan Fox nearly busts out of red silk bra as she celebrates 35th birthday with boyfriend Machine Gun Kelly in Santa Monica, California on May 15, 2021. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

“The Only Way Is Essex” star Yazmin Oukhellou, 27, showed off her toned figure in the minidress, which featured sеxy side cut-outs, as she headed out in Hertfordshire in southern Englandon on Saturday, August 14, 2021. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

In a January 19, 2014 photo Phillip Seymour Hoffman poses for a portrait at The Collective and Gibson Lounge Powered by CEG, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Hoffman, who won the Oscar for best actor in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in “Capote” was found dead Sunday in his apartment in New York with what law enforcement officials said was a syringe in his arm. He was 46. (Photo by Victoria Will/AP Photo/Invision)