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)

Roof-topping enthusiast Daniel Lau takes a selfie with high-rise buildings down below as he stands on the top of a skyscraper in Hong Kong, China on August 15, 2017. A craze that began in Russia has now taken hold in Hong Kong, one of the world's most vertical cities. Mr Lau said he had been inspired by Russian climbers and that he was unafraid of the vertiginous heights he scales. (Photo by ImagineChina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this December 13, 2014 photo, Ricardo Alegria holds his donkeys by a leash as he yells to sell their milk in the streets of Santiago, Chile. Alegria, along with his brother Marco, has been selling fresh donkey milk for the past 25 years, and says it's recommended as a vitamin boost. Shot glass size cups of the drink sell for about $2 dollars. Half a liter, which is the most he says his donkeys can give in one day, sells for about $20 dollars. (Photo by Luis Hidalgo/AP Photo)

Eighty one-year-old Sakon Haba (L) wearing loin cloth walks past a police station after he bathed in ice-cold water at the Teppozu Inari shrine in Tokyo January 11, 2015. According to organizers, about 100 participants took part in the Shinto ceremony to purify their souls and wish for good health in the new year. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

A park ranger stands next to a nothern white female rhinoceros named Najin at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, some 290 kms north of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on January 27, 2015. Najin is one of only five members of the sub-species left on the planet, three of which reside at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Conservationists and scientists met in Kenya this week to come up with a last ditch plan to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)

This green-skinned trio were happy to pose for the camera – with one little frog smiling happily for its close up. The three Reinwardt's Flying Frog, commonly known as the black webbed tree frog or the green flying frog, were spotted playing in a tree by photographer Hendy Mp. The 25-year-old who saw the frogs near his home in Sambas, Kalimantan Barat, in Indonesia, said they reminded him of three brothers playing together. (Photo by Hendy Mp/SOLENT News)

Chinese relative of a missing passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts as she weeps outside the main gate of the Lama Temple on March 8, 2015 in Beijing, China. Foreign and local media were prevented by Chinese police from covering the relatives visit to the temple where they tried to pray .There were 239 people on board the flight when it disappeared March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. After one year and an exhaustive search, investigators still have no clue as to the whereabouts of the missing airliner. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)