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 woman dressed as an angel takes a break from greeting children at a public library in Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on December 23, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP Photo)

A gosling sits in the plumage of its mother, in a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

China's Women Badminton team gather for a group cheer before a final match against Indonesia for the Uber Cup held in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan Province, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

American actress Shelley Duvall poses for photographers at the 30th Cannes Film Festival in France, May 27, 1977. Duvall, whose wide-eyed, winsome presence was a mainstay in the films of Robert Altman and who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick's “The Shining”, has died. She was 75. (Photo by Jean-Jacques Levy/AP Photo)

A field of poppies in flower in Great Massingham, Norfolk, UK on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The field has been rewilded by the landowner, with the soil being ploughed and harrowed before being left for nature to run its course with the result being a huge sea of red poppies. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)

A young baboon receives an earful from an adult as another primate yanks its tail at Kruger National Park, South Africa in the first decade of July 2024. (Photo by John Mullineux/Solent News)

Clemence Vieira of France saves the ball during the women's pool C beach volleyball match between Germany and France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, on July 28, 2024. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)