A Nepalese boy gets ready to perform a stick dance during a rally held to pay tribute to the victims of an earthquake, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Two powerful earthquakes in April and May devastated the Himalayan nation killing more than 8,800 people. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Taking the highways in North Korea is a great experience as it allows to see the daily life of the country not controled by the government like in Pyongyang. They connect the main towns of the countries and are totally empty of cars. Here: The kind of scene you can see along the highway. Overloaded trucks but broken down with lot of smoke coming out... I was allowed to make those pics as after lunch, my guides were enjoying the confort of the bus seats and snoring... (Photo by Eric Lafforgue/Exclusivepix Media)

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 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)

Romanian singing duo Gabriella and Monica Irimia, The Cheeky Girls prforms in Falkirk, Scotland on May 4, 2003. (Photo by Michael Schofield/News Group Newspapers Ltd)

English actress Liz Hurley, 55, poses topless in the snow in a photo taken by her son in United Kingdom at the end of January 2021. Brit stripped to white bikini bottoms from her own swimwear range and draped herself in a coat. (Photo by Instagram/The Sun)

Paramedics carry an injured woman out from a subway station after a rush-hour subway train derailment, to be transported by a medical helicopter in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, July 15, 2014. A rush-hour subway train derailed in Moscow Tuesday, killing 20 people and injuring at least 150, emergency officials said. Several cars left the track in the tunnel after a power surge triggered an alarm, which caused the train to stop abruptly. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)