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 jumps over a puddle as she crosses a street after a torrential downpour in the South Beach part of Miami, July 18, 2014. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Carrying a portable shrine on their shoulders, participants all clad in traditional happi coats, parade through precincts of the Kanda Myojin shrine during the annual summer festival in Tokyo, Saturday, May 9, 2015. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

Wisconsin forward Carter Gilmore, center, fouls UCLA guard Dylan Andrews, right, during the second half against of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/AP Photo)

Citizens are making memories under plum trees in full bloom at Gijang Plum Orchard in Gijang-gun, Busan on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Kim Dong-hwan)

Migle Politike (left) with son Aaron and friend Goda Zubkaityte on Wednesday, June 11, 2025 stop to look at the Singing Ringing Tree, a musical sculpture designed to look like a windswept tree, at Crown Point overlooking Burnley, Lancashire, UK. The wind-powered musical sculpture emits a low, tuneful song when the wind blows. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

Axed Love Island stars Alima, Emily and Megan all went braless in very daring outfits last night, after appearing on Aftersun in London on July 21, 2025. (Photo by James Curley/The Sun)

Sweden's Henrik Pilerud, inside the Totoro costume, and his team member Victoria Christensen (R) pose during an interview with AFP ahead of a rehearsal before the world cosplay championship 2024 during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)