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)

The mechanical masterpiece was inspired by Picasso’s Three Musicians and his portrait of Dora Maar. Andy added: “I decided to try and blur the line between car design and art by using Picasso as inspiration.”

A Japanese white-eye is seen on a branch of cherry blossoms at Kyoto Imperial Palace on March 26, 2010 in Kyoto, Japan. (Photo by Akihiro I/Getty Images)

An extreme Vespa enthusiast rides his bike after attending weekend festival for extreme Vespas in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, July 22, 2018. Every year, Indonesians from teens and granddads, to mechanics and students, gather in eastern Java to celebrate their love of the iconic Italian Vespa scooter. (Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

Felix Guirola, 52, rides a homemade bike with an advertising banner in Havana, Cuba, July 20, 2016. The handyman, who loves heights, provides advertising space for companies on homemade bikes that tower up to 7.5 meters (24.61 ft). He rides them around Havana in an ingenious way of getting around strict marketing regulations in the Communist-ruled island. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

There is nothing more endearing than seeing true friendship and love. Especially, if it as improbable as that of a big dog and a tiny kitten. Somehow, animals feel when they are dealing with a baby. For example, no matter how much a toddler will tug on the tail of a cat and play roughly with it, it will never or very rarely fight back. This set of pictures taken by Jessie Pon shows a tiny kitten mistaking an adult golden retriever for his mother. Though it may hurt the dog’s nose with its sharp claws, the dog does nothing to harm the kitty. On the contrary, it’s watching over the kitty-cat as if it were her own puppy. (Photo by Jessie Pon)

The personal project of Michael Turner features a whole range of different DC and Marvel characters. Each of the posters in this project is created using only two colors, which immediately remind us of the character that is being shown. Despite the minimalistic style, the characters can be instantly recognized by their key features. These pictures might look good as posters; however, in our opinion they would look even better as T-shirt designs. Any fan of DC and Marvel comics would simply love having a T-shirt with their favorite character depicted on it. (Photo by Michael Turner)