Girls of the Long Horn Miao ethnic minority group wear headdresses as they prepare gather for Tiaohua or Flower Festival as part of the Lunar New Year on February 6, 2017 in Longga village, Guizhou province, southern China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

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)

Tourists take photographs as a wild sika deer eats a bag on June 6, 2019 in Nara, Japan. Nara's free-roaming deer have become a huge attraction for tourists. However, an autopsy on a deer that was recently found dead near one of the city's famous temples discovered 3.2kg of plastic in its stomach and caused concern at the effect of tourism as Japan struggles to cope with a huge increase in domestic and international tourists. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

People attend the 50th annual NYC Halloween Parade in New York City on October 31, 2023. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

A Haka is performed before the ceremonial departure of the 'vaka' or traditional canoes ahead of their cross-Pacific voyage from Viaduct Harbour on April 13, 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand. Powered by sun and wind only, the 15,000 nautical mile journey to Hawaii via French Polynesia will set off on April 15, aiming to raise awareness of environmental issues such as ocean noise pollution, acidification and anoxic waters, whilst recapturing traditional Pacific voyaging. The votyage is named “Te Mana o Te Moana” meaning “The Spirit of the Sea”. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

“Alan Alexander “A. A.” Milne (18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English author. Milne is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin after his son, and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A rare American first edition of a Winnie-the-Pooh book signed by the author A.A. Milne and illustrator E. H. Shephard is displayed with Pooh characters form a 1930's game at a press preview at Sotheby's Auctioneers on December 15, 2008 in London. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Chinese artist Song Dong stands in his installation entitled “Waste Not” in The Curve at the Barbican Art Gallery on February 14, 2012 in London, England. Waste Not comprises over 10,000 objects collected by Song Dong's mother over a period of 5 decades. The installation is Song Dong's first major solo exhibition in the UK and opens to the general public on February 15, 2012. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Japanese artist Mami Kiyoshi has spent 15 years creating vivid portraits of people surrounded by their belongings – from wine bottles and violins to the odd stray pet. Mami Kiyoshi’s ongoing series “New Reading Portraits” is, in part, a nod to the mise-en-scène found in traditional woodcut printing. Here: Sakura and Kazuhiro, Tokyo, 2015. (Photo by Mami Kiyoshi/Galerie Annie Gabrielli/The Guardian)