A mahout carrying leaves rides an elephant along a street in Amritsar on February 27, 2024. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Hindu devotees watch as a 12 meter (40 feet) high statue of Hindu monkey-god Hanuman is washed during Hanuman Jayanti, the birthday of Lord Hanuman in Hyderabad, India, Friday, April 22, 2016. Hanuman is one of the most popular gods in the crowded pantheon of Hindu deities, and devout Hindus ascribe great strength and valor to him. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

These beautiful shots may look like works of modern art – but they are actually close-ups of chemical reactions. The works were snapped with the help of a group of scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Anhui, China. Here: Zinc reacting with lead nitrate in a soft gel to form lead crystals. (Photo by Yan Liang/Caters News)

Bottles of vintage cognac, with a royal warrant stamp, are seen in storage inside Berry Bros and Rudd wine merchants in central London, Britain, August 21, 2015. Berry Bros. & Rudd, which started as grocers over 300 years ago in St. James's, central London, has two royal warrants. Every year Queen Elizabeth grants about 20 royal warrants, the gold emblem of the British monarchy, in a practice dating back to medieval times. The warrant holders can display the certificate and use the royal coat of arms in their marketing. The warrants lasting five years can help businesses break into new markets overseas, using their role as supplier to the royal family as a gauge of quality. On September 9, Queen Elizabeth will overtake Queen Victoria as Britain's longest-serving monarch. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

A guest wearing a fur hat looks on before a fashion show by Chinese brand CHNNYU during BRICS+ Fashion Summit in Moscow, Russia on November 29, 2023. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Police officers wield their batons against activists from various student unions during a protest march demanding jobs and better education facilities, in Kolkata, India, February 11, 2021. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Indian Naga Sadhus, or naked holy men, participate in a procession before taking a “shahi snans”, or holy bath, at the Sangam river, the confluence of three of the holiest rivers in Hindu mythology, the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Saraswati, during Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, 15 January 2019. The Hindu festival is one of the biggest in India and will be held from 15 January to 04 March 2019 in Allahabad. (Photo by Rajat Gupta/EPA/EFE)

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)