This month’s selection of travel imagery mixes quiet moments and superlative views. The overall 2018 prize is a West Greenland trip with Wild Photography Holidays. Here: “This was taken on a safari in Kruger national park, South Africa. The scene was like something straight out of a storybook: a wild baboon, impala and elephant crossing the road together, all lined up neatly in a row”. (Photo by Will Clarke/The Guardian)

Russian President Vladimir Putin aims a sniper rifle during a visit to the Patriot military exhibition center outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Putin chaired a meeting that focused on new arms programs. (Photo by Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Photo)

Tourists visit teamLab Planets Tokyo in Tokyo on January 10, 2025. Japan on January 15 will announce tourist figures for the year 2024, widely expected to break the record set in 2019. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

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)

Performers dressed like Stormtroopers dance during “The Empire Strips Back: A Star Wars Burlesque Parody” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 1, 2018. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Twenty-one years after Kate Moss’s Calvin Klein debut, her little sister Lottie, 16, has made hers. Earlier this year, Lottie was signed to Moss’s agency, Storm Models. She then made her modelling debut in January, starring in her first fashion shoot for glossy magazine Dazed & Confused, followed by other appearances in Teen Vogue. Now, she’s back as the face and body of Calvin Klein Jeans x mytheresa.com The Re-Issue Project, an exclusive capsule collection of limited iconic denim pieces, which will only be sold on online retailer Mytheresa from 15 July. (Photo by Michael Avedon)

Three samurai warriors in armour, circa 1880. (Photo by Kusakabe Kimbei). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

Three Burmese women members of a circus play cards as they wear the brass neck and leg rings traditionally worn by Padaung women since childhood and which cannot be removed, London, January 4, 1935. (Photo by Keystone). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.