A hot air balloon depicting a dog that participates in the International Hot Air Balloon Festival, flies over Leon, Guanajuato state, Mexico, on November 14, 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The festival, in which 100 air balloons participate, was held without spectators to avoid crowds and prevent contagion. (Photo by Ulises Ruiz/AFP Photo)

Wassailing celebrations get under way in Wedmore, Somerset on January 12, 2021. The tradition of the orchard-visiting wassail dates back hundreds of years with the custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England, reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. (Photo by Apex News)

A woman holds a sign that reads in Spanish “Sеx education to decide, contraceptives to avoid abortion”, as she jumps with another woman as part of the Global Day of Action for access to legal, safe and free abortion, outside the parliament in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, September 28, 2021. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP 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)

A daredevil photographer is determined to capture London in a whole new light – by scaling the city’s many rooftops. Jacob Riglin, from Richmond Upon Thames, photographs the nation's capital from above – hanging from scaffolding, dangling his legs over the edge of buildings and looking down from perilous heights. Such images have gained the photographer, 20, an incredible fan base on Instagram, which has seen his follower count rise to more than 150,000. He said, “I had always been interested climbing and getting that adrenaline rush from feeling on top of the world”. Here: Jacob looking out to the London skyline. (Photo by Jacob Riglin/Caters News)

A boy runs with a burning barrel soaked in tar at the annual Ottery St Mary tar barrel festival on November 5, 2015 in Ottery St. Mary, England. The tradition, which is over 400 years old, sees competitors (who must have been born in the town to take part) running with burning barrels on their backs through the village, until the heat becomes too unbearable or the barrel breaks down, starting with junior barrels carried by children and continuing all evening with ever larger and larger barrels. The event, which has been threatened with closure on previous years due to increasing public liability insurance costs, raises thousands of pounds for charity and attracts spectators from around the world. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Aviation enthusiast Patrick Wilson 8, from Wetherby looks at an Avro 504 k at “The Shuttlesworth Collection” at Old Warden on July 21, 2014 in Biggleswade, England. Of the 55,000 planes that were manufactured by the Royal Army Corps (RAC) during WWI, only around 20 remain in airworthy condition. Six of these belong to The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, Bedfordshire, making it the most complete collection of original airworthy WWI aircraft in the world. Amongst the collection is the SE5a. The SE5a is a single seater fighter aircraft. It is an original biplane designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory, with its engine built by Wolseley Motors Ltd, and it was issued to 84 Squadron in November 1918. The National Archive in Kew has recently verified that the plane saw action in France with 84 Squadron the day before Armistice, November 10, 1918. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)