Models Bria Murphy and Shayne Murphy attend the BET AWARDS '14 at Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on June 29, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images for BET)

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)

In the desert near Joshua Tree, California, there stands a 70-year-old homestead cabin that isn’t all there. The ethereal cabin is part of an outdoor art installation by artist Phillip K. Smith III called Lucid Homestead. To give the cabin its striking appearance, the artist replaced strips of the wall with mirrors and the windows with mirrored panels that light up at night. The building reflects the desert sun and environment around it, making it seem like an airy and transparent space

Lindsay Mann (L) and Anabella Mowbray kiss as they take photos of themselves laying in the confetti on 7th Avenue in Times Square on New Year's Eve in New York January 1, 2015. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Sunday night, Lauren Watts searches for her dog in Mayflower, Arkansas., after a tornado struck the town. (Photo by Benjamin Krain/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

A team from Woody's Ice Cream shop wrangle a large inflatable dinosaur down the street during the Independence Day Parade in Fairfax, Virginia July 4, 2015. Americans marched in star-spangled parades, ran relay races, gathered for fireworks shows and crowned a new world hot dog eating champion as they celebrated Independence Day in traditional style on Saturday. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Characters dressed as Elmo and Cookie Monster who pose for tips take a photo by request from a tourist (2nd R, black pants) in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 29, 2016. (Photo by Rickey Rogers/Reuters)