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)

Members of the Michiana Rocketry prep a 10-foot, 450 pound porta-potty, mounted on rocket motors for launching, Saturday, December 6, 2014, from a field in Three Oaks, Mich. It made an arc and almost landed on a spectator’s pickup truck, 2,000 feet away. A group of Michiana Rocketry club members planned the project for more than two years. The club is trying to increase awareness of rocketry as a hobby and prove it’s possible to turn a porta-potty into a rocket and launch it successfully. About 30 people worked on the rocket, from engineers to sales people who lined up sponsors. (Photo by Don Campbell/AP Photo/The Herald-Palladium)

In this Friday, March 3, 2017 photo, a ribbon on a staff member's outfit blows in the breeze as she arrives for the opening session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The annual session of China's ceremonial legislature is designed to awe onlookers with its size and sweep, yet the experience is also made up of tiny moments, details that point to the personalities of the participants and the event's unique, sometimes quirky, traits that a casual observer might easily miss. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

The galactic core of the milky way occupied by two small wooden boats on July 2, 2014, in Isle of Wight, UK. The Milky Way shines in mesmerizing colourful patterns above the Isle of Wight in stunning photographs. Chad Powell used a DSLR camera to capture images of the spectacular constellation above the familiar beach scenes of England's largest island. The 22-year-old, who shot the pictures over a year of stargazing on the island, often stayed up until dawn to catch the most dramatic sky-scapes. Chad, a graphic designer from Ventnor, Isle of Wight, used foregrounds of abandoned theme parks, harbors and lighthouses against the illuminated sky. Minor adjustments were made to bring out the contrast and whites in the images. (Photo by Chad Powell/Barcroft Media)

Heads of love dolls are seen on the shelf on March 9, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. Japan's oldest and largest “love doll” maker Orient Industry, has been producing silicone love dolls since 1977, and has seen there is a trend for intimate relationships with silicone dolls in Japan. (Photo by Taro Karibe/Getty Images)

Sharon Montrose has what most people consider a dream job: She photographs adorable animals – from lions to flamingos to knobbly-kneed giraffes – and sells prints online at her store, The Animal Print Shop. But what's her job really like? Does she ever get scared? What's the trickiest animal to photograph?

The X-47B prototype on Tuesday flew off an aircraft carrier and into the history books. Today's achievement, the first-ever catapult launch of an unmanned aircraft from the flight deck of a carrier, promises to open up a new chapter in the annals of naval aviation. Photo: An X-47B pilot-less drone combat aircraft is launched for the first time off an aircraft carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia, May 14, 2013. The U.S. Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by catapulting an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, testing a long-range, stealthy, bat-winged plane that represents a jump forward in drone technology. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

“I wonder about everyone that I photograph, what are they thinking at the moment, what is going on in their life, what are they really like. Photographs are such abstractions of real life, both true and false at the same time and so limited in the scope of what can be captured, yet limitless in how it stimulates our imagination. Indeed, photography is a rich medium”. – Mike Peters. Photo: Meatpacking District, NYC, September 28, 2012. (Photo by Mike Peters)