A Palestinian beekeeper uses smoke to calm bees in the process of collecting honey at a farm in the central Gaza Strip on May 11, 2022. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

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 worker inspects the Christ the Redeemer statue which was damaged during lightning storms in Rio de Janeiro January 21, 2014. (Photo by Severino Silva/Reuters/Agência o Dia)

It's not often that two ferocious tigers have to beat a hasty retreat from a confrontation. But it seems that the wrath of a mother bear protecting two cubs on her back was more than enough to scare this pair off. Wildlife photographer Aditya Singh captured the encounter during a visit to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India.

A villager dries chillies on September 1, 2020 in Bijie, Guizhou Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Lightning over Mow Cop Castle which is a folly at Mow Cop in the civil parish of Odd Rode, Cheshire, UK on August 13, 2020, as thunderstorms continue during the current heatwave. (Photo by Lee Scally/Bav Media)

Students salute after a man cast his vote at a polling station during the new Family Code referendum in Havana on September 25, 2022. Cubans on Sunday are voting in a landmark referendum on whether to legalize same-s*x marriage and adoption, allow surrogate pregnancies, and give greater rights to non-biological parents. (Photo by Adalberto Roque/AFP Photo)

Liusba Grajales, left, puts makeup on her daughter Ainhoa as her partner Lisset Diaz Vallejo gets ready as they prepare to get married in Santa Clara, Cuba, Friday, October 21, 2022. The couple, which has been together for seven years, is one of the first to make the decision to get legally married in Cuba following the new Family Code, which opened up everything from equal marriage to surrogate mothers. (Photo by Ismael Francisco/AP Photo)