3-year-old Myla Mills plays with a two day old lamb in a toy pram in her family's farmyard in Arley, Worcestershire, United Kingdom on January 28, 2023. Early lambs are produced when the ram is free to tup the ewes over winter. (Photo by Peter Lopeman/Alamy Live News)

South Korea's Hur Yoonseo and Lee Riyoung take part in the Free Routine segment of the Artistic Swimming Women's Duet competition at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, October 7, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Artem, a 40-year-old Ukrainian commander, shouts a warning before his artillery team fires toward Russian positions near Pokrovsk in early October 2024. (Photo by Serhiy Nuzhnenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

A participant rides a bicycle carrying an orangutan mascot costume as he attends an awareness action calling for the protection of orangutans, organised by local environmental NGO Satya Bumi to mark World Orangutan Day, observed on August 19, during Car Free Day in Jakarta on August 24, 2025. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/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)

EMT Christian Amoroso, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), pauses while unloading COVID-19 patients at the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus on April 06, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. A specialized bus known as a Medical Evacuation Transport Unit (METU), caries infected patients on stretchers and benches between hospitals. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Highly commended, mammals: Gelada after the storm – Marco Gaiotti (Italy). “Gelada baboons are the only monkey species in the world that feed on grasses. They are native to the tableland of Ethiopia. Every morning large family groups wander from their sleeping places in the steep rock face, up to 1,000 metres high, to the feeding grounds at the tablelands. This image clearly depicts their feeding strategy: they pull out bunches of grass, sort the stalks and then lift them to their mouth. This shot was taken towards the end of the rainy season after a heavy storm”. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/2019 GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A girl holds her brother in her arm as black smoke rises after an oil well set on fire in the center of al-Kayyara town to the south of Daesh terror organization-held Mosul in Iraq on October 25, 2016. The oil well in the center of al-Kayyara town, which was set alight by retreating Daesh militants in advance of the Iraqi army's takeover of the town on August 24, 2016 has still not entirely been put out. The raw petrol which is still alight is creating black clouds above the city. The residents and wildlife beneath this polluting smoke cloud may find their health at risk. The effects of the fire in the town center on unprotected civilians' health can easily be seen on the hands and faces of children playing on the street. (Photo by dris Okuducu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)