Willow O'Brien, 5, holds an Irish flag as she poses for pictures, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on Saint Patrick's Day in Dublin, Ireland, March 17, 2021. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

American singer Ciara arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar party during the 94th Academy Awards in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., March 28, 2022. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Reuters)

South African model Candice Swanepoel walks the red carpet ahead of the “Marriage Story” screening during during the 76th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on August 29, 2019 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Jacopo Raule/Getty Images)

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)

British underwater photographer of the year – winner. “Love Birds” by Grant Thomas (UK). Location: Luss Pier, Loch Lomond, Scotland. Thomas’s initial idea was to frame a split shot of one swan feeding below the surface of the water but when he noticed how comfortable they were around him he was confident, with some patience, he could get that magical shot of the two. (Photo by Grant Thomas/UPY 2018)

A child dressed in an imitation dress of army soldier enjoys a cold drink during a religious procession in Amritsar, India, 15 December 2015. The religious procession was taken out on the eve of the martyrdom day of the 9th Guru or Master of the Sikhs Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed for not converting to Islam on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi in 1675 AD. The place of this occurrence is called Gurudwara Sis Ganj at Delhi. Guru Tegh Bahadur the youngest of the five sons of Guru Hargobind was born in Amritsar in 1621. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA)

Peter Weiss, director of the Space Department of COMEX, (c) tests a pressurized suit identical to those used in space expeditions in the lava tunnel of “Caverne Gendarme” on October 12, 2018 in Saint-Philippe, the French overseas island of Reunion. Reunion could become a training site for astronauts. (Photo by Richard Bouhet/AFP Photo)

Joseph Szabo was a frustrated high-school teacher in need of inspiration – so he started photographing his students, and captured all the angst and excitement of being caught between childhood and adulthood. Here: “Priscilla”, 1969. (Photo by Joseph Szabo/Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery/The Guardian)