Balinese dancers perform as they take part in a cultural parade, during a new year's eve celebration at a main road in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, 31 December 2022. (Photo by Made Nagi/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman cries while being escorted by police officers during an anti-government protest in Santiago, Chile, 07 November 2019. A proposed increase in the price of metro fares sparked a series of anti-government protests that have left at least 20 people dead. The protestors are demanding improvements in the quality of healthcare, education and general distribution of wealth in Chile. (Photo by Orlando Barría/EPA/EFE)

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)

During his time in Ethiopia, New York-based art director and photographer Diego Arroyo spent time with the Hamar, Mursi, Dassanech, and Arbore Tribes. They, along with several others tribes, make up the 200,000 people situated in Africa’s Great Rift Valley. The people of the Omo Valley are still primarily herders and farmers, living an isolated and simple life. While they have yet to be truly touched by globalization, they could soon disappear. Their way of life is being threatened by a massive hydroelectric dam. (Photo by Diego Arroyo)

A worker heats a glass cat-shape ornament at the Silverado manufacture of hand-blown Christmas ornaments in town of Jozefow outside Warsaw December 2, 2014. (Photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

A family member of the Toraja ethnic group prepares the bodies of exhumed relatives from a community burial site to be cleaned and dressed in a series of traditional ceremonies honouring the dead known as Manene at Torea village, in North Toraja, Indonesia's South Sulawesi on August 17, 2022. (Photo by Andri Saputra/AFP Photo)

A pair of cyclists take photos as the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean, Thursday, October 3, 2024, in Bal Harbour, Fla. (Photo by Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo)

People wait for a subway train to depart Union Square station, in New York City on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Kevin Coombs/Reuters)