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)

The last American military convoy to depart Iraq from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division crosses over the border into Kuwait on December 18, 2011 in Khabari Al Awazeem, Kuwait. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Rotterdam based SMIT and Livorno based NERI salvage workers start their work of diesel recovery on a pontoon from the the cruise ship Costa Concordia that lies stricken off the shore of the island of Giglio on January 24, 2012 in Giglio Porto, Italy. (Photo by Laura Lezza/Getty Images)

An Afghan policeman frisks a man while a burqa-cald woman sits in the trunk of a car on a roadside in Herat, Afghanistan, 05 July 2015. At least 18 police, two civilians and 30 rebels were killed in central Afghanistan during three days of fierce fighting, police said on 04 July. The clashes ended 04 July after security forces retook control of nine police checkpoints that had fallen to the rebels. (Photo by Jalil Rezayee/EPA)

Developed for the British American Ambulance Corps, this new motorcycle ambulance is capable of speeding wounded soldiers 90 miles an hour from the front lines to field hospitals. Its springs are synchronized with the patient's heartbeat to avoid increasing fever when traveling over various Terrain. Viewing it in New York August 27, 1941, are left to right: constable Herbert Scott of England, driver; William E. Detlor, whose firm developed the vehicle; M. W. Stand, inspector-general of Civilian Defense, and Maj. Edward Riekert, also. (Photo by AP Photo)

Workers reinforce the electric pylons at a flooded area as Typhoon Nepartak approaches in Xuancheng, Anhui Province, China, July 9, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Daring Captain Kevin Oprey is seen standing beneath the soaring hull of Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2.

A five-week-old orphaned Southern Sea Otter pup rests on a rubber mat after arriving at the Shedd Aquarium's Abbott Oceanarium in Chicago, Illinois October 28, 2014 in this handout photo provided to Reuters on November 5, 2014. The stranded pup was found on September 30 on Coastways Beach in California and was rescued the next day to be brought back to health at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Southern sea otters were listed as “threatened” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1977. (Photo by Brenna Hernandez/Reuters/Shedd Aquarium)