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)

Actors perform a scene in a film directed by Humam Husari in the rebel-held besieged town of Zamalka, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria September 19, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)

An Egyptian army soldier stands guard near debris from a Russian airliner which crashed at the Hassana area in Arish city, north Egypt, November 1, 2015. Russia has grounded Airbus A321 jets flown by the Kogalymavia airline, Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, after one of its fleet crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

A pupil of the Dao ethnic tribe returns home from school along a hillside path at Suoi Thau village in Hoang Su Phi district of Vietnam's northern province of Ha Giang, located at the border with China, September 18, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

Pope Francis waves as he arrives at the Kangemi slums on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, November 27, 2015. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

People perform during the traditional Epiphany parade in Malaga, southern Spain, January 5, 2016. Children in Spain traditionally receive their Christmas presents delivered by the Three Wise Men on the morning of January 6, during the Christian holiday of the Epiphany. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

A four-year-old dog Nika stands next to an image of Cuba's revolutionary hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara in front of a flooded street in Havana, January 23, 2016. Havana's seafront Malecon continued to be slammed by massive waves that flooded parts of the seaside city on Saturday. As a result, Havana was confronting flooding as a cold front passes through the Caribbean island. The giant waves began washing up onto shore during sunrise. The waves have been accompanied by winds passing through at a speed between 35 and 50 km (21 to 31 miles) per hour. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A students with her face smeared in coloured powder, celebrates Holi at a university campus in Chandigarh, India March 23, 2016. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)