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)

A person takes a picture of the “Temple”, a 21-foot painted bronze sculpture from 2008, by British artist Damien Hirst, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in the Alpine resort of St. Moritz, Switzerland February 25, 2021. (Photo by Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

German model Micaela Schaefer (2nd from Left) and German actor Yvonne Woelke (2nd from right) sighted during Oktoberfest at Theresienwiese on September 21, 2014 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Chad Buchanan/Getty Images)

A woman walks past a giant Pac-Man in Tokyo's Shinjuku area, Wednesday, August 12, 2015. The three-meter (about nine feet and 10 inches)-tall Pac-Man and other video game characters, made of Lego bricks, were on display to promote the upcoming movie “Pixels”. (Photo by Ken Aragaki/AP Photo)

Sakakibara Kikai's engineer Go Sakakibara poses with the bipedal robot Mononofu during its demonstration at its factory in Shinto Village, Gunma Prefecture, Japan on April 12, 2018. Developed at Sakakibara Kikai, a maker of farming machinery, LW-Mononofu is a 28-feet tall, two-legged robot weighing in at more than 7 tonnes. It contains a cockpit with monitors and levers for the pilot to control the robot's arms and legs. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Hjalmar kneads the raw candy paste on a table on October 12, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. The Berlin based candy store produces 30 different kinds of handmade candies according traditional recipes. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Body builders preparing at the backstage during the Bodybuilding Cup in Kiev, Ukraine on November 7, 2015 which includes classic bodybuilding, physicist and body fitness and bikini in the competition. (Photo by Nazar Furyk/Pacific Press)

This 2014 series Shanghai Tian Wa saw Chinese photographer Liu Tao train his lens on two distinct districts in Shanghai. Here: “Shanghai Tian Wai №26, 2014”. (Photo by Liu Tao/The Guardian)