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 Palestinian boy pours water over his head in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 22, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

A firefighter rests next to fire combat truck during a wildfire at Penela, Coimbra, central Portugal, on June 18, 2017. A wildfire in central Portugal killed at least 25 people and injured 16 others, most of them burning to death in their cars, the government said on June 18, 2017. Several hundred firefighters and 160 vehicles were dispatched late on June 17 to tackle the blaze, which broke out in the afternoon in the municipality of Pedrogao Grande before spreading fast across several fronts. (Photo by Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP Photo)

People dressed as characters from the computer game “World of Warcraft” walk across a field near the town of Kamyk nad Vltavou, Czech Republic, April 28, 2018. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Belgium's Crown Princess Elisabeth poses with dancers and youth after a ceremony on the occasion of her 18th birthday, outside the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium on October 25, 2019. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

A visitor tries the Segway “S-Pod” motorized chair on the manufacturer's booth during the 2020 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 08 January 2020. (Photo by Etienne Laurent/EPA/EFE)

South African model Candice Swanepoel walks the runway at the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 8, 2018 at Pier 94 in New York City. (Photo by Matt Baron/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An aerial view of sinkholes (obruk), caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer, in Konya, Turkiye on September 17, 2024. Many sinkholes are observed in the fields of Eseli Plateau located within the borders of Resadiye Neighborhood in the north-west of Karapinar district, where sinkhole formation has increased rapidly in recent years. (Photo by Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)