Rockhopper penguins live up to their name as they navigate the rugged coastline of Marion Island in the southern Indian Ocean. (Photo by Thomas P. Peschak)

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 Wallcreeper (aka Tichodroma muraria) flies to a flower on January 28, 2024 in Leshan, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by Zhou Zhiyong/VCG via Getty Images)

Worker Malian Vue beats the heat inside the refrigerator at the Agricenter Farmers Market in Memphis, Tennessee on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Karen Focht/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A frozen public bench is seen next to a lake side due to the heavy wind conditions in Geneva February 8, 2015. (Photo by Pierre Albouy/Reuters)

In this Monday, June 5, 2017, file photo, an Indian woman walks as se searches for recyclable materials at a garbage dumping site on the outskirts of Gauhati, Assam state, India. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

An Iowa State Patrol trooper works the scene of an overturned semi truck along the westbound shoulder of Interstate 80 near Anita, Iowa, on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, after a band of intense weather crossed through the area. A powerful storm system is blowing through the Great Plains and Midwest, combining with unusually warm temperatures to close highways and prompt numerous tornado warnings. (Photo by Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register via AP Photo)

A water buffalo is pictured across from the Nahr Bin Omar oilfield in Iraq's southern province of Basra on July 18, 2022. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)