Flames from a burning barricade lit by pro-democracy protesters is reflected in the windows of a passing bus as passengers watch on during a protest gathering in front of Mong Kok police station on September 22, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Pro-democracy protesters have continued demonstrations across Hong Kong, calling for the city's Chief Executive Carrie Lam to immediately meet the rest of their demands, including an independent inquiry into police brutality, the retraction of the word “riot” to describe the rallies, and genuine universal suffrage, as the territory faces a leadership crisis. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Family members mourn the passing of Manuela Chavez, who died from symptoms related to the new coronavirus at the age of 88, as a government team prepares to remove her body from inside her home, in the Shipibo Indigenous community of Pucallpa, in Peru's Ucayali region, Monday, August 31, 2020. While the lucky are cured with ancestral ailments, the less fortunate often die at home. A government team travels from one spartan, thatch-roofed home to the next, removing the dead from their homes where they took their last breaths. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

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 Tenggerese shaman praying for worshippers at Widodaren cave during the Tenggerese Hindu Yadnya Kasada festival on July 31, 2015 in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia. The festival is the main festival of the Tenggerese people and lasts about a month. On the fourteenth day, the Tenggerese make the journey to Mount Bromo to make offerings of rice, fruits, vegetables, flowers and livestock to the mountain gods by throwing them into the volcano's caldera. The origin of the festival lies in the 15th century when a princess named Roro Anteng started the principality of Tengger with her husband Joko Seger, and the childless couple asked the mountain Gods for help in bearing children. The legend says the Gods granted them 24 children but on the provision that the 25th must be tossed into the volcano in sacrifice. The 25th child, Kesuma, was finally sacrificed in this way after initial refusal, and the tradition of throwing sacrifices into the caldera to appease the mountain Gods continues today. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Smoke rises from a house days after part of the ground it was resting on collapsed into Lake Whitney, Texas in this June 13, 2014 file photo. I was covering the controlled burn of a house slowly falling into Lake Whitney due to the decaying cliff underneath. Asked to take photos from an aerial perspective, an instructor and I took off from Grand Prairie Municipal Airport around 9am. The burn, scheduled to start an hour later, was delayed. I love flying, but patience proved challenging as circling for nearly three hours gets boring fast. Once the fire started we only had 15 minutes to take photos because the plane was booked at 1pm. The owners invested their retirement savings in the house and were even advised by geologists that the ground was stable. To watch your investment literally go up in flames must take its toll emotionally. The owners said they don't expect their insurance to cover the loss. (Photo and caption by Brandon Wade/Reuters)

Ivar Rodningem is a professional illustrator, whose imaginative mind transports us into a parallel world where trolls roam the lands. These creatures might seem scary at first sight, but in reality they are very docile and friendly, help each other and humans that they happen to meet. One of their characteristic features is of course their large noses and long tails. They are one with the nature, which is why it is almost impossible to see a troll if he doesn’t want to be found. Just like you and I they love having fun, though it is hard thing to do, considering their size.

As kids we have the natural desire to explore and to create. Whenever our parents would make for us a paper plane, we would become overjoyed seeing it fly across the room. However, planes are not the only thing that can be made from paper, and not only kids are fascinated by it. Some people master the art of origami and are able to create pretty much anything. You never know what’s going to come out when the artist twists and turns a piece of paper in meticulous ways. Finally, the figurine is complete, and you immediately see the striking resemblance of this piece of paper with an animal or some other creature. Ross Symons is one of those artists. He creates his figurines simply for the joy it brings him. Maybe, he uses this as a medium to enter his childhood, or maybe he has other motifs – we will never know. (Photo by Ross Symons)

Few things are more beautiful than puffy white clouds floating in the bright blue sky. Do you remember the time when you would lay on the soft green grass, look up at the sky, and try to recognize shapes in the clouds floating overhead? Wasn’t it wonderful, just lying there, letting the wind caress your skin, as you imagine that the clouds in the sky are actually mystical or not-so-mystical creatures? Dragons, ducks, teddy bears, dinosaurs, everything was up there. It was good old times. As adults we forget about simple pleasures of life. However, an Argentinian artist Martin Feijoo didn’t forget those times, and took them a step further. After imagining what a particular cloud looks like, he draws that particular shape over the picture of the cloud, allowing the entire world to see what goes on in his mind. (Photo by Martin Feijoo)