The Cotopaxi volcano, one of the world's highest active volcanoes, spews smoke as seen from El Pedregal, Ecuador, October 22, 2015. Ecuadorian authorities are monitoring activity at Cotopaxi volcano, which prompted Ecuador's President Rafael Correa to maintain a yellow alert for eruptions as bursts of ash keep spewing from the snow-encircled crater of the volcano and falling in gusts on residential communities. (Photo by Guillermo Granja/Reuters)

Cameron Shonnard backflips a jump at Squaw Valley in Olympic Valley, California, December 5, 2015. An El Nino is forecasted for California, and regular precipitation has been welcomed after years of drought. (Photo by Max Whittaker/Reuters)

Over the past three years, Los Angeles-based photographer Dotan Saguy has spent hundreds of hours documenting the diverse culture, people and pageantry of the iconic Venice Beach boardwalk. He was irresistibly drawn to the free-spirited, anti-materialistic and inclusive nature of the world-famous location, which he found to be a breath of fresh air in contrast to Los Angeles’s sometimes homogenized, celebrity-obsessed culture. (Photo by Dotan Saguy)

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 New York window cleaner strapped to the side of The RCA Building in the Rockefeller Center, with St Patrick's Cathedral below him to the left. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images). 2nd May 1961

A man dresses as a Minion tries to convince a tourist to have her picture taken with him, in Times Square, in New York, April 7, 2016. The assortment of costumed characters, painted naked women and ticket sellers who make the streets of New York's Times Square their office, catering to tourists, may soon be restricted after a City Council vote Thursday. (Photo by Rickey Rogers/Reuters)

A fellow officer comes to the aid of injured patrolman C.V. Satt, who was pelted with rocks and beer bottles during a clash between police and relief demonstrators in Denver September 23, 1935. (Photo by Henry G. Eisenhand/AP Photo)

A young evacuee of Japanese ancestry waits with the family baggage before leaving by bus for an assembly center in California, in this April 1942 handout photo. February 19, 2017 marks the 75th anniversary of FDR signing executive order 9066, authorizing the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two. (Photo by Courtesy Clem Albers/Department of the Interior/War Relocation Authority/National Archives/Reuters)