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)

Cheering The News of Germany's Surrender New Yorkers Gather around a youth wearing a mask of Adolf Hitler to cheer the news of the Surrender of Germany on May 7. The Crowd is gathered in times Square, New York. May 08, 1945. (Photo by New York Post/Photo Archives, LLC via Getty Images)

Ballet dancer Anoushka Zoe James dances in the water at the Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 29, 2020. (Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

A woman takes a picture of a sculpture depicting servant Puck from Shakespeare's comedy “A Midsummer Night's Dream” during a flower festival in Pakruojis, Lithuania on August 14, 2021. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Andrey Karr from Western Riders Slacklines at sunset above big waves in Nazare, Portugal on December 27, 2017. (Photo by Aidan Williams/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Undated handout photo issued by Guinness World Records of Fabio Reggiani from Italy who has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing the worlds largest rideable motorcycle measuring 5.10 meters (16ft 8.78 in) from the ground to the top of the handlebars. Six times larger than a normal motorcycle, it's 10.03 m long, 2.5 m wide, and weighs approximately 5,000 kg (5 tonnes). (Photo by Guinness World Records/PA Wire)

“Leopard Hunting a Stork”. “One-shot capture. I watched the leopard stalking the stork, I only had time to focus at 400mm, no time to change to high speed, I watched the stork, and as soon as it flapped its wings, I shot one shot”. (Photo by Paul Rifkin/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Women practice yoga during a performance on a glass bridge at the Shiniuzhai National Geo-park in Pingjiang county, Hunan province, China, November 5, 2015. About hundred yoga fans put on the show to promote the concept of green life and the idea of harmony between human and nature on Thursday, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)