Wow. It was a challenge to judge so many nice travel-related photographs this week. Like photography, traveling is a very personal experience with various objectives when it comes to capturing images. It's nearly impossible to judge and, in this case, it was really, really difficult. So many images deserve mentions and so many others could easily be put into the winning spots.
Kick back and get ready for the long read. Congrats to all those who posted!
tomnavratil - What a cool shot and what a great way to open up the contest. It’s almost like you’re sending out a Bat Signal and calling out for other entries. I love the colors, the mystery and, of course, the meteor shower. This image has a really cool vibe to it and it's impressive you captured such a unique photo!
AlexH - This shot makes me smile. It reminds me of road trips with the family and barreling out of the station wagon as we made our way to the motel. It’s an excellent slice-of-life capture of an american family traveling back to their hotel. It’s quirky, shot well and reveals a lot without overdoing it. I like your slightly-higher-than-them perspective, so that’s a nice touch too.
MacRy - You might not be “very widely travelled,” as you say, but your photo certainly makes me want to travel to England. I love the colors of magic hour and the red bus certainly stands out. You definitely created a photo that represents location and my eye keeps darting around the cityscape absorbing the area. The image feels like it is slanted towards the right but it could very well be the natural incline of the bridge too.
anotherscotsman - Sure, appeal to my longing of moving back to Chicago with your shot of the El Train in my old stomping grounds. I love this shot and a flood of memories came rolling back. And I kick myself for never have taken a shot like this while I lived there or since whenever I revisited. I’ll have to change that. In fact, looking at your flickr images, you have inspired me with some really, really nice images of Chicago. I have a feeling this particular image was shot very late at night. I really like the colors and they help bounce the eye back and forth across and down the tracks. I believe this is looking north and, having lived a few blocks to the south, it certainly reminds me of how peaceful, quiet and eerie downtown Chicago can be. Very nice!
Kenoh - You might not be sure of this shot but I love it. There is something captivating about it and I like the blueish tone you put into it. The composition is terrific with all the leading lines and the framing is just about perfect. Using a shallow depth-of-field, and the lack of people, gives this shot a quiet mystery. Lovely.
bwhli - Like you said, those fireworks look a little too close to the ground for comfort. It’s always fun to see life in other cities and this is a nice capture of the moment. For me, the composition is a bit too random but it definitely captures the moment. I don’t know much about street photography, so I’ll blame my ignorance here, as it might be the perfect thing to do in capturing moments instead of finding perfect angles that highlight and balance different elements while keeping the subject in focus. Still, I like the moment.
Hughmac - Upnor Castle does look like a great place to visit and I can understand why it’s your favorite place if there’s a pub at the top. I’m a sucker for castles so it looks like a place I would thoroughly enjoy exploring. I’m not sure if the Infrared technique works here completely but it does give it an interesting quality. I like what the IR does to the trees and sky but my eye tends to focus on the castle and it’s tricky to see enough detail to satisfy. That said, I’ll see you at the top for a pint.
Alexander.Of.Oz - What a cool idea to use a lonely suitcase as your primary subject, especially if it was discarded and left to decay. Finding it, setting it up and creating a wonderful image with it in the composition is great. I don’t think this is a panoramic shot (I don’t see any stitching) but the wide-angle lens gives you a very wide glimpse of the beautiful countryside. It’s definitely a place I would like to visit (with my own luggage.) The distortion throws it off slightly but the colors and scenery overshadow that quickly. Nicely done.
obeygiant - I’m reminded of a scene and the poster from from the movie, Once Upon A Time in America, and that image has stuck with me ever since the film was released. Aside from the modern cars, street lights and signs, your shot might have outdone the iconic image that represents that movie. And that’s no easy task. I love the way you cropped the photo, giving us enough of the buildings in the foreground to frame the bridge and positioning the far, distant building into the negative space of the bridge supports. The colors are fantastic and it’s difficult to tell if you lowered the saturation or if it was just the time of day that gives it this look. And I’m trying to determine the lens you used. I hope you will consider writing back with some technical notes. I Love this shot and it will inspire me to take something close if I travel to New York.
acearchie - Ah, to be up in the alps, enjoying life, the peaceful scenery and the fresh mountain air. Are you just trying to make people jealous with your life? Aside from the surely long hike up to this majestic spot, it certainly looks worth the climb to view such a vista. Is this a place you all went camping or did you all bring your own chairs to this viewpoint? Images like this are a terrific way to document a trip with friends and I’m always jealous when I see them because I rarely take the time to separate from the group to grab that other vantage point.
Indydenny - What a lovely photo. I love harbors in a city setting and, even though I don’t know where Honfleur, France is, your photo makes me want to visit this area. I really like your composition even though I might have panned up for a bit more sky than water and would consider removing the bird in the upper left. But those are really minor personal preferences and it should come as a complement since it clearly illustrates how long I have been admiring your photo. Nicely done!
stillcrazyman - I really like this shot and, even though it’s not a typical ’travel’ shot it just oozes a sense of place and time. There are probably many of us who romanticize a road trip across the country by motorcycle but so few of us manage it. This is a great photo that reinforces that romanticized version of traveling by bike. It’s a really strong composition and so well-done on many levels. The natural leading lines are great and the low angle further strengthens the perspective. Love it.
dearfriendx - This is lovely in a very artsy sort of way and I mean that as a compliment. Your photo has a very ethereal quality. For me, although I really enjoy what you created, I can’t help wonder what the image would look like with a slightly different composition. Would I include the cloudless portion of the sky or frame more of the darker trees into the corner of the frame? I don’t know and I’m not sure it matters. As-is, you’ve captured a mood; a view above the clouds and a sense of calm, something most photographs can only hope to invoke.
malofx - I love San Francisco. It’s such a great city with a personality all its own. You’re right, the city can be uniquely cold in the summer and Twain hit the nail on the head with that line. Your photo takes me back to my visits there and, even though the wind must have been great, you still managed to keep the bridge pretty well in focus that night. You gotta be happy with the memory you captured here.
deep diver - Viewing this photo at full size, one can only wish to be there in person. What a great vista and I can’t even imagine climbing up to that view by bicycle. Mercy. But what a view to be rewarded with! This looks like it might have been taken in the early morning but you might experiment adding some more saturation into the beautiful sky. Some people like doing that, others don’t, so it’s a personal preference. For me, I think it would make the image pop a little more. As-is, all of the colors are semi-muted as only a beautiful, tranquil morning provides but that also diminishes a primary focus, other than the damn fine vista. I do like how your eye travels down the center - the grass points to the pine trees, they point to the first hill, which then leads you to the far hill in the distance. Congrats on capturing an image that will surely transport you back to that beautiful moment.
@someoldguy - This is a lovely image and one that invokes western movies that had epic landscapes in glorious technicolor. Your composition is terrific and I’m antsy wanting a wider-framed image in 70mm or Cinemascope. The colors are great, the sky is crisp and the clouds are fluffy. Your photo is beautiful and you make it look easy, something I know is far from the truth. Most can only hope to achieve something as nice as this. It also looks like a fun place to have visited and hiked. How hot was it while you were there?
uvfan1 - I’m glad you were able to get your image posted for everyone to easily see. The colors are pretty and there is definitely a sense of calm at this picturesque spot at the lake. I think my preference is to pan up a bit more, showing a tad less water at the bottom and a touch more sky. I would also consider removing the lonely tree branch in the upper center if possible. The composition is really nice and sublte. The colors, the silhouette, and the sun, direct your eye in a pleasing way. You were fortunate to be at this beautiful location and capture such a tranquil moment.
earlycj5 - Wow, how lucky are you to be able to see this glacier in New Zealand. What a spectacular view. One can only imagine how impressive it was to stand there in person. It’s always difficult for photos to capture that emotion with justice but you’ve certainly come close. While we can definitely sense the imposing power of the mountain, the icy glacier is nestled coyly behind the mountain of green. As a viewer, you are intrigued to see more but I’m sure the location prevented that. All that being said, you managed to capture an image that invokes the power and majesty of mother nature.
JoeRigo - From majestic glaciers to serene waters. Ahhhh, refreshing. This looks like an area that one could spend hours just relaxing and watch the clouds drift overhead in their lazy flow. You’ve done a nice job using a huge pine tree to frame the left side of the image, keeping the viewer’s eye moving along the diagonal banks of the lake. Having a tiny boat anchored off in the distance or even the foreground would have made it even stronger but you have to work with what you got. I would imagine you are transported back to this nice location every time you view the photo, right?
Tilpots - After recently dealing with temps in the 100’s, an image like this is a welcome relief. I like the straight on shot and how everything is balanced. It makes you want to be a kid again and enjoy the simplicity of summer.
needfx - Your photo certainly captures the local fashion choices of a Taipei schoolgirl. Just like it is always nice to see the surroundings of a certain location, it is equally nice to view how a person from another area lives. I have mixed feelings on the composition, as it's chalk full of items that can be considered either distracting or a part of the ambience. Still, I'm sure it's rather difficult photographing people on the way to school so your options are definitely limited.
RedOctober - Your photo reinforces my decision to visit Amsterdam someday. This is a lovely view of the canals, a view not often seen, and taken during blue hour. It’s almost a hypnotic view, especially if you focus on the next bridge. And the next bridge. And the next…. Whoa, trippy, man. It’s a tiny disappointing the bridge lights in the foreground aren’t symmetrical but otherwise, it’s a very nice image indeed.
Aloko - I think it’s fun to grab photos of the airports during one’s trip. It’s a nice way to document the entire vacation and gives the story just a little more depth. Unfortunately, like a lot of airports, one’s view is often through windows and those are sometimes dirty. I think a bit of photoshop would be nice to remove the dirt stain on the left side. Otherwise, it’s a fine photo of the airport and the hint of the skyline behind it.
rx7dude - If someone said you snapped a picture of Gotham City, I would have believed it. This cool view is full of moody atmosphere, no doubt due to a storm coming in or going out. Is that the Flatiron building where the streets intersect? I’ve never seen that building from this perspective before, so that’s cool. Great vantage point and nice sense of atmosphere.
Apple fanboy - You might have only travelled as far north as York, but that’s a very nice destination indeed. The cathedral is wonderful and I love the fact that you took it at blue hour. The spotlights illuminate the cathedral in a nice way and it would have been great if another spilled onto the left tower. I’m not sure if it’s me or not but the entire image appears to be slanting towards the right. That said, it’s a cool photo that will surely bring back great memories of your visit there.
ifhdez - This is a cool shot of Death Valley. The new blacktop road breathes some life into an environment that’s not so friendly to life. I like the angle you chose and the perspective, as well as the washed out colors of a hot sunny day give the image a lot of personality. Because of the lack of anything tangible, there is a feeling of loneliness and isolation. Man, I hope you weren’t hitchhiking there!
There were simply so many excellent photographs to choose from and it was difficult choosing a top three. But, someone has to do it, so away we go. Congrats to everyone.
3rd Place: stillcrazyman
2nd Place: anotherscotsman
1st Place: obeygiant
Obeygiant, it's now up to you to create the theme for the next contest.