National Geographic Photo Contest 2010

Photo © Chan Kwok Hung- Courtesy National Geographic

The National Geographic 2010 Photo Contest winners were announced. More than 16,000 photographs were submitted from around the globe, and 3 earned top honors in the people, places, and nature categories.

The winner in the People category is photographer Chan Kwok Hung of Hong Kong, who captured the photograph of an Indonesian farmer and his buffalo charging through the mud in a buffalo race called "makepung".

I also liked the photograph of a Xhosa boy crying during a circumcision ceremony by Robin Utrecht which garnered the Honorable Mention in the People category.

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Travel Photographer Of The Year 2010

Photo © Larry Louie/Courtesy TPoTY

 The Travel Photographer Of The Year Competition has named its winner for 2010, and it's Larry Louie with his wonderful black & white photographs of Djenne in Mali.

Larry Louie is a Canadian optometrist and a photographer, who is using his photography as a platform to highlight the work of an eye care charity, as well as other issues and challenges in a world facing rapid urbanization and globalization.

I'm glad that black & white photographs have won this contest...as I think color imagery is seen as a "sexier" form for travel photography contests. Readers of this blog will know that I'm going through my own black & white phase, so I'm indeed glad.

Having also seen the remaining entrants, I have to say another photographer considerably impressed me (and certainly the competition's judges) with his lovely work...and that is Richard Murai of the United States who won the World In Motion category.

Photo © Richard Murai-Courtesy TPOTY

Richard Murai teaches creative photography in Northern California, and is interested in documenting sacred sites of the world. He traveled to locations within India, Peru, Turkey, Egypt, Russia and across Asia and Western Europe. His sepia-like images of Bhuddist tsechu dancers are just ethereal.

I suggest you drop by the TPOTY website...there's quite a number of excellent work by travel photographers.

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The Big Picture: National Geo Contest 2010

Photo © Ario Wibisono-All Rights Reserved

The Boston Globe's photo blog The Big Picture is showing off some of the submissions to The National Geographic annual  photo contest. The deadline for the submissions is November 30. The Big Picture editor chose 47 images from the three categories of People, Places and Nature.

No one asked me for my opinion, but I'll give it anyway. My favorite of those shown is the one of the two Indonesian boys playing with roosters in the village of Suradita, near Serpong in West Java. The photographer is Ario Wibisono who's based in Jakarta.

Ario's caption informs us that this was not a real cockfight. I'm confused by their dress as I took them to be Balinese children, but they're not...they're Javanese.

I also liked another one (#5) also by Ario Wibisono of the musician in Tenganan Village in Bali, playing the bamboo flute to a disabled child. I spent a couple of hours with this man during my Bali: Island of Odalan Photo~Expedition ™, photographing him playing his various instruments (including a sort of didgeridoo) and recording some of the pieces he played.

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Lonely Planet's 100 Million Competition

Photo LP's 100 Million Competition/Sreesailam Pasupula -All Rights Reserved
Lonely Planet's competition celebrating its 100 millionth guidebook has ended, and the winning entry was this lovely photograph by Sreesailam Pasupula which features five women on a performance stage at the famous Pushkar Mela.

The competition received over 130,000 photos from around the world, and some of the editors' favorites are featured here.

The Telegraph newspaper in the UK also published results of the competition.

Many of the photographs featured by LP are really very well chosen, and I couldn't help noticing that 13 of the 55 photographs that are featured are of India. About 17% of the total. This is remarkable but I'm not surprised...India is India.

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Best Of Photojournalism: Dhiraj Singh

It gives me singular pleasure to learn that Dhiraj Singh was awarded Honorable Mention (Feature Audio Slideshow) in the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism 2010 for his My Name Is Dechen.

Dhiraj attended my MultiMedia class at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Manali last summer, and not only received a standing ovation on showing his audio slideshow (Soundslides), but was also awarded Top Award For Photography by the workshop's instructors.

A well-deserved honor to this immensely talented photographer and photojournalist...and he's a very nice guy as well.

I don't think Dhiraj will mind me plugging the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in this post...so if you are still on the fence about your participation in the Istanbul workshop, you may want to take into account that if you do attend it, you may produce a similarly powerful project or photo essay that could earn you prestigious awards!

The Foundry offers the best instructors there is...real working professionals who will show you the ropes, and either change or reinforce your mindset. All you have to do is to leave your ego at the door...that's all.

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Frommer's Rights Grab

Bob Krist is mad...fighting mad.

It sems that Frommer's have launched a photography contest calling for photographers to submit images to win the chance of seeing their work gracing the cover of a Frommer's future guide book. The winner will receive $5,000 while 4 runners up will receive Frommer's Prize pack containing three Frommer's Day by Day travel guides and a selection of Frommer's Lug travel accessories.

I've always advocated potential contestants or individuals considering such contests to really read the fine print with care, whether the organizers are well-known in the world of photography or travel or not, in an effort to highlight that most (if not all) of photography contests are rights grabs.

The Frommer's contest rules contain this:

License: Participant retains ownership of the copyright in any submitted photographs. However, by entering photograph(s) in this Contest, participant grants Sponsor the irrevocable, perpetual right to edit, adapt, use and publish in any media now known or hereafter discovered any or all of the photographs without compensation to the participant, his or her successors or assigns, or any other entity. ENTERING A SUBMISSION IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES PARTICIPANT'S IRREVOCABLE ASSIGNMENT, CONVEYANCE, AND TRANSFERENCE TO SPONSOR OF THE FOREGOING RIGHTS. Photograph(s) shall be given attribution credit based on the name supplied with submission. The winner shall work with Sponsor to change the file in any way deemed necessary for publication of the photograph(s). The participants shall supply, upon request, original, unmodified digital files.

As a photographer, I would never ever grant anyone an "irrevocable, perpetual right..." to any of my work, no matter what. Not even a "throw-away" frame.

Bob Krist calls this another rights grab in sheep’s clothing. I don't know about the sheep's clothing, but I can clearly see the wolf's fangs. I also realize that a number of non-professional photographers will be tempted by the prospect of seeing one of their images in print, and perhaps that's what Frommer's target market is. However, I urge working photographers to boycott this contest and to spread the word.

I'm also shocked to see Rick Sammon, a preeminent travel photographer and educator, listed as a judge in this contest.

Update: I learned from Bob Krist's blog that Rick Sammon has now withdrawn from the panel of judges. It was the right and appropriate action to take.

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8th Annual Smithsonian Photo Contest

Photo © Matty Karp -All Rights Reserved

Photo © Amit Kumar Chatterjee -All Rights Reserved
The 8th Annual Smithsonian Photo Contest is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2010. Contestants can enter photographs in five categories—Altered Images, Americana, The Natural World, People and Travel—that represent subjects of special interest to the magazine. Fifty finalists will be selected, ten for each of the five categories.

Smithsonian will notify the 50 finalists by February 28, 2011. From these 50 finalists, five category winners and a grand prize winner will be selected. The entries of all winners and finalists will be published on the magazine's Web site on March 1, 2011.

In the meantime, the 7th Annual Smithsonian Photo Contest Finalists have been announced, and I am extremely impressed by the quality of the photographs chosen. I've featured two of the finalists' work which gives an indication of the quality of the submissions; one is from the Travel category whilst the other is from the People category.

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Asian Geo: Photo Contest 2009 Results

This is a belated post on the results of the Asian Geo magazine Photo Contest 2009 results. Some exceptional photographs have been compiled by the magazine in a flash-based flip viewer which is mildly irritating to use, but the quality of the photographs more than compensate for this. Sometimes simplicity is best, but the desire for innovative presentation techniques trumps reason.

Graham Crouch has won the Grand Prize in the Faces of Asia Category with his photograph of a malnourished infant being weighed in Mahdya Pradesh, India. However, don't stop at his compelling photograph...and continue to the remaining submissions, which are all of very high quality.

The main Asian Geographic magazine website is here.

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TTP's Travel Photographer Of The Year Is....

Photo © Joey Lawrence-All Rights Reserved


Joey Lawrence!!!!
The Travel Photographer's readers have voted, and the award goes to Joey Lawrence who gleaned 45% of the total votes cast amongst the four candidates.

Joey is the young photographer I raved about in a post this past summer. He has been shooting commercial photography, photojournalism and music videos around the world by the age of 17, and has the established reputation of being a pioneer of new aged digital hyper-realistic photography, lighting and manipulation.

Joey Lawrence's website is replete with phenomenal photography: his most recent is of the Mentawai (a tribe who live on the Mentawai Islands, off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia). He also photographed the Mursi in Ethiopia's Omo Valley and other tribal groups, as well as of Abyssinian Christian holy men, and the Aghori sadhus in India.

If you haven't already, set aside some quality time to savor Joey's galleries, as well as his thrilling blog. You'll be amazed...that's all I'm going to say because you'll soon know what I'm talking about.

A well deserved applause from the readers of The Travel Photographer blog!!

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Poll: Follow Up

Some days days ago, I posted a new poll asking my readers to choose The Travel Photographer's Travel Photographer of The Year, and so far Joey Lawrence is leading, with Zackary Canepari not too far behind.

So head for the poll here and, if you haven't already, cast your decisive vote for one of the four superb photographers.

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2009 Travel Photographer Of The Year*

Photo © Johan Ensing via TPOTY -All Rights Reserved
The Travel Photographer Of The Year has announced the winners of its 2009 competition. Travel Photographer of the Year 2009 was awarded to G.M.B. Akash, an award-winning and well-known photographer from Bangladesh, who was unanimously voted as the outstanding entrant in the 2009 awards by the judging panel for his vibrant photographs.

There were many more awards and recognitions granted to other well known names such as Karoki Lewis, Larry Louie and Poras Chaudhary...most of whom have been featured on The Travel Photographer blog.

While Akash's quality and scope of work is impressive, I also very much liked the photograph submitted by Johan Ensing of the Netherlands of the fishermen cleaning their nets by Erhai Lake, in the Chinese province of Yunnan (above). His entry won Best Single Image in a Portfolio - People of the World.

I'm also pleased that Nori Jemil of the UK was commended for her entry in the New Talent 2009 - A Traveller's Tale competition with a series of four narrative photographs on an island in Chilean Patagonia.

Nori was one of the talented photographers on my Bhutan Land of the Druk Yul Photo~Expedition&trade this past October.

TPOTY will be shortly making available Journey Three for sale, a portfolio book containing the winning and other highly placed images from the competition.

*According to The Travel Photographer Of The Year's judging panel: Caroline Metcalfe, Steve Bloom, Jeremy Hoare, Nick Meers, Chris Weston, Simon Bainbridge, Andrew James and Manfred Zollner.

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NGS: Results of Photo Contest 2009

The National Geographic has selected the winners in its Fourth Annual Global Photography Contest from more than 200,000 submissions.

Each country held national contests and, in the final round, sent one photo from each of the three categories to National Geographic's Washington headquarters for judging. Judges were National Geographic staff photographer Mark Thiessen; design editor of the international editions of National Geographic magazine Darren Smith; and photojournalist Maria Stenzel.

While the first prize went to Debra Jansen of the US for her picture of a 97-year-old woman waiting for a bus in her Sunday best in Georgia, I thought that the above picture by Arie Yudhistira of India (honorable mention) was visually more compelling.

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POYi: 67th Annual PJ Competition

Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is to launch its 67th annual competition in documentary photography, multimedia, and visual editing.

POYi plans to release a preview of the 2009 "Call for Entries" on Tuesday, Dec. 8, offering an overview of all the contest categories and guidelines. Online registration and the entry uploading platform will be available at POYi's website on Friday, Dec. 18 and will conclude on Friday, Jan. 15.

The judging period will take place from Feb. 14 through March 5, and in June the POYi Exhibition, Education, and Awards Program will be at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.

(via The Click)

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OP: Mystical Adventures Photo Contest

Outdoor Photographer magazine has announced a Mystical Adventures Photo Contest, with a sponsorship of India's Ministry of Tourism.

According to the rules, submissions must be in keeping with the general theme of the Mystical Adventures Photo Contest, including, but not limited to photos of historical locations, landscape and travel, but I'm not sure if the submissions are restricted to a Indian theme or not.

The prizes are mostly of photographic gear, and there's no entry fees that I noticed.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

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Professional Photographer Contest

Professional Photographer magazine is one of the many excellent photography magazines in the United Kingdom. It now has launched a photography contest, and asks if its readers (and others) have what it takes to be the Professional Photographer of the Year 2009?

The Professional Photographer awards will be judged by a panel of judges along with the editor of Professional Photographer magazine, Grant Scott. Travel is one of the many categories that are available for interested photographers to compete in.

The closing date for 2009 submissions will be November 27, 2009.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

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Nikon Photo Contest International 2009

Photo © Maung Maung Gyi-All Rights Reserved

Photo © Danny Ghitis-All Rights Reserved
The Nikon Corporation recently announced winners of the Nikon Photo Contest International 2008-2009. This year's theme, "At The Heart of the Image," drew over 51,000 entries by over 18,000 entrants from 153 countries and regions.

The judges were professionals working internationally in various photographic fields, most of whom were from Japan, with Ami Vitale, Alptekin Baloglu and Claudia Hinterseer. The judges selected a total of 34 winners: one Grand Prize winner and one NIKKOR 75th Anniversary Award winner, in addition to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Prize winners for each category.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Maung Maung Gyi of Myanmar for his work entitled "Cave Of Hope," of a Buddhist cave some 40 miles south of the city of Mandalay, however I preferred Danny Ghitis' photograph of an elderly woman bathing in the Ganges during Makar Sankranti.

I should point out that Maung Maung Gyi is a medical doctor, not a full time photographer, while Danny Ghitis is a working photojournalist.

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National Geographic Photo Contest 2009

The National Geographic Society has announced its international photography contest 2009, for which English-language-edition readers in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom are eligible to enter up to a total of six photographs across three categories: People, Places and Nature.

The contest began Wednesday, Aug. 5, and ends Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. The entries will be judged at National Geographic headquarters by a panel of three judges: National Geographic staff photographer Mark Thiessen; design editor of the international editions of National Geographic magazine Darren Smith; and White House photo editor Jenn Poggi. First-place category winners of the English-language-edition competition will win a digital camera kit.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

Via Imaging Insider.

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Lens Culture Photo Contest

Lens Culture International Exposure Awards seeks to discover, recognize, reward and promote talented, new and emerging photographers from around the world, so it's looking for exciting images from every continent, and from diverse points of view: documentary, fine art, photojournalism, street photography, poetic, personal, abstract and human.

An international jury of photography experts will review and judge every photo submitted. Four winning photographers will each earn cash prizes — plus photo features in Lens Culture, giving them access and broad exposure to an enthusiastic, influential worldwide audience.

Additionally, 25 photographers will win Honorable Mentions, including the display of one single image each in the Winners' Gallery in Lens Culture, and a link to their personal or professional web pages.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

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ViewBook Photostory Contest

Viewbook PhotoStory 2009 seeks to challenge conceptual and documentary photographers around the world to create compelling stories with a linear series of photographs in an online gallery.

The annual online competition seeks to find inspiring, high-quality photo stories within the photography community and bring them to a broad audience, and by so doing will provide a platform for emerging talents. There are already a number of submitted essays, which are quite interesting to look at.

Viewbook PhotoStory is initiated and organized by Viewbook.com in association with GUP magazine, backed by Blurb, Workbook and others.

As in all and every photography contests, I strongly encourage all interested photographers to make sure they carefully read the contests' terms and conditions, especially since misunderstandings between organizers and contestants over terms, prizes and other issues sometimes occur.

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One of Top Ten Blogs is TTP!

Tripbase Blog Awards 2009
I checked into Bob Krist's wonderfully informative and entertaining Photo Traveler blog this morning as I do everyday, and to my surprise read that The Travel Photographer was amongst the top ten in the Travel Photography Blog division of the Tripbase.com competition! Actually, The Travel Photographer came in Fourth place. Way to go, me!

Checking the Tripbase website, I read that its Travel award is only given to the blogs that are the top of their respective class and are some of the best in the field. These are selected based on how informative the blog is, the overall writing style, the actual blog appearance and how well that blog performs in its given category when compared and contrasted to other, similar blogs.

Among the top ten travel photography blogs are Chase Jarvis in First Place, My Marrakech in Third, Bob Krist's Photo Traveler, and the beautiful Stuck In Customs.

I'm gratified that The Travel Photographer blog has earned such recognition, and it encourages me to do even better in the weeks, months and years ahead...and Bob, thank you so much for the generous comments.

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