Our Favorite Reader Photos from the "Travel Photography" Assignment

 

Lupine Fiesta
“When spring becomes summer in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand,” Lee Cook writes in describing this shot. “A field of vibrancy comes to yield in the spectacular lupine display amongst the Southern Alps backdrop.” Cook captured the image with a Canon EOS 6D and a 70-200mm L-series lens at ISO 50, f/8, 1/30 second.
© Lee Cook

What makes a great travel photo? Many things, of course, but we’ve found the best images always tell some sort of story. For this assignment, we weren’t simply looking for pretty pictures from a vacation. Beautiful photos are all well and good but they’re a dime a dozen these days. Instead, we were seeking unique travel photos that included some interesting elements in the frame to give a sense of place or context. We wanted to imagine we were standing right beside the photographer, whether they were taking a photo on a dusty street in Marrakesh, or turning their camera toward a vast plain in Montana. While neither of those locales are featured in our 10 favorite images from readers, the places that are presented here look pretty awesome.

Monday Morning, Puchenstuben, Austria
“Waking up in a gasthof on Monday morning and finding it raining, we sat in the window of our bedroom and shot photos of the street for an hour,” Betty A Joyce says. “This one was made with a Nikon F2 with a 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor lens on Ektachrome film, scanned in a Nikon LS4000 Super Coolscan, and processed with Adobe Photoshop and Piccure+ software.”
© Betty A Joyce

Lone Fisherman On The Beach
“Naturally my camera goes along on business trips,” David Hollenback explains. “This time the trip was to Southern California, staying in Huntington Beach. The sky was mostly cloudy, but as the sun got lower the clouds cleared on the horizon and the sun popped through, setting the whole sky on fire.” It was shot with a Nikon D750 and a Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens at 1/125 second, f/5.6, ISO 1600.
© David Hollenback

Copenhagen Bicycle
“One of my favorite things to do is just walk through the streets with camera in hand looking for something to jump out at me,” Larry Anthony Pannell notes. “In Copenhagen I spotted a bright red bicycle against the cold gray stones of a building. What really made it jump out for me was the addition of the colorful ad just above it.” It was captured with a Canon EOS 60D and a Sigma 24-105mm lens at 24mm, 1/80 second, f/5.6, ISO 100.
© Larry Anthony Pannel

Novice Monk At Hsinbyume Pagoda, Mingun, Myanmar
Dee McMeekan shot this striking image with a Nikon D600 and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at ISO 400, f/11, 1/1000 second.
© Dee McMeekan

Singer Castle
“On our first wedding anniversary, my husband and I visited Boldt Castle,” Mary Ann Wamboldt writes. “We returned on our seventh wedding anniversary to see the progress that had been made on the castle’s restoration but we also visited Singer Castle, something we had missed on our first visit. Singer Castle was as beautiful as we had hoped and when the tour made its way around the back of the castle I took this photo. Out of all the photos I took that day this was my favorite because it really showcased the beauty of the great dining hall. I hope to visit again and explore the castle’s secret passageways, something Singer is well known for.” The photo was shot with a Nikon D7100.
© Mary Ann Wambold

Heading To The Market
Dorte Verner captured this beautiful portrait of a Red Dao tribal woman on the way to the market in Northern Vietnam. Verner used a Nikon D800 and a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at f/2.8, 70mm, ISO 400, 1/1000 second.
© Dorte Verner

Foggy Street In San Marino, Italy
“Fog always adds mystery and intrigue to almost any photo, especially when the scene is an unusual one like this early morning scene in San Marino, Italy,” Bob Oehlman writes. “It pays to get up early when traveling, even when the weather is not sunny.” He shot the image with a Nikon D800 and a Nikkor 28-300mm lens at 1/180 second, f/6.7.
© Bob Oehlman

Footprints
“I feel this photo I took upon arriving, and beginning to climb the dunes, at the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado tells of the others who climbed the dunes ahead of us that day,” Katherine Plessner writes. She captured it using a Sony A65 and an 18mm lens at 1/400 second, f/3.5, ISO 100.
© Katherine Plessner

Native American PowWow
“I attended an advertised Native American Festival in Brooksville, Florida, to see the native dance competitions,” Emilio Vergara says of the story behind this photo. “This fellow was not Native American but from Mexico and was dressed in celebration attire associated with pre-Mexican native cultures.” The image was shot with a Nikon D7100 with the lens at 195mm, f/8, ISO 400, 1/2000 second.
© Emilio Vergara

Picture This! – Our Next Assignment
Dazzling Color

While it’s true that black-and-white photography presents a classic look that will likely never go out of style, if you want to create an immediate impression with an image, some stunning color certainly doesn’t hurt. This assignment is wide open: show us images of any subject you’d like as long as it has dazzling color in it. Photos could include everything from landscapes to still lifes to portraits or action shots. The only rule is don’t give us dazzling color just for dazzling color’s sake. Make sure it enhances the subject to produce maximum impact.

Bright Red
I captured this kinetic image with an Olympus E-3 DSLR during a model shoot backstage at New York Fashion Week in 2006. To accentuate the color in the photo, I ran it through the Cross Processing filter in Nik’s Color Efex Pro afterward, which gave the backdrop a greenish hue and pumped up the overall saturation. In particular, I like that the bright red glow of the model’s dress and her shiny lipstick give this fun photo some extra pop. It was shot at 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 250.
© Dan Havlik

How To Submit Online
1. Go to www.shutterbug.com and register. Scroll down the page and on the right side you will see a box for entering your username and your password. If you have already registered and/or submitted images for the Galleries you can skip this step. Respond to the activation e-mail. Registration is free. You will use your username and password whenever you visit or, with some systems, it will automatically load for you when you visit www.shutterbug.com.

2. Check the assignment and closing dates in the magazine. When the magazine is printed we will create an appropriate gallery for your images. The limit is two images per assignment.

3. Select and prepare your images. We only accept files at a maximum 5MB size, JPEG format. Save the JPEG at a quality level of 10 or higher. Note that file size in your image folder directory will determine upload size, not the “opened” file size, as JPEG compresses at 1:4 at higher quality ratings. If your images do not load it probably means you have exceeded the file size or have not used JPEG format.

4. Click on the Galleries tab on the homepage. In the Category section use the drop-down menu to select the Picture This! assignment. Note that images are simultaneously loaded into the assignment category as well as your own personal gallery. When the Picture This! assignment deadline date has lapsed the assignment gallery will be removed, but your images will still reside in your own gallery.

5. In the Description box add title, camera, lens, exposure information, and your full name. Also add any other comments or anecdotes you think relevant. We reserve the right to edit comments as needed.

6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page. This uploads the image.

7. You retain copyright on the image.

8. We will choose the images after close of the due date.

9. Please feel free to comment on images submitted by other readers.

Please Note: If the photograph includes a minor or a recognizable individual or group you are guaranteeing that you have a signed model release form, and especially a parental or guardian release form for minors. You should keep a copy of that release in your files. Scan that release and keep it handy. If an image is chosen for publication, failure to provide a form when requested will eliminate the image from consideration. You can find release forms at http://asmp.org/tutorials/model-release-minor-child.html and other resources on the Internet. By uploading images you attest that the model release form is valid, that any depiction of a person is with their consent, that you have a model release form available on request, and that all images you submit have been made by you.

Scorecard
Deadline for submission: June 1, 2016.
Images will appear in our September 2016 issue.

Our next topic: The Power of B&W
Deadline: July 1, 2016
Publication Date: October 2016

Please Note: By submitting you agree to give us the right to show the image(s) on the web and for publication. You give us publication rights in the magazine and on the website(s) of TEN: The Enthusiast Network, LLC.

Want to see images selected for past picture this! Assignments? Go to www.shutterbug.com and click on picture this! In the “more articles…” box on the homepage.

If you have any questions or problems e-mail us at editorial@shutterbug.com with Picture This! in the subject line.

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