My first travel photographs in National Geographic Traveler have been published! The June edition of the Netherlands travel magazine includes not one, but two articles illustrated with my images. One article visually highlights the wonderful diversity in Oman, where ancient cultures are clashing with modern, oil driven world. The other is a photo essay about the Salzkammergut region in Austrian Alps. To preview the articles, click here.

To celebrate, I am offering a 30% discount on prints on any of the 25 images that appear in the magazine if you use the coupon code ‘natgeocelebration’.

Go HERE to browse the images

Remember, use coupon code: natgeocelebration on checkout!

And don’t forget to share this with a friend so they can benefit from this offer as well.

Offer expires on June 30, 2010

I must admit, the climate in the Netherlands is much more conducive to clear thinking. From the moment we stepped onto the tarmac in Oman, it was about heat and humidity. Please note, I have become accustomed to stepping out of airplanes and being greeted with a different climate, but stepping out of the plane in Muscat was like walking in to a brick wall of fire and water. It was +45 and humid. To survive in the Capital, Omanis travel between air conditioned atmospheres as quickly as possible. When one taxi driver was asked what they did before air conditioning and he simply responded, ‘It was bad’.

The interesting thing about Oman was the layer of modern paint applied over a multi-thousand year history. It has been modernized in 30 years and once you break through that layer of paint, it shows. However, I think that I will let Thijs Joosten, the writer and editor of NG Traveler tell us more when his article is published.

On another note, I have never been to such a harsh climate for photography gear. Even the Arctic was nicer. Oman has some serious heat and some serious humidity. Stepping outside during the day with your cameras, is like stepping into a swimming pool atmosphere, the lenses fog right up. And Oman has sand so fine a simple gust of wind blows it everywhere.

A tip for future travelers, don’t wear ‘flip flops’ in the desert, the sand that gets kicked up when you ‘flop’ is at a perfect angle to cover your camera on your shoulder.

A couple of images from my recent assignment for National Geographic Traveler – the Netherlands Editie.

I just got back from a trip in the Austrian Alps with a writer to create a story for the magazine about a specific region. Up before the crack of dawn, we were running all day then downloading and backing up long after the sunset. But that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have fun in the mean time. More to come when the story is published. (Images by Hein van Beek)