Tag Archives: travel

National Geographic Photography Competition – Judging

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A few weeks ago I received an email from the web editor at National Geographic here in the Netherlands informing me that every month they run a competition for amateur and semi-professional photographers.

Initially I was a little confused, I was set to head to Oman for the magazine and was wondering why I was being informed about this competition. However, when I read the second paragraph and realised they were asking me to judge the entries. I enthusiastically agreed. Judging that month’s images, (they narrowed it down to 12) and choosing the 3 that I felt were the strongest was quite interesting.

It was a unique experience to look at another person’s images critically, judging them against each other for composition, mood, emotion and technicality. There were some great images in the 12 that were sent to me and it was a tough decision to make. But, you can see the results of my choices here, take a look.

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On Assignment – Oman

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I haven’t been posting for a bit because I was in Prince Edward Island taking a break. I just wanted to say that I am back in the game, at least I will be when I return from this trip in Oman. I am on assignment for National Geographic Traveler and will be back in the Netherlands on the 8th. Till then…..

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Desert Bound

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When I tell friends that I am headed to Las Vegas, the question ‘why’ glazes over their eyes. It seems that I am perhaps not suited for the city, but, luckily all is righted when I explain that it is just an point of access to Death Valley and SouthWestern Utah.

I am really excited about spending some time shooting the South Western landscape and relaxing with my family who is meeting me in that wonderful corner of the world. I will be out of communication for a couple of weeks, but stay tuned for images of the SouthWestern landscape.

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Portfolio 2008

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A portfolio process is a long and painful process. Your ego will be trampled to the point where it walks out the door, leaving you crying in a dark room because IT doesn’t want to be abused any more.

The process takes many hours of culling and editing and seeking opinions you respect. Then you spend hours in front of a computer screen working on images. At which point you find the best printer you can find, (Maarten Wouters at M*G!C), the best paper you can find, (Ilford Gold Fibre), and you watch the cash take the same route your ego did two weeks before. Once it is printed you spend more hours fitting it into your book and then removing every speck of dust from the prints as if they were disease.

One of the questions you must solve is, how many images should I put in. Anywhere from 10 – 50 images can be found in a book, but I believe in the saying ‘Less is More’ and my wallet wholeheartedly agrees. Between 20 – 25 images is the maximum. Any more then that and the client needs to be a family member or your best friend because no one else has that amount of patience.

After 8 years of traveling and photographing 5 different continents, what made the cut? See Here.

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