The 5 Hilarious Travel Photos Contest

04/9/07  Print This Post Print This Post    17 Comments   Popular   Written by Ian MacKenzie
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Raising the Roof outside the VaticanTravel photographers usually try to capture a variety of subjects and emotions with their shots.

Whether it’s a sunset framed by Fijian palm trees, the weathered face of an Indian rickshaw driver, or strips of Tibetan prayer flags flapping in the wind, the focus is on beauty, emotion, and awe.

But rarely is the art of the “hilarious” travel photo celebrated in these circles.

These are the shots depicting a certain look of horror as you’re about to board a rickety river ferry, the satisfaction of “raising the roof” in front of the Vatican, and the shame of passing out on the table of the Irish pub after one pint too many.

So in the spirit of this underrated art, I’ve decided to launch the 5 Hilarious Travel Photos Contest.

Here’s how it works: pick your top 5 hilarious travel photos and publish them on your blog.

What’s the prize? Well, you’d think the amusement one gets from digging through their travel photos for the most absurd shots would be enough. And let’s not forget the prestige factor.

But just to make it interesting I’ll send the winner a brand spankin’ new copy of Lonely Planet Travel Photography: A Guide To Taking Better Pictures.

The Official Rules

5 hilarious photos contest1. To participate, you must choose 5 of your most hilarious travel photos and publish them in a single blog post between now and the deadline: midnight on Sunday April 22, 2007.

2. Each photo must either include you OR be taken by you.

3. The photos don’t necessarily have to be hilarious themselves. Often, it’s the story behind the photo that makes them extra hilarious, so feel free to elaborate on each.

4. Send a trackback to this post or email me directly to let me know you’ve posted your entry. I will be gathering and listing them all here until the deadline.

5. After the deadline, I will choose, along with help from a few other travel photographers, the top 5 entries. Entries will be judged as a whole, and not on the merits of a single photo.

7. On Monday, April 23, I will publish the finalists along with a voting poll for the audience to have their say.

6. Voting will end midnight Friday, April 27. From there, the winner will be announced on Monday, April 30.

If you’re stuck looking for inspiration, I’ll be publishing my own entry in the competition this Wednesday. Of course, I’m not eligible to win.

Make sense? If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.


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About the Author

Matador ID: ianmack

Ian MacKenzie is the founder and editor of Brave New Traveler. He is currently editing the One Week Job documentary. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.

17 Comments... join the discussion!

  • pam replied on April 9, 2007

    Dammit Ian, you’re a day late for my “Contests Galore” post on BlogHer. I wanna be one of the judges. No, I wanna submit a photo. No, wait. Dammit. I gotta go edit my BlogHer post!

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  • ianmack replied on April 9, 2007

    Thanks for the pingback Pam! And don’t worry, you can publish your own contest entry and still be a judge. You just can’t win ;-D

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  • Dave replied on April 9, 2007

    Finally, my most embarassing travel photos have a purpose. For the most part, these will be the ones that would otherwise have been the least likely to see the light of day!

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  • ianmack replied on April 9, 2007

    Sounds great Dave, looking forward to your entry. I’m finding it difficult to whittle down my own top picks - there are so many sadly hilarious shots.

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  • Alakaline replied on April 9, 2007

    a great idea there! will send u some next time.
    cheers,

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  • Pia replied on April 10, 2007

    What a great idea! Can’t wait to see what turns up …

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  • Kirsty replied on April 10, 2007

    Ya great idea! As soon as I set up my blog and figure out what on earth a trackback is, I think I’ve got a couple worth a chuckle. Looking forward to seeing the entries!

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  • ianmack replied on April 10, 2007

    @ kirsty - don’t worry about the trackback. just linking to this post from your post will send a ping as well. or you can just email me to let me know your blog entry is up.

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  • Kuanyin replied on April 16, 2007

    http://vintage-tees.blogspot.com/2007/04/brave-new-traveler-five-hilarious.html

    Here’s my entry for the 5 Hilarious Travel Photos!

    Blessings…Kuanyin

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  • Mridula replied on April 22, 2007

    This sounded like such a fun contest. So here is my entry from India.

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  • Akira replied on April 26, 2007

    I stumbled here via Mridula. The contest sounds like a lot of fun and I thought I’d do a post although I was past the deadline…but ended up w/ something else…Thanks fr the laughs…:)

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  • LOL Till Die replied on December 3, 2007

    Ryo:

    Yay, nice competition. Oh geez I just found this page now. I shoulda entered this competition…. Must be lotsa fun…

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  • Lolly Face replied on April 22, 2008

    Yay Nice one it was kewl well more like deadly wish i did that LOL

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