I'm entering a photograph contest in national geographic traveler magazine.

[ladypanther]

Those pics are awesome!! Will take a lot of thought to pick a favorite.

[Bronn]

For me, most of them would fit NG... but I think my favorite and the most fitting is the one of the orphan boy in the tuk-tuk in Cambodia... His eyes make you curious to his life experiences...

Also, the kid on the swingset, I'd change that description to something that sounds a little less perverted... lol... "Joy explodes across the face"

;)

Good stuff, though... and good luck!

[Zod]

First, throw out the pics with the extreme tilt. Tilting screams "I am not yet comfortable in my compositions so let me tilt it and make it cool". Every photographer goes through it, some never make it past.

To me if it goes in a travel magazine it needs to tell the story of your travels. So throw out the flowers.

Also, a brilliant travel picture needs no captioning to tell the story. It tells the story within the frame.

They probably get tons upon tons of shots of the local architecture shot the same way, throw those out.

If the first kitty shot had a wider depth of field so that I could make out the foreign surroundings it would be worth submitting, but since its pretty blurred, could have been taken anywhere. throw that out. The second kitty shot, same thing, does not tell the story of location. Could be a shed in SC.

So for me, I would go with the the blue boat shot.

Its dynamic, colorful, and tells the story. The red bags make a good strong focal point. I assume they are plastic bags you put your belongings in to stay dry? Again, it tells the story. Its taken at a vantage point that puts you in the travelers seat.

[Bronn]

That is the one I am talking about... His eyes just made me think back to this iconic NG cover...

[Mrs Pantherfan]

I love all your pics but the ones that stood out to me were, of course the one with the kitten..the one with the ceiba tree and the one with the view of crossing the mekong on a skiff.

good luck!

[pstall]

im with jsqaured. that pic was the only one that made me think whats going on here. the rest seemed great but sort of standard.

where the kid seems to fit with what NG seems to capture at least to me.

[Darth Biscuit]

Excellent pics... I vote for the kid on the swing. More of a story behind that one to me...

[sharkkiller]

I like the pic of the scraggly tree. It seems to represent the struggle to maintain life in the tough times in that area, and how even in the toughest times, if you can get a foothold, you can manage a productive, if meager existence.

But the is jmho.

[Guest]

I agree with Zod about the tilting. I don't know anything about photography, so I can't comment like Zod can, but when I saw them I wondered what the scene was like without the tilt. Still liked them though.

I'd go with the skiff with the red bags, or the kid in the tuk tuk. To me, the kid on the swing is nice, but doesn't scream NG to me. I kind of liked the first pic on the Mekong too. If the passenger up front was leaning out a little more and their face was clear it would be my first choice. I also liked the shot of the food.

[Zod]

The food shot would have been a winner if you could have shown maybe the server prepping it or something along those lines. Something that tells me where its at.

[Guest]

^^It sure aint' Clover SC :)

[hank pimple butt]

I like the blue boat pic. Its makes you feel like your actually on the boat.

[charlotte49er]

The murky interior of this exterior Angkorian temple exudes an Indiana Jones-esque aura near Siem Reap, Cambodia.

From one photographer to another. (Yes, I have been published.) They are all great shots in their own right.

IMO, I think you ought to submit this one first.

I like the Cats, the smiling kid on the swing. (I also really like the row of Golden Buddhas, but see my comment below.)

Some of the photos, while maybe not that that particular angle, I have seen before. I'm not saying your aren't good, but if others have shot them, they MAY not be as likely to publish them.

Kids, animals, people, are something that no other photographer can get at that moment. (Like the cover picture of the young girl in Indian.) They are literally once in a lifetime shots.

(Actually, I think I'm talking myself into the kid on the swing! as #1!)

Good luck! Photography/Photo Journalism is a great job! "A picture is worth a 1000 words!" You are taking a picture of things that may never be seen again, or that unless someone traveled their on their own, will never see.

[PhillyB]

Thanks heaps to everyone who tossed in opinions! You guys have given me some invaluable advice. I've been taking pictures since I first started traveling a few years ago, but only recently has it become a serious hobby for me (it's no coincidence that a good fifty percent of my best shots are from this last journey alone, when I finally bought a quality camera.)

First, throw out the pics with the extreme tilt. Tilting screams "I am not yet comfortable in my compositions so let me tilt it and make it cool". Every photographer goes through it, some never make it past.

To me if it goes in a travel magazine it needs to tell the story of your travels. So throw out the flowers.

Also, a brilliant travel picture needs no captioning to tell the story. It tells the story within the frame.

They probably get tons upon tons of shots of the local architecture shot the same way, throw those out.

If the first kitty shot had a wider depth of field so that I could make out the foreign surroundings it would be worth submitting, but since its pretty blurred, could have been taken anywhere. throw that out. The second kitty shot, same thing, does not tell the story of location. Could be a shed in SC.

So for me, I would go with the the blue boat shot.

Its dynamic, colorful, and tells the story. The red bags make a good strong focal point. I assume they are plastic bags you put your belongings in to stay dry? Again, it tells the story. Its taken at a vantage point that puts you in the travelers seat.

I have not heard that about tilting, but you're pretty damn successful at this so I'll take your word for it. what's the reasoning behind that? just looks gimmicky?

on that note, what about the first picture on there, of the temple? I have a wide-angle lens now, so if I had it to do over again I'd probably use it and avoid the angle. But at the time I had a junk camera and that was the only way I could capture what I wanted to. Is that an acceptable use of angles, as opposed to the bumpercar one, which is at an irregular angle?

thanks again, this is all invaluable stuff.