TRAVEL PHOTO ROULETTE #88: THE 4 ELEMENTS

As I came back from one of the best trip I have ever taken in Iceland, I was surprised to read that I had been chosen as the winner of the Travel Photo Roulette #87. So now it is my turn to host it and entries will close on September 30th.

Update 2nd October: The winner has been announced

What is Travel Photo Roulette?

For the readers who are not bloggers, the Travel Photo Roulette is a photography contest where the winner of the previous round gets to pick a theme, host the contest and decide on the winner. It is a way to share memories, beautiful photography and discover some new blogs!

The last one was hosted by The crowded planet with the theme Wild World. There were some amazing shots of weather, animals and wild nature and I am honored to have been picked as the winner with my hungry leopard from Namibia (you can read the related story on my blog)

Travel Photo Roulette #88: The 4 Elements

As I said I just got back from an amazing trip to Iceland and I am looking forward to sharing all that with you. During this trip I was blown away by the force of Nature:

• Discovering the wonderful waterfalls with WATER making its way absolutely everywhere
• Walking in active volcanic areas and feeling the FIRE under the Earth
• Observing the shapes of lava fields where EARTH became fertile and moss took over, and even some trees!
• Breathing the very pure AIR and being absolutely unable to open the door of my car more than 5 cm because the wind was too strong

So for this round please show me the power of the elements, one of them or several of them. Feel free to get creative with close ups or wide angles. I hope you will enjoy it!

Here are some of my pictures (although I have not yet sorted out the Iceland ones yet so 2 of thsoe are only iPhone shots), just to give you some inspiration.

Travel Photo Roulette Contest Overview

The contest rotates through travel/photography blogs, so the winner of the previous round of Travel Photo Roulette hosts the subsequent round on their own blog. The new host then chooses the next theme (a generic keyword or phrase) and people submit their interpretations of the theme over the course of the week of the contest.

At the end of the week, the hosting blogger chooses their favorite photo from the submissions and displays it as the week’s winning entry. They then include direction to the new host for the next round. Readers can attempt to sway the author into picking a certain photo via comments, but the author can ignore comments as they see fit. The game is repeated with the winner hosting the following week’s game and choosing a phrase for new photo submissions.

Feel free to share this post on Facebook, Twitter, G+, Trover and StumbleUpon so more people can join the contest – make sure to use the hashtag #PhotoRoulette

Travel Photo Roulette Guidelines

• One submission per blog, so sites that have 2+ authors only get one entry.
• Post processing is permitted, but photo altering (ie. using Photoshop to remove elements) is not.
• Abstract submissions welcomed as long as it fits within the interpretation of the chosen phrase. Remember, the hosting blogger chooses the winner, so if they cannot understand the submission, you might not win!
• Please try and keep your images medium-sized and web-optimized.
• If you win, keep these in mind when choosing a new theme: Keep phrases general so that all bloggers can participate. Specific items like “Eiffel Tower” should be avoided but rather made open-ended like “monuments.” For variety, it is okay to say focused things such as “monuments at night” which most of us have pictures of. Phrases can be generic ‘signs’, or abstract ‘religion’
• Abstract thoughts are appreciated, but keep it within the realm that all readers will understand. No “Kafka-esque”, or “Overlooking Creation”. Use something that is able to be interpreted by all
• After 1 year, phrases can be reused, however new photos must be submitted.
• No obscene pictures or phrases allowed. Suggestive phrases and photography can be accepted, but please keep it within reason.
• Keep the ideas and photos fresh!
• Pictures from your entire portfolio are fair to submit. You do not have to take the photo within the week of the contest period to submit it.
• Most importantly, all photographs must be your own.
• One last rule, since this is a competition for travel and photography bloggers, you must have a travel/photography blog to enter. Sorry!

How to Enter Travel Photo Roulette #88: The 4 Elements

To enter in the Photo Roulette competition simply leave a comment below with a link to the image (whether Flickr, Picasa or your own site) and I will upload it to this post. Don’t forget to provide a brief description or caption for the photo so the viewers can get a little background as to what’s happening.

Check back here through the week to see all the entries as they come in – feel free to comment on them. The contest runs for 7 days, from now September 23th until September 30th, 2014 when the submission period ends. I will announce the winner within a couple of days of September 16th, and they will host the next round.

Entries

1. Jeremy from Living the Dream

“My entry follows the theme of Earth, and for this one I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than the giant sand dunes of Namibia (Dune 45 featured). These massive dunes have taken over the landscape and are a wonderful display of the raw power of nature.”

2. Brent from Brent’s favorite photos

“This is small cave in Valley of Fire, Nevada known as Windstone Cave.”

3. Stephen from A Backpackers Tale

“This is a picture of Plitvice Falls in Croatia. These falls show the natural beauty of this National Park. It is filled with hundreds of tiny waterfalls, and light blue pools that make you feel like you are in a fairy tale and show the wonder and power of mother nature.”

4. Lance from Travel Addicts

“A combination of EARTH, WATER and WIND — the Travertines of Pamukkale, Turkey. Water carries the minerals down the mountain where wind helps deposit and shape the formations. The result is a beautiful tapestry of texture.”

5. Amy from Vacation Thrills

“Oneonta Gorge is only accessible by walking/swimming through the creek bed. It is one of the most stunning “hikes” I have done here in Oregon. The sun was coming straight down the day we were there creating a beautiful late summer haze through the trees.”

6. Mead from Mead Norton

“A photograph of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia from the air….”

7. Calli from Have Blog Will Travel

“Our entry is from a Prague Christmas Market last year. A crowd had really gathered around this metal worker and when I was finally able to slip through and see what all the fuss was about it became clear – fire!”

8. Jimmy from Jimmy Eats World

Here’s mine from The Valley of the Moon outside of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Named it’s close resemblance to the lunar surface, its creation is a result of thousands of years of erosion caused by wind and melting ice from the ice age.

9. Juergen  from Dare2Go

“I always find it difficult to even explain in words to anybody what the wind in Patagonia is like. It’s always present, mostly really strong, sometimes gusty, sometimes a constant howl, but there is no Patagonia without wind. It can be so strong that one day I wasn’t able to shift into fifth gear, whenever I did our vehicle would just come to a crawl. It ripped the door out of my hand and the bonnet of our truck off the hinges. It wears on you – as it did to these trees, planted as a wind break and GROWN into this shape on Estancia Rio Verde in southern Patagonia near Natales in Chile”

10. Melissa from Linguist On The Move

“I took it on Deception Island – an active volcanic caldera in Antarctica – this past January. It has all of the four elements: The water both from the ocean lapping on the beach, but also in the snow in the background. Earth is represented in the volcanic black rock under the sparse layers of snow. And finally, fire and wind are seen in the steam rising up off the beach and blowing around under my fellow passengers’ feet. After taking this picture I jumped into the freezing 0°water but was able to lie in the sand due to the geothermal elements of the caldera keeping me warm”

11. Kate from Vagrants Of The World

“We have opted for Earth & Water. This shot was taken flying in a Mallard over the remote north west region of the Kimberley in Western Australia. We like it because of the contrast of colours in the two elements that make it like looking down on Earth!”

12. Dustin from A Skinny Escape

“So I took your four elements theme to heart, and chose this image from Yellowstone.

Here the fire from the magma below heats the water as it bubbles up from underground and into Yellowstone Lake. The ground turns all shade of colors from the minerals and the different bacteria that survive and thrive thanks to the unusual circumstances at play here. And finally, the air… stinky from the smell of sulfur!”

PREVIOUS WINNERS

This is a list of all the previous winners and themes. Click the host’s link to go directly to that entry to see some fab photographs.

1. Nov 2010 Living the Dream Animals
2. Nov 2010 Skinny Backpacker Road Signs
3. Nov 2010 Dream a Little Dream Street Art
4. Dec 2010 Flashpacker HQ Festival
5. Dec 2010 Over Yonderlust Landmarks
6. Dec 2010 Don’t Ever Look Back Beaches
7. Jan 2011 ThePlanetD Portraits
8. Jan 2011 Travel with a Mate Motion
9. Jan 2011 Johnny Vagabond Water
10. Feb 2011 Ken Kaminesky Urban
11. Feb 2011 Travels of Adam Friday Night
12. Mar 2011 Itchy Feet Chronicles The Journey
13. Mar 2011 Brendan’s Adventures Changing Seasons
14. Apr 2011 Shutterfeet Storytelling
15. Apr 2011 10 Times One Piousness
16. Apr 2011 Beached Eskimo Learning
17. May 2011 Travel Junkies Architecture
18. Jun 2011 Destination World Transportation
19. Jun 2011 Living the Dream Paradise
20. Jun 2011 Vagabond Quest Clothes
21. Jul 2011 The Unframed World Symmetry
22. Jul 2011 Beached Eskimo Home
23. Jul 2011 BackPackerBanter Inspiration
24. Aug 2011 WanderingTrader Darkness
25. Aug 2011 Finding the Universe Tranquillity
26. Sep 2011 Fearful Adventurer Food
27. Sep 2011 Adventures of a GoodMan City
28. Oct 2011 Globe-Trekking.com Reflection
29. Oct 2011 Scene With A Hart Framing
30. Nov 2011 Vagabond Quest Silhouettes
31. Nov 2011 Hecktic Travels Music
32. Dec 2011 Globetrotter Girls Love
33. Dec 2011 Man on the lam Humor
34. Jan 2012 My Walkabout Winter
35. Jan 2012 The Art of Slow Travel Blue
36. Feb 2012 Ten times One Depth of the Field
37.  ?
38. Mar 2012 Nomadbiba Sunshine
39. Mar 2012 Travel With Kat Local Character
40. Apr 2012 The Travel Bunny Street Scene
41. Apr 2012 Adventure Crow Spirit of the Country
42. May 2012 Food Travel Bliss Evening
43. May 2012 Matt Gibson Adventure
44. May 2012 Flashpacker HQ Once In A Lifetime
45. Jul 2012 Skinny Backpacker Surreal
46. Aug 2012 2away Smile
47. Aug 2012 Bridges and Balloons Excellent Splendour of the Universe
48. Sep 2012 The GypsyNester What the ?!
49. Oct 2012 Runaway Juno Sweet
50. Nov 2012 GQ Trippin Play
51. Nov 2012 Life’s Little Victories Friendship
52. Dec 2012 Breakaway Backpacker Face
53. Jan 2013 Fly, Icarus, Fly Serendipity
54. Feb 2013 Travel Transmissions Lost in Thought
55. Feb 2013 Wanderlusters The Natural World
56. Mar 2013 Travel Junkies Patterns
57. Apr 2013 Living the Dream Your First Time
58. May 2013 Getting Stamped The Sun Goes Down
59. Jun 2013 The GypsyNester Cheesy Tourist Diversions
60. Jun 2013 Boomeresque Revolution
61. Jul 2013 Breakaway Backpacker Colorful
62. Aug 2013 Around This World Mountains
63. Aug 2013 Passports and Pamplemousse Hands at Work
64. Sep 2013 TurtlesTravel Dance
65. Sep 2013 Keep calm and travel The Sea
66. Sep 2013 Travel Photo Discovery The Market
67. Oct 2013 Am I Nearly There Yet? Travel Fails
68. Oct 2013 The GypsyNester Weird Regional Foods
69. Nov 2013 Sophie’s World Trees
70. Nov 2013 SHOuTography Party
71. Dec 2013 Adventures of a Goodman Ruin
72. Dec 2013 Have Blog Will Travel Light
73. Jan 2014 This World Rocks Crowds
74. Jan 2014 Travel Past 50 Competition
75. Feb 2014 The Working Traveller Working
76. Mar 2014 Travels with Carole Umbrellas
77. Apr 2014 Independent Travel Help Quirky
78. Apr 2014 Quit Job Travel World Statues
79. May 2014 Nomad is Beautiful People Sleeping
80. May 2014 Backpack Me Mouthwatering
81. Jun 2014 20 Years Hence The Face of A Nation
82. Jul 2014 Two for the Road Into the Wild
83. Jul 2014 TurtlesTravel Summer!
84. Aug 2014 Adventures Around Asia Candid
85. Aug 2014 Travel with Kevin and Ruth Hiking
86. Sept 2014 Till The Money Runs Out Transport
87. Sept 2014 The Crowded Planet Wild World
88. Sept 2014 ZigZag On Earth The 4 Elements

HAVE FUN!