Travel Photography Roulette Round 4: Festival

This week’s contest has concluded.

And the winner of Travel Photography Roulette Round 4 is…

Erica from overyonderlust.com

Congratulations!

I have wanted to go to the burning man festival for quite a while now, but just have not been able to make it.  I’m also totally paranoid about the fine desert sand getting into my camera gear and tearing it to shreds.  The reason I chose this image, however, is that it really kind of shows a piece of the festival.  The atmospheric quality of the thick air, the dress and style of the participants and the transportation, and some of the structures that are built to create a city in the middle of the desert for a week.  Great job Erica!

Erica will be hosting Round 5, so be sure to check out http://overyonderlust.com/ sometime soon to see what theme she’s chosen and get your entry in!  Thanks everyone for participating and I’ll see you in the next round!

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What do you know, I won the last round of Travel Photography Roulette! Jeremy at Living The Dream came up with a great concept where travel bloggers submit a single image based on a theme chosen by that round’s host. After a week, the host will pick their favorite image and the winner will then become the host for the next round.

My Pick

For round four I’m going with a topic I absolutely love – festivals. There’s something magical about being at a local festival. It’s an opportunity to see local people let their guard down and take part in an event that only happens once a year or less. Anything is possible – costumes, colors, dancing, food, drink, and more. They can be tricky to get to, but well worth the effort as far as I’m concerned. I’d love to see images that try and summarize the festival as much as possible.

Rules?

The rules of the game are simple.  The hosting blogger is the chosen winner of the previous week’s (7 days) game.  The new host chooses a generic keyword or phrase that other bloggers submit photos to during the course of the week.  Phrases can be as generic as ‘signs’ all the way to abstract thoughts like ‘religion’ and everything in between.

At the end of the week, the hosting blogger chooses their favorite photo that fits the chosen phrase and moves it to the top of the post as the winning entry with direction to the new host’s site 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.

The following is a list of the previously played rounds of the game and the hosting blogger for each.  This list also doubles as a winner’s table as each topic host won the preceding round!  Click the host’s link to go directly to that entry to see some stunning photographs from the chosen term/phrase!

Round…..	Date…..	Host…..	Term/Phrase
1	Nov 4-10, 2010	Living the Dream	Animals
2	Nov 17-24, 2010	Skinny Backpacker	Road Signs
3	Nov 29-Dec 6, 2010….	Dream a Little Dream.…	Street Art
4	Dec 8-15, 2010	Flashpacker HeadQuarters	Festival

For Round 4, I have chosen the term: “Festival”, and my photo submission is below.  Those interested in playing please provide a hyperlink to a photo you’d like to submit in the comment section and it will get hosted on this page.  When submitting an image, please provide a brief description and location of where it was taken for captioning and try and limit the width to 650 pixels wide.   On December 16th I will pick a winner and that blogger can start the next round.   NOTE: I’m in Laos, a country with poor internet and have to leave by the 17th, so there’s a possibility of being a day (maybe two) late.  I will make every effort to get this done ASAP.

So, who is ready to show off their photography skills?  The best Festival image wins the week and bragging rights.

Extra Criteria to Keep in Mind When Submitting a Photo:

1) One submission per Blog (so sites that have 2+ authors only get one entry).

2) No photoshopping allowed unless specifically called for!  Cropping and correction for red-eye or camera flaws are ok, however.

3) 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!

4) 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 ok to say focused things such as “monuments at night” in which most of us have pictures of.

6) Abstract thoughts are appreciated, but keep it within the realm that all readers will understand.  No “Kafka-esque”, but “Overlooking Creation” is able to be interpreted by all.

7) No obscene pictures or phrases allowed.  Suggestive phrases and photography can be accepted, but please keep it within reason.

8) After a sufficient period of time, phrases can be reused, however new photos must be submitted.  Keep the ideas and photos fresh!

9) 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.

10) Most importantly, ALL PHOTOS MUST BE YOUR OWN.

Round 4 Entries: