Travel Photo Roulette Round #44: “Once In A Lifetime”

I am happy to announce I get to host the Travel Photo Roulette contest once again.  I previously won round #3 and hosted round #4 about 18 months ago and won the recent round #43 with the image taken above for the “adventure” theme hosted by Matt Gibson.  If you don’t know what Travel Photo Roulette is, here’s an idea of the contest:

An Overview

The contest migrates from blog to blog based on the idea that the winner of the previous contest hosts the next one.  I get to host round forty-four because I won round forty-three.  As host, I get to choose a theme for the next round and bloggers can submit a single entry based on how they interpret the theme.  The time frame for submissions is generally one week.  At the end of the week, the host blogger will chose the winner for that round and said winner will then repeat the process on their own blog.  Readers can always try and sway the host via comments during the contest, but the host is free to give as little or as much weight to people’s opinions as they wish.

And The Winner Is…

Dustin Main at SkinnyBackpacker.com

A few exhaustive travel days, and the past 3 mornings up before 5 to shoot photos meant I was in a dream state already. Early this morning, 12600 monks descended on Chiang Mai to collect alms for the flood victims in the south. An entire street was blocked off as waves of orange robes came down from one end to the other. This dreamy shot taken with a lensbaby summed up how the morning felt. Surreal. It wasn’t until days later that I was able to look back at the enormity of the situation and process it for myself.

The image is really great but it was the combination of image and story that made this one a winner.  With the story in my head, I could picture what was happening outside the boarders of the image and see thousands of monks filling the streets.  I also really liked the way he used a creative tool (the lens baby) to play with the shot.  If I were in the same situation in an event like that, I’d be tempted to not play around and get shots like this, which really makes me want to get back out there and get back to that experimentation that makes photography exciting.  Congrats Dustin!

Past Photo Roulette Winners and Hosts

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!

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 HQ – “Festival”
5. Dec 17–24, 2010 – Over Yonderlust – “Landmarks”
6. Dec 26–Jan 2, 2011 – Don’t Ever Look Back – “Beaches”
7. Jan 5–12, 2011 – ThePlanetD – “Portraits”
8. Jan 15–22, 2011 – Travel with a Mate – “Motion”
9. Jan 26–Feb 3, 2011 – Johnny Vagabond – “Water”
10. Feb 8–15, 2011 – Ken Kaminesky – “Urban”
11. Feb 21–27, 2011 – Travels of Adam – “Friday Night”
12. Mar 7–13, 2011 – Itchy Feet Chronicles – “The Journey”
13. Mar 19– 25, 2011 – Brendan’s Adventures – “Changing Seasons”
14. Apr 4–10, 2011 – Shutterfeet – “Storytelling”
15. Apr 13–21, 2011 – 10 Times One – “Piousness”
16. Apr 26–May 4, 2011 – Beached Eskimo – “Learning”
17. May 21–27, 2011 – Travel Junkies – “Architecture”
18. Jun 1–7, 2011 – Destination World – “Transportation”
19. Jun 8–15, 2011 – Living the Dream – “Paradise”
20. Jun 21-28, 2011 – Vagabond Quest – “Clothes”
21. Jul 4-11, 2011 – The Unframed World – “Symmetry”
22. Jul 16-25, 2011 – Beached Eskimo – “Home”
23. Jul 31 – Aug 7, 2011 – BackPackerBanter – “Inspiration”
24. Aug 14 – 21, 2011 – WanderingTrader – “Darkness”
25. Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2011 – Finding the Universe – “Tranquillity”
26. Sep 12 – 19, 2011 – Fearful Adventurer – “Food”
27. Sep 23 – 30, 2011 – Adventures of a GoodMan – “City”
28. Oct 06 – 13, 2011 – Globe-Trekking.com – “Reflections”
29. Oct 17 – 24, 2011 – Scene With A Hart – ”Framing”
30. Nov 9 – 16, 2011 – Vagabond Quest – “Silhouettes”
31. Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2011 – Hecktic Travels – “Music”
32. Dec 11 – Dec 18, 2011 – Globetrotter Girls – “Love”
33. Dec 25 – Jan 1st, 2012– Man on the lam – “Humor”
34. January 8 – Jan 15 – My Walkabout – “Winter”
35. Jan 15 – Jan 22 – The Art of Slow Travel – “Blue”
36. Feb 6 – Feb 13 – Ten Times One – “Depth of Field”
37. Feb 22 – Feb 29 – Runaway Juno – “My Glorious Digital Nomad Moment”
38. March 7 – March 14 – Nomadbiba – “Sunshine”
39. March 24 – 31 – Travel With Kat – “Local Character”
40. April 10th – 16th - The Travel Bunny – “Street Scene”
41.  April 23rd – April 30th – Adventure Crow – “Spirit of the Country”
42. May 7th – 14th - Food Travel Bliss – “Evening”
43. May 17th – May 24th - Matt Gibson – “Adventure”
44. May 30th – June 6th – Flashpacker HQ – “Once In A Lifetime”

New Theme

It was a bit more difficult to pick a theme for this round than the last time I did this because of all the excellent themes previously chosen.  While I fear this might overlap a few previous rounds, I’m hoping this will draw out some cool images and the stories that go with them.  This week’s theme is “Once In A Lifetime”.  As a travel blogger, I love when people share those once-in-a-lifetime stories that are often a motivation for people to travel in the first place.  I know I’ve had a few of these kinds of experiences and I’m hoping a few others have managed to capture theirs on camera.  Share the photo and briefly tell us the story that goes with it.

How to Submit

Entering the contest is super easy.  Just leave a comment below with a link to the image you’d like to submit and a caption or description of the image to help flesh it out.  PLEASE NOTE: especially with this theme, I’d love to get a bit more story with each photo – how does the photo relate to your “Once In A Lifetime” experience?  Once you’ve added your comment, I’ll add the image to the submissions.  Don’t forget to check back in during the week to see the other submissions and join the conversation by leaving comments for others.

The contest runs for 7 days starting May 30 and ending June 6 at 12:00 PST.  The winner will be announced within a few days of the end of the contest and the selected blogger will then host round #45.  Please do your best to keep your images to a nice, medium size and be aware that anything larger than 630px wide will be reduced in size.

The Rules for Travel Photo Roulette

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.

From Natasha von Geldern

From Cole @ Four Jandals

From Jeremy at Living The Dream RTW

I’d like to hope that all of my travel experiences are NOT once in a lifetime moments, because many of the great ones I’d like to do again someday. This one; however, will be my only “once in a lifetime moment.” It may not seem like much, but this nighttime scene on a beach on Koh Phi Phi, Thailand is the place where I proposed to my wife (married 14 days ago)

From The Rowdy Chowgirl

From Micki & Charles at The Barefoot Nomad

From Dustin Main at Skinnybackpacker.com

A few exhaustive travel days, and the past 3 mornings up before 5 to shoot photos meant I was in a dream state already. Early this morning, 12600 monks descended on Chiang Mai to collect alms for the flood victims in the south. An entire street was blocked off as waves of orange robes came down from one end to the other. This dreamy shot taken with a lensbaby summed up how the morning felt. Surreal. It wasn’t until days later that I was able to look back at the enormity of the situation and process it for myself.

From Jouljet

From On The Ground Travel

From Fluent in Frolicking

Sunset at Lake Nicaragua. We went on a booze cruise with a bunch of friends and we enjoyed every second of the ride. At sunset our friend Alisson out of the blue just dove off the boat. In a split second I got my SLR and got off one shot. Beautiful. A once in a lifetime shot.