While checking twitter while on a short birthday vacation to Kyoto, I received word that I’d won Round 28 of Photo Roulette. I am honored to now be the host of this wonderful way of travel/photography bloggers to not only share their photographs, but to meet one another and network. Kudos to Jeremy at Living the Dream for starting this idea nearly one year ago.
After receiving Daniel Cronk‘s tweet that I had won, I immediately starting thinking of a theme. Being in a city filled with centuries old shrines and temples that not only had been built with faith and inspiration, but also inspired and filled visitors with faith, my theme soon came to me when I visited Genko-an Temple.
Genko-an is famous for its two windows looking toward the temple’s garden: one is square and is called “The Window of Confusion” while the other is round and is called “The Window of Enlightenment.” These windows, used in advertisements for visiting Kyoto, provide excellent examples of Round 29′s theme: Framing.
The windows at Genko-an Temple.
Framing is one of my favorite photographic techniques. According to Digital Photography School online:
“Framing is the technique of drawing attention to the subject of your image by blocking other parts of the image with something in the scene.
The benefits of framing pictures include
Frames for photographs come in all shapes and sizes and can include shooting through overhanging branches, shooting through windows, using tunnels, arches or doorways – you can even use people (for example shooting over shoulders or between heads) etc.
Your frame doesn’t need to go completely around the edges of your image – they might just be on one or two edges of your shot.”
Framing in a nutshell. I look forward to seeing all the submissions. I know it will be hard choosing only one winner and host for the next round.
Official Rules
The photo contest will run from October 17th to October 24th. I am in Japan and nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). I’ll announce the winner on this page and Twitter at approximately midnight GMT on October 24th. 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. 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! Here’s the list of previous hosts and topics:
| Dates: |
Website: |
Theme: |
| Nov 4–10, 2010 |
Living the Dream |
“Animals” |
| Nov 17–24, 2010 |
Skinny Backpacker |
“Road Signs” |
| Nov 29–Dec 6, 2010 |
Dream a Little Dream |
“Street Art” |
| Dec 8–15, 2010 |
Flashpacker HQ |
“Festival” |
| Dec 17–24, 2010 |
Over Yonderlust |
“Landmarks” |
| Dec 26–Jan 2, 2011 |
Don’t Ever Look Back |
“Beaches” |
| Jan 5–12, 2011 |
ThePlanetD |
“Portraits” |
| Jan 15–22, 2011 |
Travel with a Mate |
“Motion” |
| Jan 26–Feb 3, 2011 |
Johnny Vagabond |
“Water” |
| Feb 8–15, 2011 |
Ken Kaminesky |
“Urban” |
| Feb 21–27, 2011 |
Travels of Adam |
“Friday Night” |
| Mar 7–13, 2011 |
Itchy Feet Chronicles |
“The Journey” |
| Mar 19– 25, 2011 |
Brendan’s Adventures |
“Changing Seasons” |
| Apr 4–10, 2011 |
Shutterfeet |
“Storytelling” |
| Apr 13–21, 2011 |
10timesOne |
“Piousness” |
| Apr 26–May 4, 2011 |
Beached Eskimo |
“Learning” |
| May 21–27, 2011 |
Travel Junkies |
“Architecture” |
| Jun 1–7, 2011 |
Destination World |
“Transportation” |
| Jun 8–15, 2011 |
Living the Dream |
“Paradise” |
| Jun 21-28, 2011 |
Vagabond Quest |
“Clothes” |
| Jul 4-11, 2011 |
The Unframed World |
“Symmetry” |
| Jul 16-25, 2011 |
Beached Eskimo |
“Home” |
| July 31 – Aug 7, 2011 |
BackPackerBanter |
“Inspiration” |
| Aug 14 – 21, 2011 |
WanderingTrader |
“Darkness” |
| Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2011 |
Finding the Universe |
“Tranquillity” |
| Sep 12 – Sep 19, 2011 |
Fearful Adventurer |
“Food” |
| Sep 23 – Sep 30, 2011 |
Adventures of a GoodMan |
“City” |
| Oct 06 – Oct 13, 2011 |
Globe-Trekking.com |
“Reflections” |
And some small print you need to know…
- One submission per Blog (so sites that have 2+ authors only get one entry).
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- No obscene pictures or phrases allowed. Suggestive phrases and photography can be accepted, but please keep it within reason.
- After a sufficient period of time, phrases can be reused, however new photos must be submitted.
- 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.
- Please resize your photos to be no larger than 900 pixels in width (landscape) or 600 pixels in width (portrait).
- Most importantly, ALL PHOTOS MUST BE YOUR OWN.
How to submit your entry:
Don’t forget you need to be a blogger to take part, because if you win will need to be able to host the next round!
To take part, email your image and description to hartsallovertheworld@gmail.com or provide a link to your image in the comments field below, with a short description, and a link to your blog. Once your photo is submitted I will add it to the post below along with a link back to your site. If you tweet and/or have a Facebook fan page, please leave your handles in your comments.
Finally, once you’ve submitted your shot, I’d love it if you could take a moment to share this post on the interwebs using the sharing buttons down below, which will give more people a chance to take part! For Twitterers, please use #photoroulette and #TravelRoulette .
Once again, I am proud to host this round and I look forward to the opportunity this affords me to meet new travel/photography bloggers. Thank you, Arigato!
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The Participants
Heather at 2Summers submits this photograph:
I took this photo while on a walking safari in Kruger National Park. We rounded a bend and found ourselves face to face with a bull elephant in musth.
Thank you Heather!
Veronica at the Gypsy Nester submits this photo:
When I snapped this image, I literally gasped, as had no idea this lady was there until she walked into the frame. She became my muse for the entire series. I spent the rest of the day in a trance, lost in an ancient city, capturing the people of Genoa.
Thank you Veronica!
Elle at Veni Vidi Vici submits this photo from her Caribbean cruise:
Just last week I found myself wandering around the well preserved streets of Nelson’s Dockyard on the gorgeous island of Antigua. This rather plain doorway led from the street to a beautiful garden.
Thank you Elle!
Johnny Ward at One Step 4 Ward submits this photograph;
I had just summited Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, Malaysia (completely unprepared in shorts at freezing temperatures!). We were beginning our descent when my friend snapped me, it’s about 5am in the morning, the sun had just risen and we were the first people on the mountain to begin the descent so it looks like I have the whole place to myself.
Thank you Johnny!
Dina at Vagabond Quest submits this photo from beautiful Seville:
The charming Alcazar of Seville, Spain on a very hot day.
Thank you Dina!
Jeremy at Living the Dream submits this photograph:
The peaks and caves of Railay Beach in Thailand make for the perfect natural frame. The eye is drawn to the near, then to the far, and back again.
Thank you Jeremy!
Gerard and Kieu (G & Q) from GQ Trippin submits this photograph:
On our way up the hundreds of steps to the Palamidi Fortress. We caught this hole that contained a lovely view of the port town known as Nafplion, Greece.
Thank you Gerard and Kieu!
Tin from Adventures of Tin submits this photo:
I took this photo during my Bali Trip early this year. I visited the Mengwi Royal Family Temple, around 20mins from Ubud. There were paintings for sale and the artist was there when I visited. There was also a friend of his (maybe, haha) who was lying on the floor in that position shown in the photo. Hahaha I was trying a lot of angles to catch the face of the artist when I arrived at the angle this photo was taken and saw a frame focused on the artist’s friend between the canvas and the floor.
Thank you Tin!
The ‘Lass’ from Wanderlass submits this photo:
I love framing photos… here is my entry taken in Verona, Italia.
Thank you Wanderlass!
Audrey from That Backpacker submits this photo:
I snapped this photo during my last trip to London. Though I had been to St. Paul’s twice before, I had never seen it from this particular angle.
Thank you Audrey!
Annette from Bucket List Journey submits this photograph:
I took this photo while traveling through the foothills of Arizona. It was taken at the Mystery Castle, which was built in the 30s. I quickly fell in love with this wagon wheel and the Southwestern-style castle that peeks through.
Thank you Annette!
Andi from My Beautiful Adventures submits this photograph (via email):
This was taken at Battery Park in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. It is a beautiful place to watch the sailboats pass by in the water and contemplate where you would like to go on your next adventure!
Thank you Andi!
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