#ExploreTheElements and win!
Thomas Cook are currently running an awesome travel photography competition for bloggers; #ExploreTheElements. Bloggers are invited to submit four photos, one for each of the four elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water.
The prizes
There will be a winner for each of the four elements as well as an overall winner. The four individual category winners will each choose one prize from the following:
- Macbook Air
- Fujifilm X-T1 camera
- iPhone 6 with Bose noise cancelling headphones
The overall winner will be awarded an amazing £5000 travel fund!
My submission for the #ExploreTheElements competition
It’s quite a challenge to choose four photographs for this competition; I’ve spent the weekend looking through lots of photos from all around the world and in the end I’ve decided to focus on four photos that represent the elements from my big road trip through Alaska last summer.
Air
“Represents things that grow, expand, and enjoy freedom of movement Associated with will, elusiveness, evasiveness, benevolence, compassion, and wisdom”
Nicole S. Young will be judging entries in the Air category.
To represent the element Air, I decided to look to the sky and focus on the natural elements in the air, rather than man-made objects. The above photo was taken last August somewhere on the Denali Park Road. I knew August was typically a rainy month in Alaska so I tried not to get too excited about having the opportunity to photograph landscapes with clear blue skies. The air was filled with small scattered clouds, expanding and moving freely and despite my love of clear blue skies, I also love to photograph pretty cloud formations and I felt in this case, the clouds added interest to this capture, without hiding Denali’s scow-capped peak. This was one of the first photographs I took of Mount McKinley (Denali); North America’s highest mountain.
Earth
“Represents the hard, solid objects of the earth Associated with stubbornness, collectiveness , physicality and gravity”
Dave Bouskill will be judging entries in the Earth category.
To represent the element Earth, I decided to include another photograph from Denali National Park. Nothing is quite so solid as a mountain range, such as the rugged Alaska Range. The Alaska Range blocks moist air from the Gulf of Alaska which causes some of the harshest weather in the world. From a distance, the Alaska Range doesn’t look quite so unforgiving, but I appreciated the “widescreen” view of this wilderness. There aren’t many place on earth where you can stare at a mountain range from such a distance, with nothing but wilderness and tundra in the foreground. Each time I look at this photo, I am transported back to Denali.
Fire
“Represents the energetic, forceful, moving things in the world Associated with security, motivation, desire, intention, and an outgoing spirit”
Elia Locardi will be judging entries in the Fire category.
To represent the element of Fire, I have chosen to move away from a literal representation. At first I considered including this photo of a tidewater glacier breaking into the Kenai Fjords to represent the element of Water, but for me, this image better fits the description of the Fire category because glaciers are powerful, energetic, forceful and moving; there is no fluid, flowing formless representation here.
It was an emotional and exciting experience to observe a calving tidewater glacier. With each movement, the glacier groans, cracking and leaving you on edge, waiting to see what will happen next. It was also a reminder of how fragile our natural world is, how dangerous it can be and also how critical it is that environments like this continue to be protected.
Water
“Represents the fluid, flowing, formless things in the world Associated with emotion, defensiveness, adaptability, flexibility, suppleness, and magnetism”
Ken Kaminesky will be judging entries in the Water category.
To represent the element of Water I chose this photo of my first and only sighting of a moose. We were driving along the McCarthy Road, heading out of McCarthy when we spotted this lady bathing and drinking in this lake. If it wasn’t for her presence, the lake would have probably displayed a mirror image of the surrounding environment. But the moose’s presence in the water created ripples, marking the boundary of her territory. She paused for a moment to look up from her morning ritual to stare right back. This was her lake and we weren’t welcome to join her. We paused for a moment, admired the view from the safety of our vehicle, and quietly went on our way.
Thanks for the nomination!
I was so thrilled to receive a nomination to participate in the competition from Colette who blogs at Armchair to Reality. Of course I could have just entered anyway (and what’s stopping you?) but because I’ve been so busy lately, I never picked up on this; so thanks so much Colette, I’ve really appreciated the excuse to re-visit my travels in pictures and remind myself of the need to plan another adventure real soon! 🙂
My nominations
The clock is ticking but there is still time to enter the competition and win an awesome prize (competition closes Monday 16th May at 23:59). Check out the full #ExploreTheElements competition entry details for further information.
I nominate the following bloggers to rise to the challenge (in no particular order):
Join in
If you haven’t received a nomination, you can still enter as long as you have a blog.
Good luck everyone! 🙂
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