As a professional travel photographer, I find it’s healthy to measure myself against other photographers. It inspires me to do better and grow myself as a photographer. There is always much to learn and, while I don’t always like reading about it, I love looking at creative images and applying new techniques to my own work. So it was interesting, and enjoyable, to visit the Travel Photographer of the Year site (http://www.tpoty.com ) and go through the winners gallery to view the entries overs several years. If you decide to do the same (you can scan the past seven years in 10 minutes), I have a question for you which I’d like to think is helpful to any photographer (as the exercise was to me). Of the many different styles that are captured, which photographer’s is the most appealing to you and why? If you’re like me, you’ll chose pictures from both a style that is similar to your own and several that you’ll probably look to replicate when you’re next out with your camera. Me, I chose the pic by Poras Chaundhary (Below left) for its colour and the exuberance he captured but the one I liked most as a style I will look to replicate is the photo by R Tear (Below Right). I love the mood it has captured.
Clearly the competition attracts a lot of entries worldwide and there are some outstanding images to view. Its a exercise that will bring into focus your own style of photography or one you may hope to develop.