STAPLES Hometown Views Photo Contest

by Adrienne Wilson on

After reading through all the official rules for this Hometown Views Photo Contest I spotted a few days ago while standing in Staples, I must say the prizes are worth chasing after and it shouldn’t be too painful to enter. To start you must be an amateur photographer (meaning you haven’t been compensated for photography in the last five years) and the photo you submit must not have been previously published. That’s the major rules from what I gather aside from age, residence, etc. Now all one must do is submit a photo that tells a tale about their hometown; a photo that says, “Hey, Omaha Rocks!” or “Look at how super Seattle is!” Give your photo a caption 15 words or less, be the Grand Prize winner and you and a friend can be on your way out of Kansas and into Iceland!
The trip is a 5 day/4 night photo adventure trip through Reykjavik and includes a pretty swanky hotel stay and the opportunity to check out some very, very cool tours. If you don’t nab first there are still 40 Finalist prizes to shoot for and they too aren’t that bad looking. You’ll need to check out the STAPLES website for additional info, but imagine, your photo, poster size, sold to thousands, and royalties. Nice!

Contest ends March 15, 2007.

Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W

by Adrienne Wilson on

Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W isn’t your typical travel guide, but it is a highly unique concept. The author of the guide, Ami Sioux (a Paris-based photographer) asked 50 people in Reykjavik to hand draw maps of a significant or important place of their choosing. She later takes to the roads and Icelandic wilderness or where ever the maps may lead her and photographs the area. With her photos and the nifty hand-drawn maps combined she pieces together an awesome book for the coffee table. In addition to Iceland, Ami had the opportunity to mingle with Berlin natives, Paris, London, and New York natives as well to create media for each city using their interpretive maps and her travel treasure hunt shots. As of the moment Reykjavik 64°08N 21°54W is not available in the U.S., but those burning to find their way to an Icelandic thermal pool or somebody’s back yard through the book can click here for more purchase info.

I must say I wish I had come up with the idea myself.

via Cool Hunting

Photo of the Day (1/5/07)

by Neil Woodburn on

In following up with yesterday’s Photo of the Day promise to run another photograph of Iceland’s Landmannalauger, I’ve turned to the talents of Eugene Bakker to showcase the majestic mountains one can find in this otherworldly place. To get an idea of their size, see if you can pick out the little white blips in the lower left of the photograph which, I believe, are sheep. Spectacular!

Icelandic Eden

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a cool little discovery in Iceland.

Rick Moody, writing for Condé Nast Traveler, tells of a wonderful valley he accidentally discovered a few hours south of Reykjavik.

Gjáin, as you can see from the photo to the right, is a stunningly picturesque slice of Eden bedecked with three waterfalls and, according to Moody, a spread of fragrant, soul-warming wildflowers. As if this wasn’t perfect enough, not a single soul was present when Moody came across this wondrous place.

If it was located anywhere but Iceland, I’d consider not posting about it; there’s nothing like a bit of travel writing to inspire tourist hordes to show up and ruin a place. Iceland, however, is not likely to be overrun any time soon no matter how attractive a tourist site may be.

So, if you happen to be visiting my favorite Nordic country, be sure to stop by and check out Moody’s little valley. If it evokes even a fraction of the peace and calm it did so with Moody, you will be very thankful for having made the journey.

Photo of the Day (1/4/07)

by Neil Woodburn on

Today’s Photo of the Day comes to us from Flickr where I did a search for Landmannalauger. This strangely named place is located in Iceland and is the possible location for a future backpacking trip I’m trying to convince some friends to go on. I’m hoping that after seeing this great shot by justbelightful, and perhaps another photograph I’ll post tomorrow, they might just join the club.