Photo of the Day (3.14.2010)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

I’ve seen plenty of bland photos of Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple complex. Enough to know today’s choice, by Flickr user mick62, is anything but. The close-up details of the exotic dancer, the wonderful sense of movement and grainy “reportage” quality to the image combine to create a photo that is both visually interesting and authentic. I’m also wondering if the the grainy quality of the image is from Photoshop? Or is this simply taken in low light? Anybody know?

Have any great photos you’d like to submit for Gadling’s Photo of the Day? Submit your best shots here.

Photo of the Day (03.13.10)

by Mike Barish on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/borderfilms/sets/1575505/

Whimsy. People don’t talk about whimsy much when discussing travel. They talk about philosophy, introspection, packing lists and logistics. They talk about food and hotels and TSA horror stories and airport experiences. Lost in all of that is whimsy. Gadling loves all that other nonsense, but we also appreciate coy smiles, inside jokes and creativity. So, when I came across this photo by Flickr user borderfilms (Doug), I immediately knew that it deserved to be featured as our Photo of the Day.

I have no clue whether this is the result of a clever use of Photoshop or a cheeky photo op created by a sprightly packer, but I don’t really care (well, if it’s Photoshopped, I’ll be mildly disappointed). What’s important is that it’s not your traditional travel photo. It’s not a cliché road trip moment with a traveler giving a thumbs up in front of a sign. It’s original. It’s unique. It’s whimsical. And we need more whimsy in our lives.

Update: The picture is real. It’s part of a set by Doug Murray called Adventures of Hula Girl. Check it out here.

Are you part of the whimsical minority who finds (or creates) whimsy wherever you go? Submit your images to Gadling’s Flickr group right now and we might use it for a future Photo of the Day.

Photo of the day (3.11.10)

by Kent Wien on

The wildlife photography of Max Waugh, a.k.a. Fiznatty on Flickr has been featured on Gadling probably more than any other user. And I just couldn’t pass up this one.

Max describes a Costa Rican beach:

The mouth of the Sirena River in Corcovado National Park has a nasty reputation. It empties into the Pacific Ocean and brings together some intimidating predators which scour the river and surf for easy prey. Big crocodiles come from the fresh water side while bull sharks swoop in from the ocean. Occasionally the crocs even head out into the saltwater. Recently 5 large crocs were spotted more than 3 miles from shore.

This fellow was much closer, but I did see him run headlong into a small bull shark. They both turned tail and swam in opposite directions.

I made a mental not that I wouldn’t be swimming on that beach anytime soon. Apparently Max’s picture came too late for one of his commenters, surfwax who wrote:

Oh my…I surfed this spot *before* finding out what you know so well. This photo is awesome, but also makes me think I was rather lucky.

Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

Photo of the Day 3.10.10

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s more to Washington, DC, than politicians and lobbyists, although I’m sure Cazimiro captured some of them in this photo. This black and white moment captures the essence of our nation’s capitol on a typical night – cars and pedestrians share the street with the glow of democracy guiding their path home, or wherever they may be heading.

Have a photo that makes an impression? Submit your photo to Gadling’s Flickr Pool and it could be featured as our Photo of the Day!

Photo of the Day (3.9.10)

by Stephen Greenwood on
Take a closer look. Go on – click the image! Is it a miniature train set? Photoshop trickery? Not quite. Today’s Photo of the Day is from Flickr user dileeps, who managed to take this shot of Sienna using a tilt-shift lens.

Tilt-shift lenses have the ability to tilt the plane of focus and shift the camera’s line of sight, which can be used to produce the “miniature faking” effect seen above. Sometimes referred to as “smallgantics“, it’s a trend that’s becoming more widespread with the aid of digital processing – so if you see something that looks too small and detailed to be true, you now know what the explanation is.

If you have some tricks up your photo processing sleeves, we want to see them! Submit your photo to Gadling’s Flickr Pool and it could be featured as our Photo of the Day!