Vote for your favorite airport design at Oobject

by Grant Martin on


Having traveled extensively in the last few years, I’ve been given several opportunities to see some of the world’s best airports. I have fond memories of sitting on the ergonomic chairs at Paris‘s CDG E terminal, shopping at the gates in Barcelona and enjoying a beer under the vaulted ceiling of JFK. Mind you, I’ve also slept on the hard floors of Geneva, starved in Cairo and gone crazy in Newark, but those are the memories that we try to erase, right?

In tribute to the world’s great airports, Oobject put together a list of the top terminals by design for users to vote on. I say “terminals”, because not all are created equally in the same airport. I am reminded of the beautiful sections of Washington Reagen that 80% of passengers are privy to, while 20% of passengers like myself have to slum it down in the old terminal a half mile away.

Anyway, the top three so far are Seoul, Denver and Madrid, with the voting still in its early stages. If you haven’t been to all of the airports (who has?), take a good look at the architecture and cast your vote. Mine went for Paris, solely on account of terminal E. Right now, my pick has -41 votes.

Exotic food from around the world

by Grant Martin on

Having traveled pretty extensively over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity (read: been forced) to taste some truly delicious — and truly disgusting food. My reservations and weak stomach aside, I’ve always at least tried some of the local fare, even if it was called “Birds Nest White Fungus” or involved sauteed reindeer.

Along the way, I had the opportunity to take some shots of the exotic fare and in hindsight I’m glad I suffered through some of the tough dishes. Though they may have not been the most appealing at the time, they are definitely memories that will resound in my mind — and gastrointestinal system — for many years to come.

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Photo Tips

by Erik Olsen on

If there’s one thing most every person brings with them when they travel these days, it’s a digital camera. Sure, there are some oddball holdouts, people who still use film, but most of us have not just graduated to digital, but to mega-mega-pixel video.

Of course, that being said, how many people with these fabulous, no-brainer new cameras actually know how to use them? If you take a trip around Flickr (excepting the Gadling Flickr site, of course, which features prodigious talents ;-)) you see that there are a LOT of amateur shooters out there, people who just pint and shoot without much concern for composition or depth of field .that’s fine. Shoot and be happy. I’m all for it. But if you want the best pics possible, the fact is you have to work at it. All of which brings me to a couple of sites that might help you take better pictures.

First of all, Photosecrets offers tips for all sorts of travel photogs from how to get the beset shots to how to get your pictures into the hands of stock photo sites, a potentially lucrative avenue, though one that is very competitive.

Here is a brief list from about.com with links to tips like how to turn day into night and how to use Photoshop (a no-no with many mags and newspapers, tho)

Photographytips offers articles on how to understand light and how to make the best use of your flash…something many people do NOT do.

Finally, if you want to shoot like a master, you should heed the advice of the masters, and there is no better resource for shooting great photos than National Geographic. Nat Geo has put together a superb site helping you learn the techniques that Nat Geo photographers have employed to craft some of the most memorable photos of all time.

And if you are interested in taking a trip with the explicit purpose of learning how to shoot, take a look at this piece over at Frommer’s which offers a list of trips and companies that take people on photo safaris. Heading out with actual travel photographers who know what they’re doing is a great way to get some real experience with your camera.

Happy shooting!