Photos Published in Washington Woman Magazine

After my unforgettable St. Lucia adventure a few months ago, my first photos have been published, alongside Marsha Dubrow's article in Washington Woman. Check 'em out, starting on page 46.

View more photos in my St. Lucia album.

Photo Chosen for Schmap's California Guide

Someone at Schmap must love me. I'd never even heard of the site before they contacted me in March to tell me my photo of Kealakekua Bay had been short-listed for the Hawaii guide. (It eventually made it in.)

Now one of my photos for the Tallac Historic Site, located on South Lake Tahoe, has been chosen to be included in Schmap's California guide. You'll have to wait as the little widget below scrolls through the varied Golden State landmarks before you see my shot, but there's some pretty cool ones from other Flickr (which is where Schmap found my photos) users as well:



Chosen photo:

Photo Included in Schmap's Hawaiian Guide

It's official! My photo made it off the short list and into the guide.
Visit: http://www.schmap.com/hawaiianislands/water/p=277445/i=277445.jpg,
then scroll down to Kealakekua Bay and click. My photo will show in the right-hand panel.

Of course, I think some of my other photos were even better -- the rainbow I captured over the black sand beach of Pololu Valley, the sea turtle who trailed me at Honaunau -- but I'm happy that one of them made it in.

Kealakekua Photo Shortlisted by Schmap

I'd never before heard of Schmap, but the digital travel guide came across one of my snaps of Kealakekua and has shortlisted it for inclusion in the second edition of the Schmap Hawaiian Islands Guide, to be published early April 2008. Here's the shot:



So, of course I had to poke around Schmap for a bit, see what this new travel/photo site is all about. I like the concept -- view map, see photos of plotted locations, read brief description -- but the UI needs some work, as it requires a bit too much clicking to get to the various areas. Also, it looks like the site is relying heavily on provider content, which, having worked with some of these same providers, I know can be both a blessing and a curse.

There's also a very limited number of destinations. Considering they have provider feeds, they could be working on upping their SEO by at least having the outline for some other locations laid out. They have the Big Island but not Oahu? They have a downloadable version of Honolulu and many others, but where are the online versions being hidden away?

Widgets, of course, are all the rage, so Schmap made a smart move in providing a customizable map that can be used on blogs and other websites, and it looks professional enough that they've showcased some pretty big companies that are using the funky little device. Very schmart, Schmap.

For a new-ish site, Schmap is off to a pretty strong start. But if they'd like some help from an experienced editor/producer of travel websites, I can think of someone they can come to for some consulting. (Ahem.)

Iloho Travel Photo Contest

Think you've got killer travel snaps? Then enter Iloho.com's travel photo contest. What the hell's Iloho? I asked myself the same thing when I got the press release, and the website itself offered few answers as to the oddity of its moniker. But there are prizes! If you're willing to give up copyright to your images, of course. Then again, are you really going to sell that pic of you mom on the lanai, Diamond Head looming in the background, to T+L? Yeah, probably not. So why not upload it here?

Some info on the contest:

There is no cap on the number of images competition entrants can upload and no parameters on inspiration; any landmark, natural or constructed, from any corner of the globe that generates an interesting photograph is eligible. The first one hundred users to submit ten pictures or more will automatically receive a 1GB USB stick or a travel sized iPod/MP3 speaker, perfect for photographers on their travels.