There is a photo contest that has been circulating throughout the travel blogger and this is my submission. It was interesting to go through my archives and focus on only the colors of a photo. I think I will keep the ideas behind this contest in my head when I take pictures in the future.

BLUE:

The blue category is being judged by Ken Kaminesky. I recently met him in Umbria, Italy during TBU. I loved his snarky self depreciating humor and his photography is always an inspiration. According to him what he is looking for is. “I’d like to see some clever use of blue in a photo. While it is not obligatory. I’d like to get your take on the word blue, the colour blue, a splash of blue that captures the attention of the viewer or any other interesting non obvious way of using blue in a photo. Of course any of your favorite photos with blue in them will do just fine, but try to be original!”

Blue is the color of the Virgin Mary, and is associated with girls who have similar pure qualities. That is it usually indicates femininity, life, purity, etc., just as water does. With that meaning of blue in mind I thought nothing captures the spirit of this definition more than this photo I took of a friend of mine at Waimea Bay in Oahu, Hawaii. Everything from the feminine curves of her body to the way she seems to be praising life. I also like that the quality of this picture is not crisp. I think it leads to an ethereal feeling that also goes along with the definition of blue that I am using. If nothing else I’m hoping I get bonus points from Ken for tossing a picture of a girl in a bikini into the mix

GREEN: 

The green category judge is Abi King of Inside the Travel Lab. What she is looking for in a wining submission is, “Something unusual: an image from a place that makes me thing of it in a whole new light. Show me something I’ve never seen before. Tell me about how the place relates to its people, their attitudes and their history. And make sure you had fun snapping it. Somehow, that always shows!”

So I really wanted to post a photo that was not of nature. I wanted to try to capture green in a way that few others have. This photo was taken in Singapore. I spent one day there doing one of the main activities the city has to offer… shopping. Instead of buying anything I just took a ton of photos of the assortment of things you could buy in this city. This photo of candy is one of my favorite from the day. The way the candy case is back lit that it makes the candy almost glow. I think it is a fun take on pop art as well, I think Warhol would be proud.

YELLOW: 

Dave and Deb of The Planet D are the judges for yellow. Deb has some of the best energy I have seen in the Travel Blogging world and I am still sad that I missed them being in Maui by just a week. There are so many adventures here that I wanted to share with them but I guess I will now do that through a picture. Dave seems to be the main judge in this competition and he says, “What I am looking for in the photos is a unique way for you to express the colours. Each colour should be an element of the photography and not dominate the whole scene. I am looking for something beyond the cliches like a red sunset, blue sky or yellow flowers. For me originality will always take precedence over a pretty photograph.”

This photo was taken on the back road to Hana on the island of Maui. This is a drive that most tourists don’t do while on the island but is one of my favorite spots. The road goes through the last lava flow of the island and has dramatic ocean views while feeling like your are not in Hawaii. This picture to me represents adventure and the open road that us travel bloggers are addicted to.

WHITE:

Christine Gilbert is the judge of the white category and she runs Almost Fearless. She is one of those few people in the world that is sane enough to travel the world with a toddler. I find her and all other parents that still travel with their children in tow such an inspiration. As for what she is looking for in a winning photo is, “I love photos that tell a story, I want something that could have only been taken by you, in that moment, in that way. I love it when a photo captures a place so well that even if I’ve been there before. I think to myself, wow. I have to go there.”

I’m not sure if I am pushing the boundaries with this entry but I decided to go with a black and white photo for this category. One of my favorite experiences from the month I spent backpacking around Vietnam was the day I spent on the back of my boyfriends motorbike for the drive from Hue to Hoi An. This drive is known as the Hai Van Pass and is one of the most scenic drives in the country. This photo was taken by me of the two of us as we drove past China Beach. I have an obsession with taking shadow pictures as well as self portraits and this is one of my favorites. It captures one of the early moments in our love affair so it will always be special to me but it also captures a sense of Vietnam. Nothing to me says Vietnam like an image of a motorbike. You can’t avoid them in this country. Also as an American I had all kind of preconceived notions of Vietnam due to the Vietnam War so whizzing by China Beach brought to the surface many emotions that I think we all have about war.

RED:

Last but not least in the red category. The judge here is Daniel of Canvas of Light. I could stare at the photos on his site for hours and I feel honored that his eyes will be gazing upon my photos for even a passing instant. He says, “We see the world in beautiful colors, and in each photo, different colours compete to attract the eye. Colour in photography should be used not only to make an image pleasing, but to also direct the viewer to the main subject, grab his attention and tell a story. I especially like the use of complementary colours to create a harmonious balance in a shot.”

Once again I went with a picture I took while home on Maui. I have a friend who works at one of the Luau’s and one of my favorite budget tips for Maui is to buy yourself a beer from the corner store and find a spot on the beach in front of the Luau to watch the sunset as well as sneak a free peak of the hula show. I have spend countless evenings this way and this photos is from one of those night. It was a cloudy day and as I sat there drinking my 22 oz Corona I thought to myself that the sunset would either be amazing or one of those that just fades out into a drab blur. I honestly have about 300 photos from this night. Just as you thought the sky couldn’t get anymore spectacular it would morph into a new shade of intensity. The Hula dancers where on the beach in preparation for their entrance into the show and were also blown away by the intensity of this sunset. I snapped this photo of them without them knowing. I later showed it to them after work that night and have since emailed it to each of them. As islanders it is rare that we get blown away by a sunset but this one had us all talking about it for a few days! It was like the sky was on fire. I love how the red from the sky is reflecting of the purple ocean. Other than playing with the black values in this picture to really get the dancers to pop out this photo hasn’t been altered. The colours are natural, no saturation levels or hues have been altered. Nature is really just that amazing sometimes.

I want to thank Cameron of C.A. Christie Photography, Meg and Tony Ruli of LandingStanding and Ian Ord of Where Sidewalks End for their faith in my photography and for kindly nominating me to take part in this competition. 

As part of the rules of this contest it is now my turn to nominate 5 fellow bloggers.

I am handing the torch to a few other Maui based folks first Liza of A Maui Blog and Mike Neal of NealStudios.net. I am sure will Mike will come up with an amazing assortment of photos if he decides to play along.

Soon to be Brazil, I’m soooo coming to visit,  based Lynzie of bonphotage.com just got back from India and I am assuming she has a bunch of vibrant photos she could share with us.

Alexandra of crazysexyfuntraveler.com and I share a first name so just for that she is getting a nomination from me Us Alexandra’s have to stick together.

Finally I nominate Kirsten Alana who I am sure has been tagged in this already but I love her mobile photography skills and would love to see what she comes up with for each of these categories.

Alexandra Pucherelli

Alexandra Pucherelli is a Maui native who is flirting with adventure and shenanigans one country at a time. She is an island Girl, hammock lover, travel writer, gin drinker, lover of cheese, travel photographer, and daydreamer. A full time nomad since April 03, 2011 and is sharing her musings, budget, and frolicking tips with you. She is bad with learning new languages but FLUENT IN FROLICKING