TPN Editor's Pick Awards

2006 Editor's Pick Awards

First Prize

First Prize is awarded to the photographer who must be a TPN member at the time of the judging, and whose image receives the most nominations from the TPN Staff.

The 2006 Editor's Pick Awards first place honour goes to Matt Brandon for his image Starting the Day, which was posted last March. This is an excellent example of Matt's ability to capture magnificent portraits of people who are quite comfortable and natural in their environment. Matt has refined his portraiture skills over the years, and is now able to deliver outstanding work, time and time again.

Matt has always been very good about being an active member of the TPN community, sharing his experience and thoughts with us in the forums. Matt is also planning to share his photographic and local knowledge about the area in which he lives in northern India and Kashmir when he and fellow photographer David duChemin hold their photographic workshop with Lumen Dei in May of 2007. We wish Matt continued success with his photography and with Lumen Dei!

For his first prize image, Matt receives a new Rotation 360 from our friends at Think Tank Photo and a copy of the new TPOTY book Journey Two which highlights the winning and other highly-placed images from Travel Photographer of the Year 2006, along with those from the 2005 competition. Matt will also receive a three-year extension to his membership to Travel Photographers Network in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the TPN community.

Honourable Mention

Honourable mention awards go to the photographers who are members of TPN at the time of the judging, and whose images receive the second and third most nominations by TPN Staff. These photographers will each receive a copy of the TPOTY book Journey Two as well as a one-year extension to their Travel Photographers Network membership.

The first honourable mention goes to a well traveled photographer from Portland whose debut image on TPN quickly established him as a serious contributor in the TPN community. Tim Goodspeed made his debut with the remarkable Palouse Hills image taken in eastern Washington State.

Tim has demonstrated that he is more than a one-hit-wonder by continuing to post remarkable images from the UK and America, many of which have also been selected as Editor's Picks. Tim is also a very active member of the TPN community, leaving comments and critiques on many images. Thank you Tim for being a part of TPN!

The second honourable mention goes to Lee Robinson for his fantastic iconic image of Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach, Oregon. It may have been the 6,757,324th time that Haystack Rock had been photographed, but Lee seems to have captured it perfectly under exceptional light. This image was originally posted as part of Travel Challenge #75 - The Beach, making it the first challenge image that has been recognized for an Editor's Pick Award on TPN!

Lee is a regular contributor to TPN, and has been a core member of our community from the beginning. Congratulations to Lee, and we very much look forward to more of his images and critiques in the future!

Mention

It is not typical that we would also recognize photos that were not chosen for EPA First Place or Honourable Mention awards, but this year it was quite difficult to make the decision!

So before moving on to the People's Choice Award it seemed appropriate to also mention two images that were strong contenders for an EPA. They were Steve Jones' Docks and PrashanTeju Khapane's Serenity. In recognition of these images, the photographers will each be awarded a one-year extension to their TPN memberships. Congratulations Prashant and Steve!

People's Choice Award

The People's Choice Award goes to the image with the most votes from the membership of TPN. It is to recognize the best image posted to the Editor's Picks gallery during 2006 regardless of whether the posting photographer is a member or not. (The only additional stipulation is that an image receiving an EPA award will not be eligible for the People's Choice as well.)

This year, Mitchell Kanashkevich posted a number of great images, and submitted a number of articles and photo essays that were published in TPN. The winning image, Peeking Through, was the cover image for TPN back in October of 2006. It is not the only image of Mitchell's that received votes this year, but it does stand out as a great travel photograph.

 

These prizes are just a small way for the staff at TPN to say Thank You to everyone in the TPN community who makes this site such a great experience.

2005 Editor's Pick Award Winners

2004 Editor's Pick Award Winners

Congratulations!

Congratulations go out to all Editor's Pick Award winners, and to all of the TPN community. These awards represent only a small part of the thanks that the TPN staff wishes to bestow on the members of our community.  It has been great to watch TPN grow over the years.  The community is growing in size.  The images are growing in diversity.   And the overall quality of the posts has steadily improved over time. (Ed Note: I know my photographic skills have improved as a result of your feedback!)  So thanks to everyone who is helping to make TPN the greatest photographic web site on the net!

It's worth noting that while it is great to see images and even more importantly photographer's skills improving over time, remember that TPN is not a contest. A great aspect of the TPN experience is the ability to post a duff image and ask for help on how to improve it from people you know and trust. Of course, it's nice to post the good ones, and it's great to celebrate the excellent work of our colleagues. However, despite the introduction of Editor's Pick Awards in 2005, this site will remain the best place to learn and help other's learn about photography.