INSPIRATION
My Favorite Shot
TRAVEL
What’s the favorite photo you’ve taken?
Could you pick a favorite image you’ve taken? Not easy we know, but to coincide with our October 2026 TRAVEL call for entries, we asked some of the photographers in our community to do just that. Or at least to pick a shot related to the topic that they hold dearly, were happy to have taken recently, has a great story behind it, or that resonates with them in some other way right now. Here they tell us why…
(Banner image: Uta Genilke)
PHILIP LEE HARVEY
Monk Boy, Ladakh, India
“I made this photograph many years ago at Lamayuru Monastery, high in the Indian Himalayas. I was just starting out, chasing my dream of becoming a travelling photographer. Armed with a second-hand Hasselblad. I was still shooting film and embarking on my first great adventure in to India. During the Sun and Earth Festival, I noticed this young novice monk. I made seven exposures, quite a commitment when you only have twelve shots on a roll. We never spoke, and I know nothing about him. It was a brief encounter that somehow produced an image that has stayed with me ever since.
Back in London, looking through my contact sheets, I barely recognised the photograph as my own. It felt different, almost too good to be mine. I still experience that feeling today when an image surprises me. Shot on Tungsten balanced T64 film and cross-processed, the colours took on an intensity that felt almost painterly, long before Photoshop made such things easy.
Recently, this photograph opened at a retrospective exhibition. Having left it in the archive for years, I found myself falling in love with it all over again. Perhaps that’s the beauty of photography. Sometimes, looking back reminds us why we started in the first place.”
JONAH LANGE
“When anyone asks me what my favorite image is, I have to pause for a minute. It is so incredibly hard to choose. I love something about every image. However, there are times when all the right things happen at the right time. Like on this June night in 2023 in rural Colorado. I have a special place in my heart for marginal days. These are the days that aren’t forecast to have huge tornado outbreaks or damaging wind storms, but rather low-key, slow-moving supercells, like this one. This storm made me feel truly at peace. The only thing that bothered me was the mosquitoes. But honestly, I didn’t even really care about them. I was too in awe of what I was watching unfold before me. A low-precipitation supercell wandered off into the distance over the green fields as the stars twinkled above. A show of both beauty and the beast. The feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, watching a beautiful storm with beautiful structure, under the vast starry night, is something I will forever love. This image is my favorite because it captured something I love most about Mother Nature.”
ROBERTO FLORES
“I chose this photograph because it captures something I have always searched for in my travels: the quiet beauty of everyday life in places where people remain deeply connected to the land. Taken on the Tibetan Plateau, at an altitude of over 4,500 meters, the image portrays a nomadic family whose way of life has been shaped by these mountains for generations. One of the details I find most fascinating is the traditional basket carried by the yak, which is more than a hundred years old, a remarkable reminder of the traditions passed down through generations. What makes this moment particularly special to me is the contrast between the three figures: a child sleeping peacefully, a young boy with long hair looking directly into my lens, and a woman standing beside them. Despite the grandeur of the surrounding landscape, it is the intimacy of this simple scene that stays with me. For me, travel photography is not merely about discovering extraordinary places, but about understanding the people who inhabit them and preserving fleeting moments that reveal something timeless about the human experience.”
UTA GENILKE
Unfamiliar Houses, Crete, Greece
“When travelling, I’m drawn to houses. Passing by, I wonder who lived there and why they left, while always searching for a new home of our own. My children used to be embarrassed when I explored abandoned places, but for me, travel is about capturing these quiet, mysterious traces of human lives.”
JENNIFER ESSEIVA
Eye of the Tide, Lofoten Islands, Norway
“The Lofoten Islands have a very special place in my heart, and this photograph is one of my favorites from my travels there. I captured this image at Uttakleiv Beach during the blue hour, when the last light of the day was fading and the moon was visible just above the mountains. I was fascinated by the natural rock pool known as the Dragon Eye, with its beautiful colors and textures. What I love most about this photograph is the contrast between the small details of the rocks and the dramatic mountains in the background. For me, it captures everything I love about landscape photography: slowing down, observing nature, and finding beauty in the little details.”
BETTINA BRUNSWIG
Glitch in the Matrix, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
“A moment of coincidence. When travelling, we often look for stunning nature, and here iconic mountains appeared for a brief moment on a screen before an event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. One of the LED panels was broken, and a technician popped up from behind to fix the screen by tapping on it. I spotted the scene and ran over to get the shot. Within seconds, the moment was gone again. With the screen nearly blending in with the sky, it reminds me of an unreal world. As if there is a small glitch in the matrix that needs to be fixed before anyone else notices.”
JONATHAN JASBERG
Cub Scouts of Nara, Japan
“One day, while leaving the ancient capital of Nara, Japan, I noticed a group of cub scouts about to board the same train I was. Knowing they could make an interesting subject, I boarded the same car and sat directly across from them, patiently waiting to see what might unfold. Shortly after the train started moving, the boys began playing Jan Ken, or rock-paper-scissors. Although I thought it was a great moment of boyhood, I felt the photograph would be too simple, so I kept waiting, my camera resting casually on my knee, scanning the scene for something that would make the photo more interesting. I was hoping we’d stop at a station and something would happen at the doors to the right of the boys that would add visual interest to the shot.
All of a sudden, to my surprise, I noticed this historic building rapidly approaching in the background, and I knew it was what I needed. As we passed it, I lifted my camera to my eye and took three photographs: one with the building framed behind the boys, one where it didn’t line up well, and this one, taken just as one boy won the round and pointed at his pouting friend. Then I set my camera back down on my knee. Nobody noticed, and the boys went on with their game. I didn’t confirm that I’d gotten the shot until I made it home that evening, and I was very pleased with the result.”
LIZ PALM
Stepantsminda, Georgia
“The forecast called for heavy rain and mist, but we were lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful day when we arrived in Stepantsminda, with stunning views of the Caucasus Mountains. We made our way up to Gergeti Trinity Church, which sits at approximately 2,170 meters above sea level. The mist was slowly creeping up the valley when, all of a sudden, I spotted the horse, perfectly positioned against the white backdrop.”
