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Show us where you've traveled

By JANET K. KEELER
Published March 18, 2007

Since mid October, we have been featuring reader photographs in Globespotting, and we are getting greedy. We want more of your vacation photos!

Our goal is to publish compelling photographs that tell a story about a place or a feeling or the very special person who accompanied you. The photo, and your comments about it, should take us to that place.

If you have looked at the photos we have published, you might have come to the conclusion that a gorgeous sunset or a snowy mountain scene will have trouble competing with a photo of a woman walking alone on an Alaskan glacier or a little boy standing in the doorway of an ancient Cambodian temple. And you'd be right.

That said, a photo doesn't have to be of a place far, far away. In fact, we'd like to see more contributions of scenes from the United States.

Digital photos taken in the past year may be submitted two ways:

1. Send them to this address: vacationphotos@sptimes.com The image needs to be a "jpg" file format with a resolution of at least 300 DPI.

Send along a few sentences about where and when the photo was taken and why you like it. Include your name, daytime phone number and city of residence.

2. Post them to our Globespotting Web photo gallery at www.travel.tampabay.com. Click on Globespotting and follow the directions from there. You must include your e-mail address in the space provided for caption information to have your photo considered for publication in Latitudes.

Janet K. Keeler can be reached at 727 893-8586 or jkeeler@sptimes.com.

HOW TO

Photo tips

Want to improve your shooting skills? Here are some tips from St. Petersburg Times photographer Scott Keeler:

- Natural light makes all the difference for photos taken outside during the day. Warm morning and evening light is most flattering for people and shows off landscapes the best. The blazing sun of midday washes out scenery and your kids' darling faces. Harsh light is especially bad for portraits because your subjects will be left with raccoon eyes.

- Fill the frame with the subject. A loosely framed photo is dull because there is nothing to focus on. Everything is on one plane. Think of it this way: Do you really need Mom's shoes in the picture? Move closer.

- Don't always center subjects. Put them off to one side or the other. This makes for a more interesting photo.

- Capture moments rather than posing everyone. Be patient and wait for your subjects to be spontaneous.

- Don't be afraid to move up or down to get a photo. Don't always shoot from a standing position. Crouch down, stand on steps or climb on something to get a more interesting angle.

[Last modified March 15, 2007, 10:24:02]