• NextTribe Photo Contest: travel photography contest for women over 45
• Submission window: February 15 to May 15
• Prize pool worth up to $3,500 in trip credit or cash; Grand Prize winner receives a feature article in NextTribe magazine
• Judges include former National Geographic photo editor Elizabeth Krist, Harper’s veteran Alyssa Ortega Coppelman, and NPPA past executive director Akili-Casundria Ramsess
• Expert photography tips from world-class judges on capturing awe, light, and sense of place in travel photos

My favorite travel photo—and I’ve taken and been in a few—is this shot, above, from a perch in the Douro Valley in Portugal. Our hotel there is a winery that dates back to the 1700s and it sits high on a hill, with slopes of vineyards all around and a strip of gleaming river down below.

I love that the sun is kissing the horizon and that the light is wrapping everything in a burnished glow. I love that the figure—me in this case, though that doesn’t matter—is slightly in silhouette, but you can see enough detail to know that the person is stepping toward the sunset. With her arms outstretched, you understand that she’s reverently welcoming the wonder of this moment. And the way the sun catches the scarf adds a layer of richness that puts the image over the top for me.

NextTribe takes small groups of women ages 45+ on fun, immersive trips across the country and around the world. Learn more here.

I don’t know if anyone else would find this photo as evocative and magical as I do, but there’s one way to find out: to enter it into our NextTribe Photo Contest. (P.S. I want to give credit to the person who snapped this shot, but I handed her my own I-phone so I don’t have a record of who it is.)

Of course, I can’t do that because I’ve coordinated this Photo Contest—but if you have a photo or several that speak to you the way this one speaks to me, you may want to submit to our accomplished judges and maybe win prizes or get the photo published.

Prizes for You

You know those moments—when you’re standing somewhere extraordinary and the light falls exactly right, and something in your chest opens up? Those flashes of sublime transport, when a landscape or cityscape seems to reveal something true about both the world and yourself? NextTribe is on a mission to find the women who manage to bottle that feeling in a photograph.

We’re after the grandeur of a place, the emotion of a location.

From February 15 to May 15, we’re accepting landscape submissions from women over 45. The images can incorporate man-made structures, architecture, or people—but people should function as design elements within the scene, not as the central subject. We’re after the grandeur of a place, the quality of light, the emotion of a location. We will not accept AI-generated images.

The prize pool is worth up to $3,500.

• Grand Prize: $2,000 in credit toward any NextTribe trip, or $1,000 cash—plus a feature article about you and your work in our magazine.
• Second Place: $1,000 trip credit or $500 cash, plus publication of your photo in the magazine.
• Third Place: $500 trip credit or $250 cash, plus publication in the magazine.
• Honorable Mentions: $100 in trip credit and publication in the magazine.

All entrants retain full copyright to their photos.

Entry fees are modest: $5 for one photo, $10 for three, or $18 for six. For complete rules and guidelines and to submit your work, visit the NextTribe Photo Contest page.

What Our Judges Are Looking For

The panel evaluating your work represents decades at the very top of photojournalism and editorial photography—the kind of accomplished, discerning eyes that have shaped what millions of readers see in the world’s most respected publications. Read their full bios here.

When they talk about what makes a travel photograph sing, it’s worth paying attention.

Here’s a brief intro: Alyssa Ortega Coppelman has worked with Oxford American and spent more than two decades at Harper’s; Elizabeth Krist spent years as a photo editor at National Geographic; and Akili-Casundria Ramsess is an accomplished photographer who recently served as executive director of the National Press Photographers Association.

When they talk about what makes a travel photograph sing, it’s worth paying attention. We asked two of our judges three questions: what makes a great travel photo, what mistakes to avoid, and why it’s so hard to capture awe on camera. Their answers are worth reading closely—and keeping in mind the next time you’re somewhere that takes your breath away.

Read More: 13 Ways to Improve Your Travel Photos

Elizabeth Krist

What do you look for in a good travel photo?

A strong sense of place, first and foremost—whether the framing is immersive or zeroes in on a powerful detail. What loses me quickly is an image that feels like it could be a postcard. The light and composition need to push past the expected. I’m hungry for surprise, for an artful eye, for a moment that stirs something in the viewer.

For me, light is often the key to emotional response.

Any advice for people who want to improve their travel photos? What’s the biggest mistake people make?

My instinct is that travelers often don’t spend enough time getting to know a place. I admire photographers who find a promising visual situation and then wait—patiently, attentively—for the perfect convergence of mood and action.

Our contest focuses on travel photos that convey the awe of a destination. It’s often hard to take a photo that captures that sense we feel in person. Why is that?

For me, light is often the key to emotional response. When we look at a photograph, we’re not feeling the breeze, or smelling the fragrances of flowers or spices, or hearing the calls to prayer or Mardi Gras music. But ravishing golden sun or dramatic stormy light can actually enhance the intensity of our reactions. That’s what I look forward to seeing!

Alyssa Ortega Coppelman

What do you look for in a good travel photo?

Something that evokes emotion, transports me, makes me curious about that place. I’m curious about most anywhere—so what nudges an image over the edge is authenticity. That might mean something particular about the culture and environment, or it might be something more interior: what the photographer experienced and felt in that place, even when the subject itself is very familiar.

Any advice for people who want to improve their travel photos? What’s the biggest mistake people make?

The biggest mistake: spending too much time looking through the lens—rushing to record “I was here!”—and not enough time actually looking, feeling, experiencing. I say this not to discourage the tourist photo, but to encourage you to occasionally stop, pause, take stock of the moment you’re in. Feel, look, listen. You’ll notice little things that easily get missed when you’re rushing through.

The biggest mistake: spending too much time looking through the lens and not enough time actually looking, feeling, experiencing.

Photographs that succeed in containing something personal have a better chance of transmitting that experience to the viewer—whether by evoking their own memories or freshly informing their senses. When we’re somewhere new, there is a massive influx of information coming at us through all of our senses at once. When you can take time in a place, first impressions may fall away. Some will stay with you; new ones will surface after you’ve been there a while. Invite it all in. Maybe don’t photograph too much right away if you’ve got the time—and see what continues to capture your attention.

Our contest focuses on travel photos that convey the awe of a destination. It’s often hard to take a photo that captures that sense we feel in person. Why is that?

A huge part of it is that we have seen so much spectacular travel photography for so many years that it’s simply more difficult to create an image that claims the viewer’s rapt attention. Our eyes have been trained by sheer volume, and our standards are quite high. The popularity of oversaturated, enhanced images has created an audience that—if only subconsciously—expects bigger, brighter, more monumental. It’s difficult to free ourselves from those expectations.

Smaller moments can get lost. It’s not easy to communicate the interior psychological landscape with an image, no matter the subject. Those momentary sensations we feel while on the move can get swallowed by the grand picture. Remind yourself not just to look, but to listen, breathe, smell, feel. Close your eyes and sense where you are.

The Anatomy of a Good Travel Photo

Alyssa Ortega Coppelman provided this photo, above, she took on her travels as an example of the kind of travel photo she loves. Her thoughts may inspire your work.

“When I look at this double exposure I took with a Holga of some foliage in Bermuda—which I do often and still never get tired of it—I can recall that sensation of freedom, deep breathing, relaxation, inner peace, and looseness that I felt when I was there, fresh out of that gorgeous ocean, hearing the incessant song of those tiny, whistling frogs, which you hear everywhere but rarely see.

I was attempting to capture that feeling of awe, of being surrounded by air that felt alive and fresh, brilliant greens and brightly colored flowers, in every direction I looked.

“I was strolling through the residential neighborhood where I was staying with a friend, near Admiralty Bay (highly recommended!) circa 2015. I live in Austin, TX, where brightly-colored trees and flowers don’t grow, so I was dying over the colorful, lush vegetation seen everywhere. I suppose I was attempting to capture that feeling of awe, of being surrounded by air that felt alive and fresh, brilliant greens and brightly colored flowers, in every direction I looked. I wasn’t conscious of that at the time, but that’s what I feel when I look at this photo.”

Ready to Enter?

Gather your best landscape shots and submit them here. And the next time you find yourself somewhere extraordinary—wherever that happens to be—remember: stop. Look. Wait for the light. The shot you’ve been hoping for might be just seconds away.