GeoEx Staff Travel Photo Contest

As a passionate group of travelers, it’s been a long-standing tradition at GeoEx to have a bi-yearly staff photo contest. We normally have the submissions professionally printed, mounted, and displayed for several weeks so everyone can enjoy while the voting could take place. We would then celebrate the winners by having a party for us all to gather, imbibe, and discuss our photos.

This year, as we’re all sheltering-in-place, we had to get creative: We decided to have a digital viewing and throw our winner’s party with a video hangout! We hope you enjoy these images from our—talented!—staff and feel inspired to revisit some of your own travel photos.

And the winner is…

Followed by all of the wonderful submissions:

Younger generation dances as the older generation watches 1024x683

Buffalo 1024x683 — Bison by Andrew Riley, Director, Global SalesCaptured in Yellowstone in the winter: The bison herds were blocking the road and I was feeling brave as I stepped out of the car, photographing these shaggy, 2000 pound herbivores!

Perfume 1024x768 — Perfume by Tina Liadis, Director, Global SalesI took this photo in the Ta’if area, about 2.5 hours’ drive from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ta’if is sometimes called the Garden of Mecca and is known for its fruit, honey, flowers, and floral perfumes. Depicted are a father and daughter in the scent garden adjacent to their home-based perfume factory. Arabs are renowned for their hospitality, and it was very much evident here. Despite it being Friday—the Muslim day of prayer, when most things are closed—they opened their home to me, gave me a tour to explain the perfume-making process, treated me to dates, cake, Arabic coffee, and tea, and then gave me gifts of rosewater and perfume before I left. Such lovely, generous, people.

Lion 1024x684 — Lion Eyes by Laura Hoffacker, Director, Premier Access This young male lion was sitting atop a termite mound, scanning the horizon, and roaring loudly trying to locate his pride before sundown. My guide Isaac and I had spent the day exploring the Okavango Delta of Botswana. We enjoyed sitting quietly for a while, just taking in the beauty. His eyes and mane really drew us in. I wanted to capture this in a photograph, and I needed to get creative to get the image I envisioned. Issac taught me to be bold and experimental with the camera. This photo is a little dark, and I love it because it always brings me back to this sweet moment in time.

Island Lake Desolation Wildnerness 1024x768 — Desolation Wilderness by Danielle Garland, Guest Services ManagerThis twilight photo was captured at Island Lake within the serene and splendid Desolation Wilderness region of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We hiked all day to reach this spot, where we pitched our tents for the night—this dusk view was our reward for a long day’s trek. The sun had dipped below the craggy ridge, revealing a sublime sunset scene of silhouetted trees and pastel clouds reflected in the lake’s still, silvery waters.

Croatia 1024x709 — Dubrovnik’s Old Town by Heather Cunningham, Director, Group DeparturesI was alive during the 1991 bombardment of the famed city, but not old enough to have been aware of the catastrophic attack happening so far from my middle school classroom. The city was left in ruins. But, Dubrovnik rebuilt, restoring the city to its previous grandeur. For me, this scene represents so many things: a community’s resolve to rebuild after tragedy, the importance and impact of culture and history—the buildings were rebuilt to look as they did prior to the destruction, the significance of togetherness and belonging. While I’m sure this view would be breathtaking no matter what, it’s more compelling that the roofs and buildings are purposely designed to all look the same. In fact, when I submitted this photo, my colleague Jesse asked me if it was Dubrovnik despite that I had not included any description of the photo. He knew from this one-shot, that this was Dubrovnik.

Yosemite 768x1024 — Yosemite by Natalie Werve, Director, Business OperationsIn spite of all the wonderful places I’ve visited around the globe, Yosemite is still my favorite place on earth. This photo captures a small slice of the park’s broad variety of beautiful scenes, both subtle and dramatic.

Morocco Desert Camels at Sunset 1024x768

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We invite you to vote for your favorite in the comments below. Perhaps you have a favorite travel photo of yours to share? You can also leave that in the comments below!