Round the World
Last year I found myself packing for an around-the-world job—five countries, six weeks, take-everything-you-need sort of assignment for National Geographic magazine. As if the visas and inoculations weren't enough, when I finally got everything into my equipment case one tug on the handle and I knew it weighed way too much and would never get on the airplane. Looking inside for stuff to remove, I spied the horde of AA batteries I was taking for my flash units. A quick mental calculation and I had my answer: I switched out all the alkaline batteries for Energizer® Lithium batteries. In addition to lasting much longer (so I could pack fewer batteries), they were also a lot lighter. With the new batteries in place, I could make the weight limit (and save my aching back, too).
Beltane in Edinburgh
It was pitch black up on Calton Hill in Edinburgh as the annual Beltane Fire Festival got underway at midnight. Besides me, there were 300 performers and 10,000 fans stumbling around and running into each other amid the torch-lit processions. It was as close to photographic chaos as I could imagine. However, I kept my cool because the first thing I did before it got dark was to load every piece of equipment with Energizer® Lithium batteries so I had one less thing to worry about. Changing batteries in those conditions would not have been fun. As it happened, everything worked straight through until the very end, which came at about 3:00 am. While I was dead tired, it was worth it because the pictures were stunning.
Down the Volcano After Dark
I've done a lot of stupid things in my time, most of them resulting from staying too long at a great photographic site as the light faded. That was the case when I was shooting Mount St. Helens for a story on the 20th anniversary of the eruption. High up on the mountain the sunset had been wonderful. I'd shot a lot of film, lighting fresh plants growing in the foreground with the volcano lit by the setting sun in the background. Now it was dark and my flashlight was, well, dead with an hour hike back down the mountainside to my vehicle. Looking in my bag, I robbed my flash unit of a couple of Energizer® Lithium batteries (which I had been using all day) and was never so thankful as to see my flashlight spring to life. Back at my car, I vowed to never be so stupid again. (I wish I could say that I've carried through on that.)
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Jim Richardson
Judging the contest will be award-winning photographer Jim Richardson, whose work has graced the pages of National Geographic and other publications.
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View 2010 Winners
Last year's Grand Prize winner won a trip for two to Tanzania and Zanzibar! View last year's winning photography picks and find out what it takes to take home the prize.
A Message From Energizer® Ultimate Lithium
You never know where or when that great shot will come, so always be ready with the ultimate in battery performance. Energizer® Ultimate Lithium last up to 8x longer in digital cameras*, so you’ll get more shots and use fewer batteries, making up to 8x less waste**. With the ability to withstand extreme conditions, 15 year storage life, and leak resistant construction, they’re perfect for wherever your photography adventures take you.
*versus Energizer® MAX®, results vary by camera.
** use less batteries, create less waste
Categories
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Category 1Animals / Wildlife
Whether it's our family pet in the living room or magnificent wildlife in Africa, the animals and wildlife of our world bring us delight, affection and wonder. Winning pictures in this category will bring back all the personality, devotion, excitement, and shared experience we feel with our fellow beings on this planet.
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Category 2Nature / Weather
The natural world has always made great pictures. And the weather that shapes our environment can be a subject unto itself. Either way, pictures in Nature/Weather will focus on wilderness, landscapes (and seascapes), nature's incredible variety of flowers and plants, and the wonders of geology and geography. Weather, always part of our daily world, brings with it every emotion from awe to tranquility. Strong emotion in these scenes will set winning pictures apart. Note: Animal pictures belong in the Animals/Wildlife category. But a beautiful, grand landscape of Africa with the inevitable zebras in the distance belongs in Nature/Weather.
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Category 3Travel / Cultures
Our travels around the world bring us in contact with the incredible variety of human cultures. These pictures—whether of native dress, festivals, food, celebrations, history or architecture—will celebrate the vast and colorful variety of how people express their human nature and what they value, from one side of the planet to the other. Note: Interesting people and characters you meet while traveling belong in this category. Pictures of your family and their antics, even while traveling on vacation belong in the Family/Community category.
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Category 4Family / Community
Family/Community is about the people we know in our daily lives and the places where we live every day. This could be halfway around the world, but it's more likely in your hometown—or in your kitchen. Family, friends, children, grandparents, neighbors and complete strangers fill lives with humor, love, emotion and meaning. These pictures don't have to be close to home, but they should be close to our hearts.
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Category 5Arts / Music
New for this year, the Arts/Music category will feature pictures that celebrate how music and the arts enrich our lives. Concerts and art galleries would certainly qualify for this category, but so would intimate jazz sessions, pub music in Ireland, and high school marching bands. The arts are everywhere around us, from art fairs to Halloween pumpkin carving, from grand public art and murals to children's fanciful sidewalk chalk drawings. It's all welcome in Arts/Music.
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Category 6Action / Energy
When things move into high gear, when the picture is all about the energy and beauty of things in motion, when you can just feel the electricity of the action, that's Action/Energy. Sports action pictures are a natural for this category, but so are pictures of animals galloping at high speed, and the dogged efforts of the long distance runners. Pictures here will almost always show things happening. Keep it lively.
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Jim and Energizer Batteries
The Galaway Inn was alive with Irish music, packed wall to wall with people and like all Irish pubs, very dark. My Energizer-powered flash units lit up the scene—the musicians kept playing, the energy was fantastic, the action never let up and my camera outlasted us all.
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