Hailing from various parts of the globe, these outstanding photographers, representing 13 countries across 5 continents, emerged victorious from a pool of thousands of entries.

Every month, All About Photo provides a platform for dedicated artists to display their work in the printed edition of “AAP Magazine.” In the 37th edition, our focus was on travel photography, spanning locations near and far, from the ends of the earth to places known only to a select few.

The vast world awaits exploration, and each winning photographer offers a glimpse into the rich diversity of our planet. From an Indonesian horseman to one in Peru, from an Ecuadorian tribe to an Alaskan expedition, our virtual journey takes us to every corner of the Earth. In the 37th edition of AAP Magazine, you can discover the beauty of countries such as Mongolia, India, Malaysia, Russia, Kenya, Antigua, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Peru, Solomon Islands, Angola, Morocco, Iceland, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ecuador, and the United States.

The top honors for AAP Magazine 37 Travels go to Mahendra Bakle (India) for the series “Riders of the Volcano,” followed by Callie Eh (Malaysia) securing the Second Place with the series “Simplicity of Life,” and Julie-Anne Davies (Canada) as the Third Place Winner with the series “Women of Ladakh.”

Additionally, the Merit Award’s Gallery features the exceptional work of Alessandro Malaguti (Italy), Mauro De Bettio (Italy), France Leclerc (Canada), Terry Wild (United States), Hoang Long Ly (Vietnam), Daniel Haeker (Germany), Ivan Ferrer (Israel), Nicolas Castermans (France), Pavlos Evangelidis (Greece), Jacopo Maria Della Valle (Italy), Eric van den Brulle (United States), David Saxe (United States), Prescott Lassman (United States), Carrie Jones (Australia), Chiara Felmini (Italy), Pawel Pilch (Poland/United States), Héctor Ruiz Golobart (Spain), Michel Daumergue (France), Carole Glauber (Israel/United States), Susanne Grether (Germany), Demetrio Jereissati (Brazil), and Aga Szydlik (United States).

Watch video: Urban abstracts

Urban environments can be a frenetic mass of contrasts, vibrant or mundane, lively or eerie, beautiful or drab. For a photographer, it’s easy enough to capture how places like this look, but it’s more of a challenge to convey how they feel.

To get a sense of a place without the distractions of detail, we can turn to abstract techniques. Intentional blur, multiple exposures, unusual camera angles and digital mash-ups can all help us emphasize the emotion of the place, and create wall-worthy art that feels more in touch with the work of impressionist painters than it does with what you might call ‘normal photography’.

In this project we’ll look at a range of techniques you can try out on the streets. Camera skills are often about eliminating shake, keeping scenes in focus and preventing wonky horizons, but here we’ll throw all that out the window. Instead, we’ll celebrate the blur and the softness. When you think about it, streets and buildings are these rather simple geometric shapes and lines, dotted with people and lights. As such, they’re ripe for an abstract treatment, as we can reduce the elements down to blurry strokes of color, impressions of people and flowing shapes, while still retaining the spirit of the scene.

You don’t need any special equipment or lenses for this – in fact, even the cheapest lens will produce results just as good as premium optics. What’s more, you can try this in all conditions – sunny, overcast, rainy, even at night. So embrace the abstract, grab your camera and hit the streets… 

1. Intentional camera movements

Look for bold colours and vertical lines of shop windows or lamp posts, then try an up/down camera movement over a 1/15 sec exposure to create streaks of blur. A side to side, or a camera swivel can produce interesting results.

2. Try a zoom burst

A zoom burst is like a intentional camera movement, but with a twist. During a long exposure (start with 1/10 sec) we used a zoom lens and quickly zoom in or out. The edges of the frame will be transformed into streaks of blur. A tripod is handy for stability. 

3. Double flips

Enable the double exposure mode in your camera’s menu, set the blending to Add and set the number of frames to two. Shoot a skyline, above the centre of the frame, then flip the camera upside down and shoot another skyline.

4. Multiple exposures

This is another multiple exposure trick, but this time we set the number of frames to higher to nine, then simply shoot a building or object lots of times while slightly varying the position, framing or zoom. The images will overlay to form a striking abstract. 

5. Pick out the details

When taken out of the context of their surroundings, little details, interesting shapes and blocks of colour can be used to striking effect. Start to look for these details and you’ll find them all around. Use a tight crop and frame with lines, textures and shapes in mind.

6. Turn upside down

Look up from the street and you’ll seen the buildings form a jagged edge against the sky. On a clear day the sky will be much brighter than the buildings below. Use negative exposure compensation to expose for the sky and the street will go very dark. 

7. Blend exposures

As well as in-camera multiple exposures, we can also craft our own in Photoshop by copying one image on top of another, then changing the Layer Blend Mode to Screen. We can also experiment with the 26 other layer blending modes, and come up with all sorts of creative combinations.

8. Experiment with tilt

City scenes are often dominated by straight vertical lines and strong geometric shapes. But diagonal lines can be aesthetically pleasing, so why not get creative with tilt? Grab the Crop tool and rotate the crop to set the horizon off-kilter. You can do this at the time of shooting too.

9. Try black and white

Creative techniques like multiple exposures can look very busy, so why not convert them to black and white. The absence of colour emphasises patterns, shapes and textures in the scene. Use the black and white profiles in Camera Raw/Lightroom for a simple, punchy look.

If you’re serious about scenery, take a look at the best cameras for landscape photography along with the best lenses for landscapes.

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Published: 11:14 EST, 22 January 2024 | Updated: 11:16 EST, 22 January 2024

From a beautiful image of the Tuscan countryside to a heart-breaking aerial shot of elephants wandering across a rubbish dump, and from a flamboyant owl to ‘dancing’ trees, these winning and commended images in the 2023 international Travel Photographer of the Year awards (TPOTY) show the highs and lows of life on this planet.

Amateur and professional photographers from more than 150 countries submitted more than 20,000 images in TPOTY 2023.

The winning and commended entries, the judges say, ‘form a truly outstanding collection of contemporary travel photography’.

For the second year in a row, a Slovenian photographer has taken the overall honours. The Travel Photographer of the Year 2023, AndreJa Ravnak, follows in the footsteps of her fellow countryman Matjaz Krivic, who took the title in 2022.

AndreJa Ravnak commented: ‘Becoming Travel Photographer of the Year is a huge recognition. From my personal experience, I know it’s not easy to judge photography. Images are not measurable, so being a judge is a complex task and responsibility. I would like to thank the panel of judges for recognising my work.’

Scroll down to see MailOnline Travel’s pick of the bunch, with an image from winner AndreJa at the very bottom. Which one is your favourite?

AMBLER —Kristin Maag, professional photographer, is the upcoming exhibitor at Art in the Storefront, Ambler. An opening reception is planned for Friday, January 26 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the storefront, 41 E. Butler Ave. The community is invited and refreshments will be served.

The reception was originally planned for January 19 but postponed due to snow.

Maag resides in Schwenksville, where she maintains her photography studio. “I have always been drawn to photography,” Maag said. “It is an honor for me to capture some of the happiest moments for families, friends and area landmarks and sites.”

Her endeavors include photography of people, intimate family scenes and special occasions, weddings, pets and their people and more. Maag’s artwork is custom framed, suitable for all situations, including business spaces, waiting room areas, lobbies and real estate photography. Her prints focus is centered on Pennsylvania scenes, including the counties of Montco, Bucks, Lancaster, Dauphin, Williamsport and beyond. Her work also extends to beach scenes from Maryland to Maine and landscape and farms in upstate New York.

Maag’s interest in photography began nearly three decades ago on her dad’s Polaroid camera. After a lengthy career in finance and philanthropic services, Maag decided to venture out to share her vision with others. Hence, Maagnifque Photography, LLC was established. “I am passionate about translating exceptional moments into tangible pieces of art, commissioned and otherwise.”=

Visit maagnifiquephotography.com for more details about her photography and client services. You can email her at kmaagphotos@gmail.com or call 267-342-4448.

Art in the Storefront is an ongoing community activity initiated about 25 years ago. It supports area artists in free exhibition space offered bi-monthly. The storefront is lit all evening courtesy of Denney Electric Supply. Juried artwork is featured. Contacts are: Mark Elliott, No Bare Walls Framing Studio, 215-654-9106 or Karen Kieser, Immersion Studio, 215-704-7015.

Italian photographer Valerio Minato gives a magical view of the Moon thanks to a cleverly aligned photo. Taken just outside of Turin, the image shows the Basilica of Superga and Monviso mountain completely centered against the Moon. It’s a special moment that he’s been envisioning since 2017 when he first realized that the mountain peak and the hilltop basilica overlap from a certain vantage point.

After scouting a few locations, Minato attempted to capture the view and include the Moon, as it also usually aligns about once a year. However, poor weather foiled his attempts, and it was only in December 2023 that everything came together, and his vision came to life.

“Even though the setting moon was captured in a crescent phase, the exposure was long enough for doubly reflected earthlight, called the da Vinci glow, to illuminate the entire top of the moon,” he shared.

Minato is currently taking requests via his website for those interested in purchasing a print of the photo.

See this behind-the-scenes glimpse of how Valerio Minato took his incredible photo of the Moon, Monviso mountain, and the Basilica of Superga in alignment.

Valerio Minato: Website | Facebook | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Valerio Minato.

Related Articles:

Incredible Photo of JetBlue Flight Passing Over Blue Supermoon

Photographer Uses Simple Illusion To Capture Giant Moon Hovering Over New York City

Italian Photographer Travels to Paris to Capture Perfect Full Moon Inside Arc de Triomphe

Interview: The Story Behind This Perfect Photo of a Full Moon Surrounding an 800-Year-Old Church