My photos made it to CNN TV and CNN Go!

My photo appearing on the CNN website on May 9, 2012

Within a span of a week, my photos got featured in both CNN TV as well as the Travel Photo of the Day in CNN Go website. I told myself I must be doing something right :-)

I have been practicing my photography and had just recently concluded a photo tour to Batanes, Philippines, so I was still hot on my tracks and excited.



One day as I was surfing through the internet, I found out about some sites that accept photo submissions that are selected for publishing. National Geographic is the most famous one but the contest requires are $10 fee to join. Hey, I'm just an amateur! And I didn't feel like I am good enough to submit to one of those contest, at least not just yet :-) So I tried to find more options for amateurs or hobby photographers like me. NatGeo had another one which you can submit your photos and they can be featured in any of their publications, but you can only submit one per month.

Then I figured other media companies may have it too like CNN. This is where I found out about iReport, which is basically a program allowing the public to submit their photos just like any reporter out there, ones that will capture the audience's attention, and these will be featured in any of the CNN's media. What I liked about this, is that it is not geared towards high quality professional photography but instead everyday photos that are unique, interesting and hold a story behind. I thought this would be a good place to practice taking more interesting photos on a whim, a scenario that I am often faced with when taking photos while traveling. I submitted 9 stories that week, and two of my photos/stories got selected.

The first one was a photo of the White Snail that I took in Batanes. I found it really unusual to have white snails, as most of the snails I've seen are dark in color. I featured a short story about it, knowing that a lot of readers would be interested to know that these snails are edible delicacies here in the Philippines, just like the famous escargot in France. I got an email from one of the editors asking about my photo and I gave them permission to feature it. I didn't know though where they would use it. The next day, I received an SMS from my friend asking if I submitted a photo to CNN. I asked why and she told me she saw my name and photo on CNN. Wow! I was so happy! So now, I asked her to send me the link and she told me it was in CNN TV. Double Wow! Now I was extremely happy, but sad that I didn't even get to see it. I didn't even know it would come out on TV and I wasn't even aware that they were featuring "Eye on the Philippines" program that week. I could have figured out the linkage between my submission and possible places to feature them had I known. Well, that was my first moment of fame but I couldn't really share it.

My photo appearing on CNN TV in May 2012

Few weeks after, I got a wonderful surprise. I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed, and I suddenly saw a snapshot of my photo on a TV screen. I had to look twice. Apparently, both our host and tour guide in Batanes were tagged on that photo which made it appear on my newsfeed. It was a photo shot by someone else intending to visit Batanes soon. I couldn't believe it at first. Our host was quick to share it with me, and I asked permission from the owner to copy the photo so that I can share it with my family and friends. Our photography instructor also shared it in his Backpack Photography subscribers, indicating it was shot by me, one of their participants. So happy and proud of myself! Whether it was selected for the photo or the story itself, they like what I created and that is all that matters :-)

The second photo got selected a week after. Actually, it's the first photo I submitted and it didn't get too many visits so I thought maybe it was not good enough. I really liked that photo because it was so colorful and it also used one of the types of photo that appear in every photographer's portfolio, the mirror reflection shot. My photo was a shot of the colorful houses in the fishing village of Burano Island in Venice, Italy. The houses were also reflected on the canal water below it. I received another email asking about it. Then days after, I got some comments on my photo and I realized that it had already been featured on the CNN Go website as a Travel Photo of the Day. Cool! And even better, the photos scroll through an archive slide show so you can still see it after that specific day I think for about 2 months.