Travel

Travel photography needs to include a sense of place, and this young man's distinctive body paint is unique to his ethnic group, linking him strongly to his homeland - for most people, the only way to see this is to travel. The photographer has captured the young man crisply and clearly, while the figures behind are just possible to make out as other people in draped garments, but too blurred and sombre in colour to detract from the main subject.

London's world-famous underground network has many fascinating stations with unique features. Baker Street station is not actually as dark as it appears in this photo, but the photographer has taken advantage of the distinctive architecture and the contrast between the tiled and brick areas on the platform to create a fairly menacing image. The composition is excellent - the image is naturally broken into thirds, and the way the figures are in separate niches, shadows all around, creates a sense of isolation.

If you come across a festival on your travels, you'll be able to capture images with everything you could want: human interest, a strong sense of a unique location, and a fiercely regional take on something universal (celebration). As these children on their way to a festival in the Philippines show, you don't even need to go to the festival to get your shots: seeing the participants on their way to or from the celebrations can make for an eyecatching image.

This montage of images of one place is jumbled, yet still gives a strong sense of place. Elements suck as the old clay tiles of the roof, arched window and yellow taxi give it a sense of place without a clear look at the actual location. Careful combining makes the whole thing work, as the colours move from dark blue in the bottom-left to bright yellow on the top right, while repeated vertical and horizontal lines accentuate the grid-like feel.

Including a person transforms a classic landscape, giving it a sense of scale, and the backpack on the tiny silhouetted figure here marks them out as a traveller. Conversion to black and white has added to the drama in the image. There's an immense amount of texture in the rocks and sky, showing the challenges that face the traveller when - or if - they make it across the river below. This is an image showing travelling as an adventure.

Simple yet effective, this photo is another example of one taking an effectively universal activity - in this case, cycling - and placing it in a clearly regional context. The bilingual sign suggests that this is a place getting lots of visitors, and the open space beneath the door and open window give the impression that it's somewhere hot rather than somewhere rainy, so probably the Middle East. Everything is almost squared-off, from the door - not quite square - to the sign and bikes - not quite hanging straight, and the imperfection gives a human touch without any people being present.

Travelling isn't always enjoyable. This photo very cleverly captures the weariness of a young traveller who simply wishes the journey were over. The reflection shows you that they're looking through a window, and while their exact location is impossible to make out, the hint of green and strong diagonal line give the impression that they're travelling somewhere by train. The diagonal line also gives a sense of movement, pulling the viewer's eye through the frame in the same direction as the rails.

Capturing an important celebration with lots of participants - here, a celebration of Eid ul Fitr, can be a tricky business. This photographer has overcome the difficulties of shooting large groups of people by shooting with a wide-angle lens from a very high viewpoint, showing the beautiful, strong vertical lines of the architecture as well as the large number of worshippers inside and outside the mosque, The pale but clear yellow and blue colours give everything a feeling of light and optimism.

Seeing everyday activities done differently is one of the most fascinating things about travel. Almost every human eats, but how we eat, prepare or, as here, catch our food differs greatly. The difficulty with this shot would have been ensuring that the fishermen and not just the net were in focus; a very narrow aperture has ensured that they are all crisp. Shooting through the net, still containing some of the catch, gives an unusual but effective point of view.

To capture a busy area like this square in Marrakech, you've got to go wide with your lens. While wide-angle lenses can introduce distortions, if you work with the effect, as this photographer has done, it actually adds to the image. Ensuring that the setting sun is in the top-centre of the frame has created strong shadows and rays of light that fan out, giving the cluttered scene a stronger sense of structure that it would lack in flatter light.