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Readers’ Best Travel Photos of 2010

Readers' Best Photos
Robert_Arrington

We received an overwhelming response to our Best Travel Photos of 2010 contest. With more than 2,000 photos submitted, including images of everything from wildlife to winter wonderlands, it wasn’t easy picking a Grand Prize winner. But in the end, the SmarterTravel editorial team voted, and there was one clear favorite. Congratulations to Robert_Arrington, who will receive a Nikon Coolpix L110 12.1 MP Digital Camera for his photo of Venice, Italy.

We also want to congratulate the nine honorable mentions, which appear in the gallery in no particular order. Each will receive a TSA-compliant travel kit. A heartfelt thank you goes out to all of you who entered. It was a joy to see the world of travel presented from so many different perspectives. If you didn’t win this time, there’s good news. We’ll be running brand new photo contests throughout 2011, starting with Your Best Caribbean Photos in January.

Now, without further ado, here are some details about the winning photo you see above. In photographer, Robert_Arrington’s words:

“On a recent visit to the magical city of Venice, Italy, I reunited with an old friend whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years.  The city was suffocated with tourists by day but we had the city to ourselves late at night. Just after midnight my friend and I strolled to the famous Rialto Bridge which straddles the Venice Grand Canal. I set up my tripod on the Rialto Bridge and adjusted my camera for a 25 second time exposure. While the camera was exposing the shot, a water taxi, the “Vaporetto” sped across the water rushing excited tourists to their Venetian adventure. The long exposure revealed the Vaporetto as streaks of red and white lights across the water.  It was a rare shot and one I will always treasure because of the magical location, the reunion with a dear old friend and now this photo contest!”

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