I'm wondering if others can relate to how difficult it can be to tell when a travel image is acceptable or not.

For me at least, at first there's a personal connection to the memory of the moment you made the image that initially colors your opinion of it. Then, after the trip has concluded there's the already fading memory of the journey as a whole coloring your opinion of all the images you made. And, eventually... when you're already starting to think about your next excursion and you've looked at all of your images so much that some of them you can't bare to look at anymore... only then do the gems start to reveal themselves to you.

"Jungle Fever" ~ San Agustin, Colombia © 2012 Skip Hunt from "The Fine Colombian" collection

For example: The day I made the image above there were loads of mosquitoes biting my legs as I'd forgotten repellent. There were also some storm clouds rolling in so I was in a hurry since I'd also not packed any plastic to protect my electronics from the rain. There was this old man in the town who kept hassling me for a couple days to take a horseback tour that I didn't care to take. I had to pass by him on the way out of town to this location and he went from just annoying me, to nearly aggressive. And then hiking along the road I almost got hit by this bus that took a corner too wide, etc.

So, initially my personal experience of the day I made this image was not pleasant and I almost just deleted it several times. Only now, that those memories have softened, can I actually "see" what's in this image without the distraction of the memory.

See more from "The Fine Colombian" collection HERE

-- Skip Hunt