Best Tourism Photo Award – 2007 | Association of Southeast Asian Nations Tourism Association (ASEANTA)

As I was wrapping up my Peace Corps service in July 2006, one of the editors at Mabuhay Magazine called to ask me if I would mind if they included one of my photos in the competition for the Best Tourism Photo for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Tourism Association (ASEANTA). I had already been working with the magazine to do a few stories while I was in the Peace Corps, and I was happy that they wanted to use my shot to represent Mabuhay at the competition. A few months later, I heard back from one of the editors that the contest was over already and my shot from Apo Island had won. I Googled it and found a photo of a woman who I hadn’t met before accepting the award on my behalf in Singapore. A few months later I heard back from the Mabuhayeditors and they ran a little story about the background of the photo. Thanks again to Sanda Fuentes for waiting for me on the dive while I hung back to take this shot!