Author: Meng Tay
Travel and Photography are inseparable twins. In today’s age of inexpensive point-and-shoot digital cameras, smartphone cameras and DSLRs’, you can’t imagine traveling anywhere without taking pictures. Photography can enhance and enrich your travel experience.
Most travelers take pictures to remember where they’ve been . They take pictures of themselves in front of famous monuments or buildings. However, by focusing on a few subjects, you can build a collection of pictures that can make your trip memorable.
For example, I love the small shops in Europe. Compared to the small shops in boring, nondescript strip-malls in the US, the shops there are usually very colorful. Below are some examples:
Belgium is well-known for chocolates. In Brussels you find shops selling chocolate everywhere. When I see this picture, it reminds me immediately of Brussels and all the nice-smelling chocolates in the shops. Then I start remembering walking around the Grand Place in Brussels and all the other streets in the area.
This shop above in Nice, France, sells only soap products. In order to attract customers, they have color displays to attract the attention of passers-by, including me. Whenever I see this picture, I remember walking the narrow streets of Nice and the Flower Market or as the French called it, Marché aux Fleurs.
This shop in San Sebastian in northern Spain, next to the French border, sells fruits and vegetables. By displaying all the colorful fruits and vegetables in front of the shop, the owner is hoping that passers by can’t resist but to stop in the store to buy some produce. Small, independent produce stores are popular in Europe. This picture reminds me of the beautiful city of San Sebastian, where I cross over to France to the city of Hendaye to take the train to Paris.
Travel is about the experience. After the experience, it’s the memory. This is where photography comes into play. Even years after the trip, a certain picture will trigger wonderful memories of your trip; not just the image, but perhaps the people, the sound and even the smell. And, if it’s a beautiful picture, you may want to print it and hang on your wall to share your memories with friends and family. Bon Voyage!
Meng Tay is a trip leader with Arizona Highways Photo Workshops.