Today like many other times someone asked me, “Why did I decide to travel?”
I think that since I was little, I was motivated by my curiosity. And no, I do not feel particularly different, nor do I think there are extraordinary situations that I deserve to live. I just want to discover new things.
When I was a little girl, when I left school, I always chose to follow by some path that I have not done before. I could always add several more blocks to my walks. It always took a long time to return home, and sometimes, I made my parents worry, and yet it always arrived, the trip was full of new experiences. That is if we can define an experience like walking on a different sidewalk or seeing unknown people.
Sometimes I imagined that I could enter the houses around me, how many stories were hidden behind those doors, who might live there, and what their routines might have.
And I continued my way.
I think it is not necessary to explain how this story derived in my love for traveling. I can grab a backpack and go to the mountain, get into a local walk or get on a boat to a river or an ocean. It’s always the same impulse: seeing things that have not happened before my eyes.
I learned to take photographs a few years ago, and from that moment, I did not stop. I think there are many ways to travel, and to immerse myself in my internal trips is something that also I enjoy doing it. In the beginning, contrary to what happened, photography was a way to bring me to the present, to stop playing with my mind so much.
Curious people know that imagination is a space of deep enjoyment, but at a certain point, it is a good idea that the tours are in the tangible world.
Then, I found my camera and that was one of my only one-way trips. I discovered, yes, that is the word. I DISCOVERED that I could also fill the world with my look, with my point of view and especially with that image that I do not want to retain.
I take pictures with different lights, different days, the same people or in totally different places and the wealth is: to be able to hold in an image the details of those changes.
Now, those new impressions of my walks, the people, or places I visit are fused in my hands when I click.
I have photos of a landscape, a kiss, a smile, a bug, and even things that I do not know what they are, but that looks nice to me or provoke something in me.
I review my shots often, and it is there when I notice that the one who travels: it’s me, and the one who always changes is me. I am full of all those experiences and steps that I have stepped on.
If you have not grabbed a camera yet, I invite you to do so. Maybe you will discover a new world.
Here are some tips to take travel photos and not get frustrated in the process:
-Use a camera that you know how to use, or learn to use it. A cell phone is also an excellent device to capture images, and there are strange media such as eggs or pinhole boxes.
Meanwhile, there is a small hole through which light enters and photosensitive material. The possibilities are endless.
-Know what the functionality of that camera is, and how you will use it to communicate what you want. There are heavy cameras, with complicated mechanisms that serve to certain spaces or with certain lights and shutter speeds. You have to know what are you photographing with.
-Give yourself, share, and let the inspiration become part of you.
Written By Miko Urquiza. A beautiful young girl who lives in Argentina but travels the world…
