Pictures vs Words

I know that wanting to do a "travel blog" is not as easy as one might expect. First of all traveling around takes time and is quite expensive, and showing people the beauty and experience of what you have witnessed yourself is not that easy. I do however believe that the fun that I get out of the little bit of traveling I do makes up for the disappointment of the above. Sometimes it is nice to be able to say, "Oh, I've been there", or "Yes, I know what it's like". One thing I have seen though is that some people do the budget kind of travel where you take a organized tour, probably to save money, time or effort. I see that happen a lot in South Africa, busses packed with tourists (usually people from Asia or Europe) trying to squeeze in as much as possible getting trigger-happy with their cameras all in a attempt to make sure they can "see" all the attractions the country had to offer when they get back home..The bus would come to a halt at Bloubergstrand, 150 Chinese will jump out, take 2 million snaps of themselves posing in front of Table Mountain, jump back onto the bus again and hit the road to their next destination. When they get back to their homeland, they stuff the pictures in an album and start preparing their next trip. Or they force their friends into watching their 300 pics of Table Mountain, all looking basically the same. If it was a bad weather day with clouds covering Table Mountain, they might not even have that "proof" that they were close to Table Mountain at all.

So talking about the "proof". Isn't it funny that some people just don't have the ability to take good pictures to show that "I was there". Like the one top left. Those two girls were obviously there, maybe they had a fabulous time in Paris, but the picture definately does not show it. Compare it now with the one on the right. It is icy cold in Paris, but I bet you these two Japanese tourists had a much beter time in Paris than the two girls on the left...or so it seems at least. If you are even more creative you don't even have to be in the picture yourself, take one that starts conversations....

I stole this picture from a lady's post discussing the difference between a tourist and a traveler (http://www.vagabondish.com/4-ways-to-be-a-traveler-not-a-tourist/) I have to admit, when I saw her post I felt like dropping the subject of good picture taking as I am sure someone has discussed it before. Nevertheless, let me make my point and you decide. This picture does not even show the person's face, but it can be framed and diplayed on a wall. So much better when someone asks about this picture and you can reply with:" Yes, i took that myself last year on my trip to France". Compare that with: "Please, sit down I want to show you my pictures of Paris". Watching other people's pictures of their summer holiday in Spain or their children's first day at school can be really a pain in the arse. Having a nice picture on your wall that can automatically start the conversation has a much better impact and will invite people to talk about your trip, or maybe even wanting to see more of the interesting pictures you have taken.

Below is my attempt to show that I have also been to Paris. Ok, I won't hang this in my living room, my wife might just question my fidelity, but was I still in college a blown-up version on my wall would have invited more coffee break discussions with my pals than the surf pictures did way back then. I guess that this picture says more about me and where I've been than just "I was there". And you have to agree, it looks better than the first picture of the two girls standing like statues in front of the Eiffel Tower. Now can you imagine if those two girls took a picture of themselves like this one, how much conversation their picture could have started for them back home. The point that I want to make is be creative, let your pictures speak for themselves, let them show that you were more than just there, that you were 'experiencing' the place and that it was in fact F.U.N! Happy snapping.....