How to make the best photo collection while enjoying any trip

Sometimes before you go on a trip, you take some time to get inspired about the places you want to visit when abroad or on holidays and sometimes the only inspiration you get from scrolling on Instagram is nothing but the usual from the same famous spots. Change that and instead try to aim to gather some memories that freeze a moment, a smell and a feeling and tell a story – all in one frame.

My biggest recommendation for this change is that you do not think too much and just hop out from your accommodation even if you do not have a plan or an idea of where to go or what to see. These are the best plans by far; the plan of not having a plan. Just walk, wander and get lost in the street life, the local faces and go by the less travelled road; those paths will lead you to the most amazing places!

Take advantage of it and instead of taking photos of everything, stand still in one place, have a look at the light, the colours, the people or the nature around. Change your perspective, try to see photographs of the raw and purest essence from the place that is surrounding you. Get closer and photograph the details of those hands full of history that are making a unique souvenir or cooking your lunch in the street.

Look people in the eyes, smile (never forget to have a big smile in your face), approach strangers and ask for their story, let all these be your inspiration and capture it.

When wandering in any city, what I cannot recommend enough is to keep walking and leave behind those iconic places until you reach the less touristic neighbourhoods where you will end up finding hidden gems as beautiful -or even more- than the famous ones. Do not just look at what is in your eye level but drive your eyes up above; sometimes there are gorgeous facades which we do not normally see. I am not saying to stay away from ‘the spots’ all the time but at least move yourself, walk around, try to find a new perspective, point of view or a different surrounding area that will help frame it, drive more attention to it and a fresh new sight to what most of us are used to see.

And there is an important detail that most of the time some of us forget when traveling. Stop somewhere. Do not take photographs of everything. Keep some of that beauty for you, breathe it in and embrace it with your nude eyes. Draw a picture of it in your mind and keep it there; focus on the details, the light, the colours, the smells... Bring it to life without it even existing in your SD card. Those ones are as important as the ones you are going to share on social media because they are not going to be all for the ‘likes and comments’ but for your best memories. And do not forget to print a few of them; get closer to the prints, look at them, remember how you felt and hang it in the wall. It is the best feeling ever.

Check out my work and get some inspiration at www.sandrayniguez.com