Bomb pictures equals Bomb trip

What is the most important thing about a trip? No, wait, let me rephrase that. How do you know you had a great time on vacation? How can you tell it was memorable? By looking at the pictures. Duh… And although some of you will deny the fact that they dream of being Instagram famous, and pray every night to Kim Kardashian to gain followers (probably it’s just me); people post more pictures of a memorable event, rather than of a lousy one. However, today I’m not going to talk about ways of getting the perfect picture, or give you tips on how to gain followers on social media; because there are a lot of blogs about that (praying to Kim Kardashian doesn’t work by the way). Today, I’m going to teach you how to make pictures the highlight of your trip.

First tip: When going on vacation, take pictures of things you truly enjoy.

Don’t think about which one to post when you come back, don’t take pictures of things people expect you to; it’s not fun. Okay, I know that in the introduction I talked about becoming Instagram famous, but, if you get to think about it, trips that are recorded only on social media are probably lame. I mean, when you go on vacation and you show your friends the typical mass-tourism photos, with the buildings in the back and a person in the center, what do they say? “Mmmm… Nice trip guys… It looks like you had fun. You’re smiling in all the pictures. Oh, the place is beautiful.” etc. Is this the reaction you’re going for? A trip without compromising photos fades out so quickly, not even the likes are able to remind you of it.

Tip number two: Learn to take compromising photos.

Okay, so this tip is actually a skill. It requires focus, attention and quick reaction. Some people are born with it, some rely on luck and a few develop that skill. We all have that one friend that takes the right picture, in the right time, at the right place. Learn to be that friend. Just carry your camera or your phone everywhere (as if you don’t), and the most important thing- observe.

A few years ago, I went on a city trip in Basel. Oh, I know I’m going to regret this… Anyway, I went there with my friends and family, and my best friend is the type of person I talked about: she always manages to take the right picture.

And although the pictures are terrible, I love them. Each of them has a story, and no matter where I go, I will remember that trip. I will remember that the first picture was taken after a long walk in the morning, when we ate roasted chestnuts and nearly dropped the phone trying to take a selfie. And then in the second one, my brother decided he was a ballerina and nearly fell doing a pirouette. (Why would he do a pirouette on a hill anyway?).

Moreover, compromising pictures are often embarrassing. By often I mean 99% of the time. That allows you to kill two birds with one stone: first, you have memories, second- blackmail material to torture your friends with. And now comes the best one.

Tip number three: Don’t be afraid to look stupid in pictures, TRY TO!

Okay, getting back to being Instagram famous. When going on vacation, people often try to take the “perfect” selfie/ panorama/ landscape etc. You know, the ones with the flowy light, bright colors; and if there’s a person in the picture, the wind blows gently in their hair, they are sipping some kind of hipster double espresso caramel spicy cinnamon orange juice. Don’t get me wrong, I do too, but it takes so much effort. Besides, these kinds of pictures don’t usually add emotional value.

But when you take ugly pictures (especially by mistake), they are usually the most interesting ones. Who wants to see a perfect selfie with the Eiffel tower in the background? The internet is full of those. Who wants to see a picture of two girls trying to impersonate a statue of a boy strangling a goose? Well I’m down for that if you ask me. Actually, I already have it.

Yep, that’s me and my friend in Basel. It took us 5 minutes to take it and a lot of self-control not to laugh.

Or, who wants to see a picture of “da gang” having fun? Yes, I referred to my friends as “da gang”, and yes, you want to see it.

Useful information: we did not consume any kind of drugs or alcohol when taking the picture (we were on a family trip and we were minors), however we did drink juice and soda before that. And I must say, the juice was damn good. Was there something in the juice? I guess you’ll never know.

Recap: Is the picture bomb? Definitely. Is it memorable? Absolutely. Bomb pictures= bomb trip? Certainly. Point proven? Hell yes!

So, next time you go on vacation, you know what kind of pictures to take. Or go to Basel and have some juice. I promise it does wonders to one’s photography skills.