Travel Photography (Day 1)

As an amateur photographer who is just getting his feet wet in this field, I was armed with a Nikon 1 V3 and a library of AYP photography tips. Then I was off to Asia to test my travel photography skills and, if all goes well, have fun while doing it.

The 16 hour flight was grueling, and nothing says you’re thousands of miles from home quite like a steaming hot plate of an airplane meal. But if there were two things I could take from that experience it would be:

1) Always bring a neck pillow on long flights.

2) Don’t eat chili before flying.

Despite the severe jet lag, I was ready to start exploring as soon as we landed. The first destination was Macau, “the Las Vegas of China.” My first observation was that the streets are ridiculously narrow. I was convinced that our taxi driver was going to run into on-coming traffic on several occasions, but luckily I’m still here.

The first day of site seeing led us through several areas; all beautiful and interesting in their own rights. First was the gambling strip where I was told is an area that never sleeps. The oldest of its casinos is called Casino Lisboa, and it stands tall at the heart of the strip among other glamorously built gambling palaces. I’ve never been to Las Vegas personally, but I’m definitely starting to see the appeal it has on so many people.

For the next several hours we walked, and we walked, and then we walked some more through the streets of Macau; it was awesome. So many times people are in such a hurry to reach their destination that they do not appreciate the journey along the way. This particular journey took us through the narrow streets and back allies of the city of Macau and I was blown away by the rustic feel and earthly charm of this city. My only wish was that my photography skills were adequate enough to truly capture the essence of these streets.

This is the view from outside of where I am staying. We take so much of what we have for granted, it’s fitting that Thanksgiving is only a week away.

Everyone and their moms have motor bikes here, and yes, that would even include my mother when she was growing up in Macau.

That’s pretty much it for day 1. Stay tuned as I hopefully continue to advance my photography. Zai Jian! (See you later)

Photos by Nathaniel Chu