If you’ve been anywhere on this blog before, you’ll know I’m a bit obsessed with taking photos. I always have been; photos to me ingrain not only a moment and image in my mind, but a feeling. At university and while I lived in Australia, my walls were covered with photos of scenery, friends, family and I won’t lie, my cats.
With great, strenuous difficulty, I’ve chosen one photo to fit a particular theme and the story behind it. Once we’re done on the emotional rollercoaster of my themed-photo journey, it’s your turn: enter your photo memories with Photoworld and you could win goodies including a camera.
Family
It was really hard to find a photo of all of my (immediate) family where the quality was alright, or where we all looked relatively normal (I am so sorry to my mum for choosing a photo where her eyes are closed. She’s still beautiful, though). This photo is from a cruise to Bruges we did in 2011 for my mum’s birthday. I decided a cruise photo would be ideal because we went on quite a few cruises growing up, so they remind me of family. We had such a lovely time on the cruise, exploring Bruges by day and dressing up for dinner – after celebratory champagne – for the evening. Now that we’re all grown up (if you can call it that…), it’s nice to have pictures from times like this where we all get together again.
Friendship
This was a difficult one. I tend to have small, separate groups of friends rather than one big one, so choosing just one moment from the different vibes and fun times each group has given me was a real challenge. Friends, I love you all. Sorry.
As you might have guessed from the pretty iconic building in the background, this photo is from Berlin! All around the city, you can take pictures in vintage photobooths (cost is 2€) – naturally, I couldn’t resist. I went to Berlin with my friend Alex for a weekend; it was our first time travelling together and we had a great time! I felt entirely on the same wavelength as her, and this photobooth picture with the Brandenburg Gate captures the fun we had. For someone who travels mainly with her boyfriend, it was amazing to go off exploring with Alex. She’s also off on some pretty exciting adventures in New Zealand soon, so this picture is also a bit of a tribute to one of the nicest girls I’ve ever met!
Travel
I’m a travel blogger, how can you make me choose?! I’ve been amazingly lucky with travel while growing up – and just plain obsessive with it since I’ve flown the nest.
I decided to go with one of my favourite photos from my recent trip along the west coast of Canada and USA. This is McWay Falls in Big Sur, California – it’s even more beautiful in real life. Everything from the pink wildflowers and jagged cliffs to the drizzle of the waterfall and the intense blue of the water was mesmerising, and we stayed there for a while just staring at it. I could visit there again and again and not get bored of this little place’s beauty. Discovering things like this, and the feeling of being so in awe you lose yourself is what travel is all about for me: McWay Falls is a perfect example of that.
Sorry, but I’m cheating and adding another couple of photos… you can’t expect a travel blogger to narrow down to just one in this theme!
I was really proud of this photo of the Great Geysir in Iceland – and I still am, even if it was taken in 2008! For a grumpy teenager, this was one of those perfect moments where I was fascinated and excited by what was around me.
I couldn’t do this without a picture of Australia. This is Loch Ard Gorge on the Great Ocean Road where I spent a weekend with some of the amazing people I met out there – still to this day known as one of the best weekends of my life. Travel is also very much about the people you meet and friends you make. This picture is actually on my cork board in my room – well, a variation of it… with the large number of us, it took a lot of pictures before the majority were in the air!
Celebrations
My graduation seemed like the most logical, recent choice for the Celebrations theme! I graduated from University of East Anglia last year having studied English Literature – this day was extremely hot. However magical it felt wearing those gowns (seriously, I felt like I was going to Hogwarts), on a hot day in July, it was torture. But I loved it anyway. I got to spend the day with my family and friends and celebrate a really special, significant part of my life. This photo encapsulates all of that, from the typical throwing of motarboards in the air (it took quite a few takes…) to the cheesey grins on all of our faces. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile and feel overwhelmed by all the memories that made up my three years at university. And boy, a lot happened.
What photos would you choose for each of these themes? Photoworld are running a competition on Twitter over a 4 week period – starting today – with these themes for each week:
15th September: Family
22nd September: Friendship
29th September: Travel
6th October: Celebrations
To enter, post a photo memory corresponding to a theme in the week it’s running to @cewephotoworld with the hashtag #weprintmemories. These are the prizes:
1st prize: the new 16GB First Generation Lytro Camera, £250 worth of John Lewis vouchers and £250 CEWE Photoworld vouchers
2nd prize: £100 CEWE Photoworld vouchers
3rd prize: £50 CEWE Photoworld vouchers
You’re not obligated to post a photo every week to enter, but the more entries, the more chances to win! Photoworld will also be sharing their favourites throughout the competition, so keep an eye on Twitter. Winners will be chosen at random at the end of the competition. Find out more about the competition here.
Good luck guys!
Great pics :)