China 2013 | The Photos, Part One
As I get ready to head out on another crazy adventure I've had a few people ask, "Did you ever post about your China trip?"
Good question! I didn't. Not because I didn't want to but because, you know, time gets away.
First of all, it was awesome.
Where do I even begin?
I took 1982 photos with my DSLR (aka my "big" camera) on my two week trip to China last November.
I took 290 with my iphone.
Aaron took about 1700 photos all with his iphone.
Total photos in my China folder in Aperture: 3975 (before editing)
That could be the most I've taken on a trip but I don't think I've recorded any of the numbers in the past.
Here's how I tackle starting to even scratch the surface of those photos:
STEP ONE | Look through all the photos. Delete the ones that are absolutely terrible - totally black, really extra blurry, really bad facial expressions, multiples of the same thing x10. This trip I shot in manual with my DSLR so I had multiples of quite a few photos that were either way too light or way too dark (so thankful I can learn via digital where I can actually see the mistakes I'm making). I'm pretty ruthless when it comes to deleting. I really don't need to have five of the same photo. Really.
STEP TWO | Decide what to print. For this travel album I'm using an album from Basic Grey but I haven't tackled that at all yet.I don't print everything. I mainly look for my favorites or ones that really move the travel story forward. Could be favorite memories or monuments or something totally random. I'll choose a few to enlarge to the full page size in the album but I haven't made any of those choices yet.
I started going through which photos I wanted to share here and it's quite a process in and of itself. For this post I started adding in photos until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I'll do a Part Two with the rest of the trip sometime soon.
Here's a look at the first part of our China adventure from November 2013:
Our trip began with an overnight in San Francisco. It happened to be my 38th birthday.
And in case you didn't know, I love experiencing the world so it was a pretty fun way to celebrate.
Aaron came along with me on this trip.
Meeting someone who also loves experiencing the world was important to me. He is a darn good travel companion.
Our hotel room in Beijing.
The view when we woke up. We were super lucky with some very blue sky days in Beijing.
On these trips we tend to travel by bus. In the case of the China adventure we also took two or three flights within China as we moved from location to location.
So many great people joined us on this trip.
We actually had amazing weather on this trip. Blue skies for days.
I can't even fathom how old everything is there.
I took a lot of shots of rooftops. The details were insane.
Someday I'd like to get really good at photographing people I don't know. It's something I thought a lot about while we were there. So many weathered faces. So many faces with stories I wondered about.
The Great Wall was so, so cool.
Standing on the Great Wall, looking out, I saw this:
The night market. We had just one adventurous eater in our group - that would be Barry. He ate a snake among other things.
Just so beautiful. All of it.
I loved walking down this long walkway and watching all the people playing games. Their faces. Their laughter. There was even singing.
Looking back.
A page in my travel journal.
A group rickshaw ride that was one of my personal favorite moments. The air. The sounds. Being there. It was one of those memories you feel with your whole body.
The Summer Palace.
How can you not smile when looking at these people.
The Birds Nest at the Olympic park.
I'm a Chinese food fan so I was perfectly happy to have it breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors.
Oh there's still so much more.
Another day friends.
PS | Did you notice we did a Shop update yesterday? I've now got four new clear stamp sets (Birthday, Celebrate, Photos, and Thanks) and a few of my other go-to products available in the Shop. You can see it all here.
You captured some seriously beautiful photos. I felt like I took a little trip viewing them, and isn't that the whole idea of photos? To relive or share your experience? Thank you so much. Can't get over the colors, the scale and the details of China. Glad your skies were blue.
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Oh, wow, lovely pictures. The picture of you and Aaron with the Great Wall in the background is so beautiful. So looks like the trip of a lifetime. Was it your favorite? I do so admire your adventurous spirit. Your journal looks amazing. Michelle t
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I am bookmarking this page so I can look at it the next time I'm overwhelmed! Turned me a little sarcastic. So, you're so ruthless you only have 3000 pictures left? So, you're moving on to coffee table books? So, recording this trip is your second full-time job? So, you're going to Peru to escape thinking about your China projects? So, Ken Burns called you about a Scrapbooking China series? So, after the year you have had you are a little tired? Just stunning, Ali.
Oh man, did I come across as ungrateful and glorifying busy? I sure hope not! 3000 was the total number of photos taken before editing. Not moving on to coffee table books, just sharing the photos.
You sure didn't! I so apologize. Sometime when I'm stunned I lapse into sarchasm because I can't put my awe into words. And I better quit it!
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The picture of the elderly couple sitting on the bench made me smile--they looked like their STORIES would be very interesting! Their weathered faces seem to say that their lives haven't always been easy but together, they were able to tackle whatever challenges fell their way and together, they are still smiling. Love that.
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Gorgeous, thank you for sharing. How do you balance taking photos and enjoying the ride? Working trips side (and I understand this is both your work and your passion), when/how do you know when to put the camera down?
Hi - that's actually something I'll be talking about in my new workshop (starts in November - you can read about it here: https://aliedwards.com/shop/classes/lens-of-joy. It's something I'm conscious of for sure because I don't want to be behind the camera the whole time + at the same time I like experiencing my trip through the lens as well. I think being aware is the first thing - to put it down, to soak it up.
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Oh how I love when you remind us that it's never too late to tell a story. We saw just a couple of the terra cotta warriors, which are on loan to a local museum here in Indianapolis. Just seeing those few warriors was amazing. I cannot imagine seeing rows and rows of them in the place where they were crafted. Love the shot of the red tablecloth and the shot of Aaron peeking out from behind the tree. And love that you always manage to get so many photos with you in them when you travel. I am terrible at making that happen and ALWAYS regret it.
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Wow, Ali. Amazing.
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Must say this is such an impressive post! So enjoyed taking a trip to China through your photos. Will look forward to part two. Would love to see some of your travel album when you have completed it. Beautiful photos!
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GREAT photos. The Great Wall is something else - though what really stuck with me at the time was the idea of the guards or sentries regularly running up and down those stairs when I could barely puff my way up! What's best about your photos is that they remind us that the "China" which peoople like to excoriate for political repression and geo-political aggression and unfair trade/shoddy products (and rightly so in a lot of cases) is ultimately made up of people not really different from us, who like to play cards and go to the market and dance and sit in the park with their loved ones. Good job, Ali.
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Wow!!! Wonderful summary of your travel through China. Amazing...
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Wow!! Wonderful! Thanks for sharing and have a great time Peru!!
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so there for a second, i thought I was reading National Geographic. Totally Editorial Style Photos....my favorite was the older fellow playing the checkers game. second fave, those vibrant red tags! Can't wait to see more.
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These photos are both stunning and amazing Ali. Like right out of National Geographic. Thank you so much for sharing. It takes me right. there.
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China just moved up a couple of places on my "want to visit" list because of you! Hope it is as goregous as your pictures make it look!
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The first two words that come to mind when looking at your photos are lush and gorgeous. So many vivid, rich colours, so many moving, beautiful images. I think my favourite though is the one of you and Aaron sitting side by side where he's giving the plus sign and his eyes are closed. Your smile is so genuinely happy and he just looks so at peace with his eyes closed. Thank you for sharing!
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Your photos are wonderful. And a great reminder that I have trip photos that I need to dig into.
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This was such amazing glimpse into your trip. I felt like I was along. I love how you mentioned how you want to become better at capturing strangers faces more. It is a true artform and it is on my bucket list as well. It takes such creative courage. You must check out Vivian Maier! I just discovered her street photography recently and her story is so fascinating. It is one of my all-time favorite documentary's now. http://bit.ly/1rnXLoI
I can't wait to see the China post 2. Go you! and all your life adventures. Your creating such a great life story! -Cynthia
I definitely know about her - still need to watch the film. I followed the story when the news first broke about her photos.
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love your photos ali!!!! we visited shanghai and nanjing in 2004- your photos brought back a lot of my own memories ! china is a place like no other!!!
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Aaah, love these! Love your travel photography. I love travel photography. I need to take your advice on the deleting part. I tend to end up doing some sort of quicker digital book for trips, then maybe do a smaller book of traditional scrapping with memorabilia and a few snapshots. My goal is to start enlarging some of my good photos for art in my house. Thanks, these photos just woke me up!
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You got some great photos, my friend.
B used to spend a lot of time in Beijing (and China in general) for business. He was there for the Olympics.
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What an incredible set of photos and it looks like an unforgettable experience.Travel is definitely something I hope to do more of. Those photos tells a beautiful story and I think the pictures of you and Aaron are too cute. You are inspirational Ali, thanks for sharing!
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You took some stunning pics. Thanks for sharing them. Love the ones of you and Aaron together. Question: when you photograph random ppl, do you ask permission or do it discreetly.
Hi - I just do it discreetly. In the case of the couple, if I remember right, they had been watching me take other photos and I looked over at them and smiled and took the photo.
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When I see your travel photos, I realize I have absorbed a lot of your teaching through the years! I am a photo fanatic: my ex was so embarrassed by me rounding up the gang for shots in front of important landmarks. But I didn't care!
All of the couples on the trips asked for their own "coffee table book." The last trip I didn't go on but made a book for them, had NO Group photos!!! Who's sorry now? Never mind, it's the memories that one loves to capture to relive over & over. I like to get mug shot of every person who went on the trip too, besides, lots of group shots. Incidently, the guys have to get pictures of their Goldwings all lined up in front of landmarks, no people just bikes . . . can you imagine?
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Ali, your post today really made my day, my moment. Love that you had mostly blue skies during your trip and that you were able to shoot the awesome scenery and people because of the awesome weather.
The stories you've told with your photos gave me smiles and I kind of need them today...my Dad had 2 back to back heart attacks the beginning of this week, and though he's out of danger and is stable, I took the time to just be this morning. Which was a mistake, because I was sad. After viewing your journey though, I'm much lighter and smiling.....which I'll share with Dad when I go visit him in an hour or so.
Around here I'm grateful for your post! Have a great day!
Sending your Dad lots of love.
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OMGosh. I get overwhelmed with much less than that for a single project, but these images are beautiful and will be a wonderful accompaniment to the full story. Love what you said as part of this - "a memory you feel with your whole body". Perfection.
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