I was SO lucky to be able to spend 12 days in London on a National Geographic Student Expedition. I traveled with three amazing leaders, and 16 other high school students passionate about photography and traveling. Obviously, this was a trip of a lifetime. I learned so much about photography, traveling, and myself! This trip can be summed up in this quote by Albert Einstein,
"The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know."
Our days started with a breakfast in the dorm hall we were staying at with class starting at 9. We had critiques on the images shot the day before after a lesson taught by
Gianluca Colla. We would spend the morning in the classroom and then grab lunch and head out to the city. Everyday we had photo assignments that challenged us which paved the way for improvement. We did a lot of night photography and long exposures with all the lights, landmarks, and movement of London. Our dinners were great, we ate a lot of ethnic food; Thai, Indian, and Lebanese!
We took excursions to Stonehenge, Brighton, Oxford, and Camden Market, of course after exploring other parts of London the other days! The workshop ended with a gallery opening at IRIS Studios, in the city.
My dream since 6th grade was to photograph for National Geographic, and in a way my dream came true!
(We got a private opening at Stonehenge to be able to walk around the stones!)
xo, Hallie
