照相(zhào xiàng) - to take a photo in Mandarin

照相 (zhàoxiàng) means "to take a photo" or "to have one's photo taken". 照 (zhào) is "to shine, to illuminate" and by extension "to photograph", and 相 (xiàng) here means "appearance, likeness", so the compound is close to "capturing a likeness".

照相 (zhàoxiàng) is a verb-object compound, so it cannot take a direct object the way an English verb can: you cannot say 照相这座桥 (zhàoxiàng zhè zuò qiáo) for "photograph this bridge". Instead the bridge becomes the location or you switch to 拍 (pāi), as in 拍这座桥的照片 (pāi zhè zuò qiáo de zhàopiàn), "take a photo of this bridge".

It shows up in the everyday noun 照相机 (zhàoxiàngjī), "camera", literally "photo-taking machine", and in the classic polite request 请帮我照相 (qǐng bāng wǒ zhàoxiàng), "please take a photo for me", which is exactly what you say to a stranger at a tourist spot.