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| To take a photo or not? |
I know people who take their cameras wherever they go. Sometimes I get the wish to do the same -- hey, who knows, I might run into something great and regret not having my camera with me! -- but, in most cases, feel too lazy to actually do it. It's not that my camera is big or heavy; while it's not one of the fancy thin ones, it's not a big huge pro thingy either. It's just that, big or not, it can feel like a burden, and taking photos can be way too distracting from truly experiencing things. It even happens that I do take my camera with me, and then don't use it.
I know people who feel, if they go somewhere, they must see and photograph absolutely everything there, otherwise they feel like they haven't really seen the place. It could be a generational thing, since all the people I know who feel that way are at least seven years younger than me, but for me, it's the opposite: if I photograph everything, I feel like I haven't really seen it, because too much of my attention went to making good photos and too little went to experiencing it.
On our first trip to Egypt, Significant Other and I made tons of photos, some great, some mediocre, some lousy; it was our first trip abroad together, and our camera was brand new, so it was all a novelty for us. In that one case, making tons of photos didn't feel like too much of a distraction, it was a shiny new thing and a part of the experience. On our later trips, making so many photos wasn't such an exciting new thing anymore, so we didn't do it, and we never regretted not doing it.
Don't get me wrong: I do love making interesting photos, and sometimes I will take my camera with me and try to capture something funny, pretty, informative, or in other way interesting. But most of the time, I leave my camera at home, and just enjoy experiencing things.
Pics or it didn't happen? It did happen, whether I have a photo to show or not; and if I didn't make photos, I might be remembering it better than if I did.
How do you feel about taking photos and about Pics or it didn't happen way of seeing things?
4 comments:
I used to be photo obsessed, but I've calmed down. Like you said, it still happened even if you don't have pictures. But pictures are nice to look at too. I guess a happy medium is best.
A happy medium seems to be the best, yes.
I am not a good photographer, but wish I was and might be IF I remember to take the picture now and again. I love photos and will take them, but mostly I write snippets when I travel and buy postcards. Blogging is a good reason to snap photos but this didn't work too well for me since my topics rarely collide with my writing.
I haven't thought of blogging as a good reason to snap photos, but you're right, it can be a good reason.
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