"Are you going to bring your camera?" I get asked this question any time I travel, and it creates an internal struggle every time. Chances are that I've probably already asked myself before anyone else gets the chance and fought with myself over the answer. Why does something as simple as taking my camera on a trip cause such internal strife?
Because taking my camera on vacation isn't actually simple at all.
Most of the time, I leave my camera at home, because experience has taught me that I can't be trusted with a camera in my hand, but earlier this year, my husband and I took a trip to Sedona, Arizona for our anniversary, and I thought, "it's such a unique place and we might never go back. It's our 15-year anniversary, and we'll want pictures to remember it." I should have known better.
That time we pulled over because I had to get the shot
As soon as the camera became part of the equation, the focus of the trip began to change. I didn't do it on purpose; oh no, it was much more insidious. I started calculating what I could leave out of my day pack so my camera would fit inside. I wondered how early I could rouse my sleepy spouse to catch that morning light. I start thinking about coming home with the perfect photo to hang on my wall, the one that would be an avatar of Sedona and memorialize our trip forever.
A door at our bed and breakfast in Albuquerque
When we got there, instead of thinking about the fact that we were having a romantic dinner at sunset in a gorgeous restaurant overlooking Sedona's red rocks, I found myself wishing I was out on a hilltop somewhere with my tripod. Staying up late and sleeping in became a source of regret, because when we hit the trail, the light was already hard and high.
Beyond just the internal struggle, there were physical consequences to making my camera part of my vacation. Hikes took five times longer because I wanted to stop every few minutes to catch the colors of that tree bark, or the pattern on those leaves, the way light hit the rocks, or the way the trees framed a view. It was almost a compulsion. My husband signaled his impatience with a heavy sigh or just hiked away and left me on the trail.
A view from the top
And there was the real issue, the reason I hate bringing my camera on vacation: when the camera is in my hands or in my backpack, I stop seeing the scenery as something to enjoy and start seeing it as something to capture. My companion becomes the resentful partner who silently makes me feel guilty for taking up so much time with a camera stuck to my face. There is a lens between us, between me and the landscape, between me and the pure experience I came to enjoy with the person I love. Of course, he never made me feel guilty on purpose, but I knew how he felt, and the guilt settled in anyway.
My favorite shot from our trip.
Don't mistake me, we still had an amazing time, but I thought then and I think now that I would have enjoyed myself more if I had been completely present with nothing to distract me from the person I love and the landscape we traveled to see. I certainly don't regret the photos I came home with, but even looking at them now, I can't help but think how much better they'd be if I'd managed to get outside before the sun rose.
Yeah, my motto is that my camera stays in its case at home unless I am specifically going out to shoot. I've never found much fun in walking around randomly shooting and I discovered the moment you carry a camera everywhere everyone treats you as their pocket photographer while also being annoyed anytime YOU want to stop and spend a few moments shooting.
Totally hear you. I used to be like, 'Oh, what if I see something really good and don't have gear with me'
I got it down to taking something compact. Lately a Fujifilm X100F. Even then I was too busy trying to photograph the scene instead of enjoying it with the family. So, I started leaving that at home and just used my iPhone to catch family memories instead.
Nothing like being on holiday and feel like your working... and pissing everyone off when you take 3 times longer to do things..
Photography is my job why would I take a camera on holiday
Do you enjoy your job?
Nothing to do with enjoying your job. Zero. A vacation is to unwind and relax, you want to see things through your eyes, not a camera.
But not everyone likes to unwind and relax. Personally, I hate relaxation. I have so much fun when I am pursuing an objective; trying to accomplish something creatively that is not easy to accomplish. That is fulfilling. Relaxation bores me to tears.
Totally that! What was my hobby is now my job. So I don't take a camera to family events. It's my day off too. Has nothing to do with not enjoying your job, as Nick asks here. Has more to do with appreciating the time you don't have to work too. We all start of full of energy and carrying kit around everywhere. Now, I don't lack the passion at all, passion for family time wins sometimes.
If I had married a woman confined to a wheelchair, I wouldn't grouse about the limitations. My wife married a photographer. ;-)
Actually, we are very conscious of each other's feelings on the matter and more often than not, she'll say, "You should take a picture of this" but not before 9am! ;-)
Last family holiday I took an aps-c body and 30mm lens, to South Africa. I decided to shoot candid shots of my family more than the scenery. That worked well - no photography pressure and no regrets. Serious photography is too much of an anti-social pursuit to be trying to do it when accompanied by non-photographers.
Well all my vacations are to take pictures of wildlife so I can’t relate.
Hey, Kurt - I am exactly the same way!
The only reason I go anywhere is to photograph wildlife. I have no wife, and I have no children. Why? Because having a family would get in the way of my wildlife photography. A vacation without a camera would be a complete waste, because the only thing in all the world that brings me any fulfillment is photographing wildlife. I don't want to do anything else.
One of my best friends has been frustrated with me for years because I won't go on a road trip with him. But I tell him that if I am going to spend any time doing anything, then it is going to be wildlife photography. I have told him that he is welcome to accompany me on one of my wildlife trips, but that the sole objective of the trip will be me photographing wildlife and that I am not going to take time away from that to do anything else. He doesn't think he would enjoy such a trip, so we just haven't gone anywhere together ..... and probably never will. He is a good friend, and we do hang out when I am at home and there is nothing to shoot. But I can't - and won't - allow friendships or family stuff to interfere with the one thing that I love far more than anything else in this world.
I left all my 'work' cameras & lenses at home on my last family trip and simply shot quick documentary-style candids with my Leica Q. This proved to be an excellent strategy, both in terms of the experience (for me and the people around me) and resulting images.
I always take my camera on vacation and it's a key part of what makes my vacation enjoyable. Unlike what I do every day, it's just what I feel like shooting, when I feel like shooting it, if I feel like shooting it. Unfortunately the work takes forever to weed and process since as soon as I'm at home I have to deal with client commitments and the vacation shots fall to the bottom of the priority list.
I stopped taking my camera on vacations and I enjoy not having extra pounds on my neck. I also enjoy seeing things with my eyes and not through a viewfinder. My LG takes amazing photos. I enlarged one of those photos to more than 36" wide.
On vacations we walk on average of 15 km a day, not having a huge DSLR on me makes the vacation much more enjoyable.
Same.
I relate. I found myself leaving my phone in the motel when I went hiking in Sedona. I think that one of the concerns is whether we are alone or with others who are not photographers. Alone, the camera is important. With my lady, who is not at all into photography, I find that my camera gets a lot less attention.
The image you called your favourite shot is a thing of beauty.
I've often thought that I wouldn't want to earn my living from my photography, as it seems a very good way to suck the joy out of a thing that I love. However, it strikes me that if the issue is not wanting to carry a large amount of camera gear or a heavy camera, then why not carry something in the RX100, GRII, or A6000 class. Essentially, carry a good quality point and shoot, don't bother with a tripod, and just have fun with it.
Thank you!
I've considered investing in a little Sony or something, but even then I'm worried that just knowing I've got a camera is going to be like having a demented little man on my shoulder whispering, "you're going to miss that shot!" "Did you see the way light was hitting those trees! Don't walk on until you've captured it!" "Kids, what kids? Who cares about them anyway? There's a perfect shot right there!"
I take my camera on vacation. I love looking back on my stills after a period of time. All of my photos bring back memories I probably would have forgotten. The key is to find a balance between enjoying your time and taking photos. One night in Hawaii I left my camera back in the safe to walk on the beach with my family instead of trying to get that shot that everyone tries to get of the sunset and I don't regret it. I'm sure it all depends on the person. If you can't find that balance then leave the camera at home.
I would agree if you hadn't spent your time on the useless abandoned car and the door, they are both very poor images.
The last two are ok-ish for a professional landscape & travel photographer.
I suppose it's lucky for me I'm not a professional landscape and travel photographer ;)
Personally, I love both..
just take with a point and shoot camera, set all auto , so you can both enjoy traveling and bring back memories to home at same time...
my fuji x70 and ricoh gr fit in my pocket and i dont need to bring heavy ass camera and lenses to shoot street and travel
It is not easy when your spouse is not a photographer. I take my camera, but am very aware of that I can make life miserable for my wife. In the same breath, she wouldn't want me to leave my camera behind because she knows how much a part of my life photography has become.
I'd love to take a 'photography vacation', but that has two pitfalls; first, it won't happen together for the above reason and two, we can afford a vacation together, but to add another vacation in the mix would be a budget buster. Now, where did I put that lottery ticket? :-)
Many years ago I was on a road trip with my then girlfriend. After coming around a corner I saw a stunning sunset over the desert of Utah. I slammed the car to a stop and jumped out, camera in hand with a composition already in my head. Just as I was about to make the first exposure she sternly said to me "You know, you don't have to take photos of every single stinkin' sunset that you see. You could just, stand over here, hold my hand and watch it with me instead"
Oh. Right.
From that point on I started doing what Nicole is talking about: either be on vacation or be on assignment. Can't do both at the same time. A quality pocket camera or the phone is all that I will travel with. I take photos but only as mementos, not as work.
Capture the experience with your camera not the photo.
Taking pictures (and printing an album) has allowed us to share our vacation with friends in such a way that words could not describe while the images are a catalyst for conversation. The albums have allowed us the opportunity to go back years later and experience our vacation again.
In the albums, I watch to see where people linger, ask questions and where I myself linger. It is rarely the beautiful sunset or mountain vista, the bridge captured from the perfect angle that you would frame on a wall. It is the photos taken with people (not waiting till everyone get out of the way) the street with power poles, signs. The experience as it is (was).
My only recommendation is don't carry that big heavy DSLR, while a smartphone will not satisfy most of us, a mirrorless or 1" compact is plenty.
All that said one of my favorite photos is of the spouse giving me that "put the camera down now" look.
That picture of the rusty car is in Petrified Forest National Park,it's a memorial to route 66. So it's not really a "we pulled over because I had to get the shot" while driving from point A to point B, the national park was the point B so it's only fair to take pictures, it's a national park. Anyway, I don't think you need to leave your camera at home, I just think you need to learn how not to take so many shots, walk normally, and if an amazing composition happens to hit you, take it. If you still can't do it with a DSLR, then shoot film. You won't have a choice but to drastically reduce your number of images. Or give yourself rules, something like only taking pictures of your family for souvenirs. No "work" photo.
Nicole,
I understand what you are saying, and why it can be stressful and unenjoyable to take your camera on vacations.
However, while I can understand you, I cannot relate to you.
I cannot imagine going on a vacation without my photography gear. Why? Because the only trips I ever go on are photography trips. The only reason I have to go anywhere is to take photos. I have no interest in travel for any other reason. Hence, if the only reason I am on a trip is to take quality nature and wildlife photos, then why in the world would I leave my camera at home?
And if I am not going to take my camera somewhere, then why would I ever go there? My purpose in life is to take photos. Nothing else really matters. I have no family or spouse because these things would interfere with my photography ventures. I have no full time job for the same reason. Wildlife photography is the EVERYTHING in my life. So how could I possibly go somewhere without a camera? That just wouldn't make any sense.
Tom
Seems it's more of a personal issue of self control. I'm able to just enjoy things and not feel like I have to shoot "everything", so i'll always bring a camera. I'm not taking a big kit though.. one camera, a couple primes.. that's it. I realize not everyone feels that way, and even I was like the article a few years back...this part particularly hit close to home "My companion becomes the resentful partner who silently makes me feel guilty for taking up so much time with a camera stuck to my face." That's pretty much what happened to me, and made me re-think the way I shoot when i'm not by myself and these days I take that into consideration... unless i'm with another photographer and it's a "photo trip".
My Vacations are planned on extensive shoots only and rarely do I ever take a camera with me any where else. I use my phone for all family shooting.
True story: 4 years ago I was in Cabo for a bachelor party and posted a single 5 second drone clip from my Inspire 1. I was definitely on vacation. A marketing director from Bud Light stumbled across the clip on my IG feed. This led me to direct / produce 7 social media commercials for bud light within 6 months of that shot on vacation.