Comments on: On Recording vs. Experiencing

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:54:22 +0000

You make a good point of feeling seperate,. we recently returned form Amsterdam and after looking through our many hundreds of photos (Just like yourself, we took hundreds, even though many turned out alot different to how we expected.) Realized that i some how felt seperated from the place i was at when i took it. Almost like i was trying to get the place i was to pose for the camera, (Sounds crazy i know).

One way to avoid this feeling, is to only spend one full day taking photos, prefferably your last day. I suppose if you manage to do that. Then you will have already experienced the place your snapping with the camera, and be able to enjoy botht the moment of taking the photo. And the moment of been there.

Hope you have a great time on your holiday to France.

By: Coop

Coop — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:03:20 +0000

I had this internal debate a few years ago and essentially gave up on taking pictures. It was too easy to hide out behind the lens and miss out on all the action/fun.

Nowadays, I take the occasional picture, but mostly I'm in front of lens playing with the kids. I am grateful that my wife still keeps snapping away, and I try to make sure she gets in her fair share of photos too.

By: graydon

graydon — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:45:41 +0000

I think you're right. I tend to take only a few photos of the areas I pass through, sort of mementos to remind me what it was like, in broad brush strokes. Sometimes a couple extra shots if I see something funny. Then I try to put the camera away and enjoy what I'm doing.

By: Jauder Ho

Jauder Ho — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:33:34 +0000

Oops. Hit post a bit too early.

I think it's possible to do both. But it involves some compromises, on my trips, I try to schedule in sights that I want to photograph and somehow am still able to have some great experiences.

I rented a van in New Zealand and drove from Wellington and Auckland. Probably some of the most enjoyable 4 days I have ever had. Met some great people and got some great pictures.

Looking forward to seeing your France pictures =)

By: Jauder Ho

Jauder Ho — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:30:02 +0000

Dria,

I think it's possible to do

By: Feabionsu

Feabionsu — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:29:01 +0000

Excellent article. I find photographs sometimes very dry after the trip itself as well. It's like you're trying to capture the “moment” or “picture” just so you can sell the photo later or something like that. Rather than just breathing in the fresh air and looking around with your own eyes, which will /never/ compare with film and photos, we tend to take our camera everywhere and try to record every minute of our lives. Or maybe not – maybe just the minutes that seem the most important to us back then, like standing in front of a famous statue – which really, aren't all that interesting when you look at them again.