Limiting Photos

Definitely. I rarely take photos. My husband takes them so if I want an album, I use his.

Any of you thinking the same way?

No.

Any of you thinking the same way?

Yes.

I long ago reduced my photo taking by about 99% because 1) I was missing the experience and 2) nobody else is remotely interested in seeing my holiday snaps (even if they smile politely).

A once in a lifetime travel experience in Europe now a frequent, even annual, trip?

My aim going forward is fewer and better.

But I still love having photos to look at after the trip is over.

ScandiFan you need a husband to do it, then you can have it both ways.

I am a tourist when I am a tourist. Heck, I am nothing less than an extended tourist now. So heck yes I take photos. Not a lot and I try and reduce it to "the good ones". Who the heck in Hackensack, NJ would understand the incrediable moment when I realized that I had walked into Mostar in the middle of the RedBull Bridge Diving Competition .... you gotta have a video of those dang fools leaping off to be able to share the moment. Or the Vatican when JPII came out and spoke to us. Dang right I have the photo. Or the night trian in Kyiv in the blowing snow .....

Ok, how many people actually go back and look at those hundreds of photos they've taken? Who is going to want them once you're gone? Answers, 1, rarely, and as the years go by never. 2. No one!

I learned a long time ago just take a few pictures of family in the place visited just to document. Also, of anything unique, which becomes less and less over the years.

A bit off topic but still photo related, some of the picture taking has gotten out of hand for some. Seeing people, mostly young females posing inappropriately in places of worship or solemn places of remembrance, etc, is very annoying...... I must be getting old.

Now, get off my lawn! :)

Any of you thinking the same way?

Sometimes. A couple of years ago (I guess almost 5 years ago!) we were in Avignon during the Festival Avignon (music and musical theatre festival). One afternoon, I took a walk by myself--leaving my phone in our room with my family to be "in the moment". I happened upon this woman performing opera in the papal square. It was magical to experience and just "be present". Her voice was enchanting and the accoustics remarkable. Afterwards, I wished I had had my phone to remember how beautiful her voice sounded, resonating throughout the square.
After this event, I usually carry my phone with me just in case but often try to keep in my pocket so that I can live in the moment.

I still take a lot of snaps, and still use a conventional camera (Canon). Contrary to missing them, sometimes I feel that the lens can capture interesting details - especially in zoom - that would otherwise be missed. Same with some rare moments: remembering them isn't exactly the same as snapping them when they happen. My DH has a rotating slideshow from our Apple photos file on his ipad and enjoys seeing what pops up every day! :O)

I used to belong to a since-closed travel site that allowed us to post our own snaps along with recos and travelogs for things to do/see, and interesting background about them so I used them for that. You can still post your own on Fodor's forum, although I've not done it.

I like taking photos. I have an art background and worked as a graphic designer for a while, so photography is something I can continue to use to keep being creative. There is something wonderful about seeing a lovely scene I can save for the future. I have a lousy memory, and capturing something beautiful in a photo is one way of bringing back those moments.

I still have photos of my first trip to Europe back in 1996, and occasionally I'll go through them and remember that wonderful trip and how excited I was. Or my trip to Turkey in 2007, when I managed to snap a photo of three old women in their peasant outfits walking through a dusty small town in Cavusin (yes, I asked them first).

There is nothing wrong with taking a photo to preserve that moment, just like there is nothing wrong with not taking a photo. I know a plenty of people who don't particularly like to take photos, and quite honestly, some are not that good at it. If you don't want to, that's fine. And I will never suggest that you should do otherwise, but let me have my photos without guilt so that I can enjoy them for decades to come. 😊

And by the way, you don't have to save all those hundreds or thousands of photos. You can go through and remove the ones you don't like. And yes, I know that once I am gone, the photos will probably be gone to some digital cemetery. That's fine. I don't take photos for other people. I take them for myself.

Ok, how many people actually go back and look at those hundreds of photos they've taken?

This one reason I strongly recommend folks get a digital picture frame.

We have two - a large one with a permanent home in a place we see it frequently, and a smaller "travel" one we bring with us on our RV travels. We run them in 5sec random slideshow mode, and we get all sorts of joy from them.

Right now, posting from our RV, I can look at past travel photos and remember (or struggle to remember) where/when we took the photo. It is a great conversation piece for my wife and I.

This one reason I strongly recommend folks get a digital picture
frame.

Tom, we were doing the same our flatscreen TV: downloaded fave shots to a thumbdrive that plugged into the back of the thing. The cable company changed their equipment awhile back and we haven't figured out how to make it work with the new remote. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted, and turned a big black thing on the wall into a rotating piece of art.

Kate, I just bought a new TV a few months ago which uses Google for streaming, and I have the screen saver set to my Google Photos, so they pop up on my screen. You might check whatever system you use on your TV. I think Roku has the same thing.

Although I guess if you have cable, it might be different. You can always call the company and ask them.

Thanks, Mardee. Our photos aren't in google photos; they're in (Apple) Photos and shared across a couple of our devices. We might have sign up for Apple TV to make it happen. Just one more thing.... Technology gives me gas. :O(
(We have Xfinity)

Not in the slightest.

'To each their own.' For me, seeing and capturing the moment is the experience. To witness a beam of sunlight pouring into a dark, gloomy Romanesque church and wait patiently for the stooped, elderly nun to walk into the bright pool is the holy grail. I have always enjoyed looking at the world through a viewfinder. I suppose it pleases my senses to 'arrange' the 3-dimensional world on a 2d plane. I studied cinematography in college, still practice it professionally, and lately share whatever I know with young people. On another thread about what people enjoy photographing, I wrote shadows, shapes, and patterns. Travel lets me satisfy that urge, and I will keep hauling the 8lb kit around for as long as these aging bones allow!

alomaker, very beautiful. Thank you.

I think we are even more likely to take photographs now because it helps us recall our shared experiences. Many times we retrieve them even years later on my 17" laptop when trying to share a memories and provoke remembrances.

I do the collection of images from my camera, my phone, his phone, and other sources into daily files organized by days within each trip. It's a practice I've developed through my years in IT. I can zero in on anything immediately. It's easier maintaining backups that way.

I studied photography within my art education and BFA programs so I'm adept at keeping the most compositionally interesting and most representative images. These are concise succinct collections.

I discovered the photos were of great use and interest during the covid shutdown of travel. That's when my creative juices found an outlet creating some large scale reflections of our shared travels. We've got some really nice pieces adorning our walls and some include our favorite portraits of ourselves.

We find many people interested in our travel photography - some friends/relatives on FB but also at get-togethers nearly everyone wants to see our most recent trips. Of course our enthusiasm probably contributes to that but maybe the quality of work and depth of recall might be the key factor.

After all.... you are creating memories. Why not find some tools to help bring them back to life for you? Many times we find ourselves wishing we had taken a few more....

There's a price you pay for every photo or video you take, and that is- the moment itself. The act of preserving that moment takes your attention away from the moment itself. For example, I was in St. Marks Square in Venice, in the evening, and the musicians were playing at all the cafe's and instead of just standing there and absorbing it fully, I yanked out my iphone and made a video. I watched it later and wasn't worth it.

I'm getting older, and I think from now on I'd like to propel myself forward, and be in the moment, and not try so hard to preserve my experiences in anything but my own memory. It's difficult in this age of technology when your phone can do everything: it can plan your day, it can guide you to where you want to go, it can tell you everything about what you are seeing, and it can take pictures and videos. When Mark Twain went to Europe, he didn't have any of that. He just experienced it.

Mr. E, 🙏!!

I am not a great photographer by any means, but I do love taking photos, then putting the phone down and enjoying whatever it is we are doing. It doesn't have to be either or. I also love going back and looking at past photos on my phone or laptop and actually do this often. I do try to pare down the number of photos either during or after a trip just for space, but that doesn't always happen.

My photos are my memories. I delete and edit every night to keep only the best and I usually make a photo book of them after the trip. They really help me get through long Minnesota winters. I also put my cell phone away and celebrate the moment. I think I have the best of both worlds-the experience & memories.

how many people actually go back and look at those hundreds of photos
they've taken?

I do....often. We have 6-8 x 10 frames in our kitchen and another 6 in our living room and we update those frames with one or two new photos after every trip. For me the joy isn't just the experience while there, it's the memories after.

On another note I really enjoy when people on this Forum provide links to their photos.

There’s nothing wrong with taking a photo and enjoying the moment too. The two are not mutually exclusive. Take the photo, then enjoy the surroundings for however long you want (unless you’re on a tour and on a time schedule).

I love taking photos. It’s one of my main hobbies. But, I’m old school and use a camera rather then a phone and I don’t do selfies or posing or any of that.

I believe it is possible to take photos and partake in the experience as well.

Lots of people enjoy seeing the photos but even if they didn’t I enjoy them.

So, I guess we don’t think the same. That’s ok.

I do take an old point-and-shoot camera along so as to leave my phone secure, but end up taking only a few photos of things that are of particular interest to me. My wife takes the majority of photos. The end product is one of those Shutterfly albums, with the best of the photos, to share with any interested persons. And maybe one really good shot to use on a Christmas card. But I'll admit that i haven't gone back to look at photos of the last several trips.

I love to capture the beauty of nature and landscapes in a photograph. I then hang prints in my office (at my job). I don’t swap them out after every trip, it depends on the trip and the scenery. Looking at them while I’m working brings me peace and joy that’s for sure.

What alomaker, silas marner, Kate, Mardee, jaimeelsabio, et al, said.

Where is it written that one cannot take photos AND experience the moment? Taking photos helps me to experience and appreciate the moment to an even greater degree, PLUS I have the added benefit of having the photos to look at and appreciate later (and I DO look at them).

Taking photos helps me to notice details that I would probably miss otherwise. In fact, when we look through our photos later, my husband often remarks, "I didn't notice that!" He has now begun to take more photos of his own.

Perhaps consider that not everyone is like you, and not everyone's brains process input in the same way as does yours. Maybe it's because I'm neurodivergent, but framing photos helps me to hone in on elements of an experience that would get lost for me in the general, figurative "noise" otherwise. I don't feel I miss out on anything at all when I'm taking lots of photos. My experience is the opposite.

Ok, how many people actually go back and look at those hundreds of photos they've taken?

I do quite often. Lot's of photographs through the years of ironwork and construction details or of museum artifacts. Lot's of beautiful landscapes. Things I want to go back to and recall.

Who is going to want them once you're gone?

I don't care. I am not taking pictures for anyone else, they are purely for my enjoyment.

There's a price you pay for every photo or video you take, and that is- the moment itself. The act of preserving that moment takes your attention away from the moment itself.

Not a sentiment that I share.

Where is it written that one cannot take photos AND experience the moment?

+1 This

Any of you thinking the same way?

No. I am able to multitask. I can take pictures and enjoy the moment at the same time.
After a trip, I cull my photos for the best ones and put those on my digital photo frame. I see them everyday.
I delete any of the bad ones.
also, my digital photos include location metadata. So in my apple journal, when I upload selected photos to a daily log, I can see the location on the apps’ world wide map.
I love looking at the world wide map and zooming to a location and seeing the selected photos there. It brings back memories from that moment.

FYI, I do not stare at my phone as I walk along. And why is it your business if other people (mostly young people) do it? As long as they aren’t running into you. If you don’t like taking photos, don’t do it, but don’t judge the rest of us who can do two things at once.

I enjoy taking photos for the same reason many of the pps do. And agree that regarding experience, it isn't either/or. It can definitely be both. And I often go back to revisit old photos as a prompt to memories of the occasion (something that may be of greater necessity as I age YMMV). Will anyone after me want to see them? Maybe maybe not. That wasn't really the reason I took them. I do know that I cherish the photos I have of family members, going back to the early 1900s.

I noticed at the Masters golf tournament, they ban cell phones.

I believe that a couple of the reasons for this is to avoid phone noises that could disrupt the players' concentration, as well as to restrict access to photos and videos of the action for copyright purposes.

There’s no right or wrong way. Each person individually determines where that sweet spot lies between taking lots of photos & not. Traveling solo independently is a huge benefit because I can take the morning photos with no people in them, or I often wait 5 minutes at a spot during the day to frame the photo perfectly without or intentionally with people in it. During tours that hasn’t been possible. I also review my photos while waiting for dinner to arrive (if solo) & delete any inferior ones. Otherwise, I do it before going to sleep.

I do stop taking photos when I feel I’ve captured the essence of a city. Since I often am at a place 1-2 nights, I’m typically stopping by noon the second day.

As a widow, please take photos of your spouse! - not the wooden posed ones but enjoying those special moments during a trip. I have a small “photo a day” on my end table from Social Print Studio that’s designed to be reused each year, and many of the photos are of him or us from our trips. Lots of happy smiles remembering our day together someplace special again!

My friends continue to comment in person a lot (one again last Sunday!) about how my travel photos are beautiful & give them the chance to “travel with me” when I post 4-5 from each city I visit. And during 2020, I picked some for enlarged canvas prints on an office wall. They make me smile when I glance at them.

I started sketching a few years ago. It’s amazing how much more you notice when pausing to capture something of interest for 5-10 minutes!

I'm with Laurie Beth and others - take some pics but mostly have the phone in my pocket; review and edit each night, saving just the best; make a photo book. I have a prized shelf of Shutterfly books that I enjoy reviewing, and will enjoy even more when I'm not able to travel. Also agree to include pics of myself as well as my husband and others. I suspect the scenery matters less and the faces matter more, the older I get.

I really, really want to reduce the number of photos I take. Our last couple of trips with only the phone, I’ve taken too many mindless snapshots rather than the interesting scenes with the angles, lines and shadows that take the photo out of the ordinary. It gets too hard to sift through 1,000 or more mediocre snaps. Our walls our covered with my travel photos but many of them were taken with something more than my phone. For our fall September Switzerland trip I’m taking along my small LUMIX and will focus on, well, focusing and being more intentional with what I shoot. Anything to spend a lot less time staring at the damn little screen, which I do far too much of every day.

When I post travel pictures on Facebook I get 30-40 likes as well as comments about how they appreciate my sharing them. I am a far cry from a pro, and only using my phone, but some folks do enjoy them. And those who aren't interested can scroll on by.

Back when I used to travel in the 17th century, I'd have to pay a pretty penny to a guy like Rembrandt to get a decent picture. Nowadays, my iPhone with the help of a little AI and whoa, my very own Nightwatch!

Still, I kinda miss standing or sitting still for hours while the old boy painted me.

I understand how so many folks love taking photos. Personally I'm in the camp of those who wish that maybe there was a little less of it. But to each their own!

Happy travels.

I take a lot of pictures , using a mirrorless Canon DSLR . At home , I load them into my computer which is connected to a large Samsung TV. Watching them on a regular basis brings back memories of fifteen years of travel , and a huge collection of art from the multitude of museums I've visited . I never tire of this

The question is not either or, in most cases you can have both.

The majority of people do not know what a photo is. They do snapshots and call it a photo - OK for them. But doing a real photo is art and sometimes hard work, also with digital cameras. And the good message for the masses is that doing a snapshot and enjoying the moment is possible. Memorizing it is a different topic for human beings.

In Scandinavia forums I often recommend to carry a good travel zoom camera with a high optical focus (30x) because otherwise you will be disappointed by some of the snapshots.

I’m not artistic and my photos are usual pretty bad. I only take a few. I try a get a couple of decent ones of the kids standing next to something iconic to send to grandparents but beyond that I try not to think about it too much.

Its a good topic for coversation and introspection, but lets not let if veer off track from what one would personally do to what others are doing with negative connotation attached.

Go ahead, take all the photos you want. If it’s your heart’s desire to have things to look back on and enjoy, do it. I will presume that you do it with consideration of those around you and that those around you would show you some courtesy to let you pursue what makes your trip better. By definition, all “snapshots” are “photos”, but not all photos are snapshots. Some of the most famous and impactful photos in history were snapshots. Both serve a purpose or a need of the ones creating them and as such are above ridicule.

Edited:
Mr. E: no difference between a photo and snapshot for me, or not worth a quibble, anyway. Tomato, tomahto, yes?

Any of you thinking the same way?

Despite being a serious amateur shutterbug for close to 60 years I seriously considered giving it up whilst traveling. I can't get on with a mobile phone for serious photography...hard to see in sunlight, need readers to see clearly, lacks the manual controls with which my creative process is inexorably ingrained. I shot film so many years that I approach digital with the same discretion, thus avoiding the glut of images many people struggle with due to the "free" aspect of digital.

But although my kit of one body and four lenses weighs only about 3 kg and fits in a purse-sized bag it's still substantial. And basically nobody apart from ourselves are interested in seeing the images.

What swayed me was someone dealing with a spouse with age-related memory issues, who's found those old travel photos a godsend. So far we're both sharp as proverbial tacks, but who knows what the future may bring. So I'll keep snapping.

I often recommend to carry a good travel zoom camera with a high optical focus (30x) because otherwise you will be disappointed by some of the snapshots.

Cartier-Bresson didn't have a 30x zoom lens and he took some pretty good snapshots.