The fewer images you take…..

The result being a focus on being in the moment while on the journey, in lieu of managing equipment to capture the journey.

I completely agree with you. I notice a clear difference between vacations with camera and vacations without. That's why I don't always take my camera equipment with me on vacation :-)

While taking the Belfast Black Cab tour a few years ago, the driver said to me, "You don't take many photos." I told him I wanted to experience it then, not later on trying to remember it while looking at a photo.

I only take photos of things I know I'll want to see later or something truly remarkable.

So true! I have never been into a lot of equipment but sorting through album after album of vacation pics a few years ago as I worked to digitize them, I realized the scenic photos held little value for me unless people I cared about were also in the frame. Sure, I take some scenic photos now but I focus on people I want to remember in that place and time.

Agree!
I take very few photos these days.
Enjoying the suroundings is more important to me.

Completely disagree.

Composing photos both enhances the experience at the time since you are interacting in the space not just glancing at it, then refreshes the experience in a flood of memories over the years each time the images are reviewed.

Without a camera I don’t think I would even bother to travel. Or I would have to find another way to interact with the space, like sketching or journaling right there to make the trip worthwhile. Else the experience slips away.

The best experience is living in the moment and you don't do that taking pictures for later. Taken just a few earlier this month during my travel in the UK and for me it's okay.

The result being a focus on being in the moment while on the journey,
in lieu of managing equipment to capture the journey.

100%. I was having this exact same discussion with someone recently. We were talking about BEING in the moment rather than RECORDING the moment.

Not to say I don't take photos but I take a few shots of something that is especially meaningful to me - or a very beautiful scene that I must capture on film - and then move on and ENJOY it. These are usually rustic scenes or an architectural detail or a small vignette that evokes the feeling of the place I'm visiting. (At least one of these photos was later painted by an artist friend who was so enthralled she wanted to commit it to canvas!). Like you, I am highly selective and what I choose to photograph isn't always the most obvious thing.

(For example, I don't need to take a dozen photos of the Eiffel Tower or the Mona Lisa. There are zillions of photos of these online, there is nothing I can add to that. And let's be honest, who really cares? "Look, here is my photo of the Eiffel Tower!" and everyone is thinking "Yeah, cool, I've never seen THAT before.")

Back in 1980, my husband and I spent several months in Paris right after we were married (he was on study abroad and I came along.) I don't even remember exactly why, but we didn't take a lot photos. Cost of film? Discomfort of lugging around a big camera? Too busy just have fun? Maybe all of the above? And then some of our rolls of exposed film were ruined during our trip home - possibly in the x-ray scanners at the airport or from heat/exposure, I'm not sure. Anyway, we have almost no photos of that time, and I am disappointed about that - however we lived in the moment while we were there and we still have our memories.

Great topic! My only camera equipment is my iPhone. I sometimes struggle with taking too many photos, but I’m getting better at being more selective of what I take. I do enjoy looking at my photos later. They help bring back certain memories of my trips. I go to a lot of art museums and take photos of paintings, etc. of things that are meaningful to me or things that elicit an unexpected emotional response. With paintings I can zoom in later and study them more closely.
I rarely take selfies and always strive to not be in anyone else’s way when photographing. I agree it’s a good idea to be in the moment more.

Each day when traveling, I try to have a delete session each night, so I have a manageable collection when I return home. I love making photo books.
And-
I do forget experiences, so it's a treat going through a 10 year old photo book and re-visiting an adventure I'd completely forgotten about.

I’m with Toby. I love taking photos (I just use my phone.) I frequently tell myself I should be more selective, but I can’t help myself; I take a lot. I make a photo book when I get back home, which is a wonderful way to be creative and helps me relive the trip. I love looking at my photo books. To each his own.

To each there own,but I value photos. Mine or my loved ones. By all means live in the moment. But that needn't preclude taking a photo or 2, or 3. Looking through photo albums both old and new, some dating back to the early 1920s, was a wonderful way of connecting with my mother as she struggled with dementia. Being able to relive stories connected with those photos was priceless. I derive pleasure just for myself when looking at photos, whether taken decades ago or more recently, that may trigger a memory that may otherwise have slipped away. But as in all things, YMMV.

Disagree with the premise. One can take photographs without being distracted (perhaps in many situation MORE focused), and then 30 years later (ask me how I know) when many of those memories have faded, it is great fun to look back. I am NOT discussing the milliion and one selfies (look, I was here) that are so prevalant today. Just returned from Paris and such, really amusing to compare photographs taken last month to photos taken 25 years ago. Puts the "overtourism" concept in clear view.

Part of taking photographs is also using the right (and most simple) tool. I still (ancient I know) carry a DSLR that I can swing up with one hand and take a photo in no time. So many are fumbling with a cell phone (or worse a tablet), and then taking 10 poses of the same shot.

Good topic. I like to take a few quick iPhone photos, then store it and be where I am. Most nights on a trip I review my pics and delete all but the best version of each situation, and when we get home my husband and I review/share each other's pics so we each have all the good stuff. And then I make a Shutterfly book so we don't have to scroll-scroll-scroll to relive the memories. All about not letting your tech rule your life or irritate those around you. But each of us does this differently, and that's ok.

Absolutely and completely disagree with the premise. For one... pictures, or it didn't happen.
My photo is a spark of a reminder of where I was and what I was doing. The beautiful sunrise on the North Sea approaching the Netherlands by ferry or the selfies as I laid busted and broken in a hospital bed.

I love photographing iron artifacts - as detailed as I can get - and then going home and using those as my references to make a reproduction -- first visit to the V&A I took photos of an 18th century toaster, came back and made a copy.

Back in 2023 trying to travel for the first time after my accident, and I found my way to the Wallace Collections. That was an absolutely wonderful day of taking text requests from co-workers to get detailed photos of various artifacts and then gimping my way up and down the galleries fulfilling their requests and texting the photos home.

The result being a focus on being in the moment while on the journey, in lieu of managing equipment to capture the journey.

Why can't I do both? why does one negate the other?

I’m a fairly photo-light traveler. I’m often caught up in the moment and forget to pull out my iPhone (sorry Swiss Alps, I was busy admiring you and forgot to take your picture!).

One place that I consistently take photos is in art museums. Patiently awaiting my turn at an unobstructed shot, I have become hyper-aware of other tourists’ shooting style. I admire the careful framers, cringe at the oblivious “flashers”, and I get what’s going on with the selfie that obscures half the painting. But, I’m always most curious about the visitor with the large tablet who quickly moves from painting to painting, not looking up from the screen, clicking every piece as they go.

This got me thinking about my own style. Even though I’m not rapidly shooting everything in sight, was I really seeing what I was shooting? As a test, I came up with a personal photo rule for art museums - before I take a photo of a piece of art I need to spend at least 15 seconds looking at said art. One Mississippi, two Mississippi…If I walk away before the 15 seconds is up - no photo. 15 seconds is a long time. Two benefits to my new rule 1. I really look at the things I’m interested in (often way more than 15 seconds) and 2. My photo storage isn’t full of stuff I didn’t care about in the first place. Oh, and if I shoot the art, I must shoot the description label as well. Those are the rules.

Why can't I do both? why does one negate the other?

I don't think the OP said they don't take photos, just that they don't lug around the camera equipment and only use the iPhone. (I think most of us do that anyway.)

And of course we all take photos, but then there are some people who snap a few pictures and some people who hide behind their phone photographing every single thing they see until you wonder if they are really SEEING it or being in the moment.

I think the goal it to do both - experience the moment AND preserve the moment.

I can’t imagine taking a trip and not taking photos. I enjoy both the moment, but I also look for ways to capture it, looking up, down and behind me for the best shots. I tell myself to limit the amount I take, but am thankful I don’t listen because I like having an array to choose from when I make my photo books. My husband and I enjoy looking thru all the photo books I have made of various trips. Lots of times something makes us think about a moment or place on one of our trips, and we can quickly flip thru a photo book to look something up. We personally do not like selfies and never take them. That isn’t to say we don’t have a picture or two of us together that someone has offered to take (don’t warn me about someone taking our iPhone and running away with it). I don’t want pictures of one of us in every photo. I want the scene I am capturing without the “look where I was at”. I do not rely on having my memories in my head because sometimes I forget what I did yesterday. :-)

For me, there is middle ground on this. Take a few photos with my phone, hope for the best, and then put it in my pocket so I can enjoy the moment.

I love looking back at my photos. I do make albums on Mixbook and love going through those.

I take heaps of photos and I very strongly believe this helps me be in the moment. I study the subjects I am photographing, I look at various angles, the light, small details, the background etc.
That very much has me in the moment living the experience. I am not just taking photos, I do put the phone camera down and just enjoy the moment too. But my photography eye often then picks up something else and focuses my attention.

I am enjoying reading the different perspectives travelers utilize to sate their shutterbug needs. There are no right/wrong answers. Now for a tip I utilize to engage folks in dialogue while also capturing some of my most rewarding images. Camera phone technology offers a simple ubiquitous method to capture good images, so I will hand my phone to folks asking them to frame an image of me. Depending on their reaction I ask them to take a photo with me and have often been rewarded with engaging dialogue with them on a variety of subjects. From this engagement a memory is created, a little bit learned and perhaps a worthy image captured.

Photographs, wonderful memories & recreating food I learned during cooking classes are the three souvenirs of my European trips. I don’t feel like there’s a correlation between the number of photos I take vs. the amount of memories I’m making. Yes, take lots of photos, but also put it away and see what’s in front of you

Separate from photography, I do this to remember one (sometimes two) extra special moments during each trip:
Make a mental snapshot memory. Stop & pause. Look around at a special spot. Smell the air, touch something, listen & look. Then shut your eyes. A remembrance to treasure in your heart & always remember…by just shutting your eyes again at home.

Also I’ve noticed that anytime I sketch part of a scene for 15-30 minutes, it’s a much more vivid memory than just taking a few photos.

As a widow, my heartfelt advice is to be sure to take plenty of vacation photos together & videos where your spouse is talking. They are precious treasures now!

What struck me while reading through this is that 'photography' is defined differently. For me personally, and this isn't a judgment, just an observation, photography means taking my large camera, different lenses, and a tripod. Photos I take with my smartphone are snapshots that I send to family during vacation and don't keep. The photos I take with the large camera, on the other hand, are edited (I shoot in RAW format) and then uploaded to flickr.

And what was said about looking closely when taking photos applies to me too. I look much more closely to see details. I'm much more focused on my surroundings. And that's exactly why I sometimes don't even take the large camera with me. I just want to go with the flow and not want to be too focused on very detail. I just want to soak up the atmosphere without focus.

Ditto what Mignon said!

Just try not to get trapped when someone wants to show you 1,000 vacation pictures. Feign a medical emergency or something.

Anyone old enough to remember the carousel slide projector? I recall years ago going to dinner at some other family's place and getting trapped looking at their endless pics. That evening still haunts me, but what resonates with me to this day was how great my mom and dad were as actors. They convinced me they really enjoyed the slide show. Until the ride home and the truth came out.

We evolve. You know what you like and unexpectedly some will like what you take too.

For Mike/Greg

https://vimeo.com/123823735

I'm a bit of a photo geek. But the phone is so darn good now it just doesn't really make sense to drag along a bunch of other camera equipment, for me anyway.

I do think I agree that going crazy with photos all the time is not productive and you kind of in some ways aren't seeing your trip. In Europe I tend to try to take character pictures, not sort of iconic postcard types of shots.

In Japan last winter though I pulled a reverse stereotype and constantly took pictures of everything like a manic crazy person. I don't regret that at all, the entire country just screams take my picture.

Also Mignon has graced us here and there with some of their photos. Typical German modesty I'm sure, but there is definitely an elevated skill set at work there.

Anyone old enough to remember the carousel slide projector?

Yes yes yes …..

I sometimes avoided visiting people who invited me to such a slide show. Horrible. The worst part was, and from then on, I stopped going when I had to stare at my aunt's photos from the nudist beach. I definitely had a trauma from it. Sometimes I also had the feeling that people were showing their vacations slides (and later videos) just because they want you to go home.

Typical German modesty I'm sure

Thank you very much, Hank, for your kind words. You may well be right.

Mignon, I never considered that possibility. Yes, let's show our dinner guests our vacation slide show to get them the heck out of here.

On another note, I first visited Germany and a nude beach when I was a typical, 20-year-old red blooded male. My fantasy expectations versus reality was striking. What was I expecting? Probably the Swedish bikini team.

Thanks to those who agree that taking photos can enhance the moment for those of us who appreciate artistry and design and composition. Don't get me wrong—I'm not saying that others don't appreciate this. However, for me, it's a whole process of travel, where I see something exciting or beautiful or unique and then capture that image. And like Pat, I cull the photos at the end of the day and get rid of the ones that are second-rate.

I don't indiscriminately take photos when traveling, and when I take a photo, I stop to frame the photo, make sure it's is as lovely as I can make it, and then click. I go back to look at those photos years later and will sometimes just sit and remember what happened and how it looked.

TBH, that's why I blog, too. Someone once said that blogging is done for the benefit of the reader, and that could be true for some of them. But in my case, I want to remember the trip. Looking back at what I wrote and the photos I took brings it all back to me. I have a crappy memory so tools like this really help me to remember.

I find that making photographs keeps me MORE in the moment.

I immerse myself in the subject and the surroundings and try to capture the essence of "THIS" whatever "THIS" is. Usually, I've learned something new about the place or the object, either before I went to it or while I was there.

It's not just an "I-was-there" snap.

One frame is one moment in time, and the way I approach this I can feel that moment and "see" where I was and relive what I was feeling when I go back and look at them.

A lot of times, my entire agenda for the day I made the photo comes back to me and I go down a rabbit hole "visiting" other photos I made that day or on this trip.
I'm traveling again without leaving my desk.
My photos have inspired people I know to leave their desk, go somewhere I've been and experience it for themself.

It's a pretty good feeling knowing my photographic point of view changed somebody.

For the last week or so, I’ve been revisiting a wonderful picture book from National Geographic. It has hundreds of exquisite photos (the front cover has the famous photo of the young girl from Afghanistan, and the back cover has a picture of her many years later…still has those striking eyes). Those exceptional photographers lugged around a lot of equipment and waited…and waited, sometimes for days or weeks to get the perfect shot.

Early in my travelling days, I stopped bring a camera because what I saw was a 360 degree vista, and was disappointed every time I spent hard earned money on film and developing, and ended up with a print that was nothing like the view finder in my brain. Now that I have a smart phone, I take some pics, maybe a dozen per trip. After I get home, I whittle it down to about 4. I don't do scrapbooks, and usually never look at the pictures again, but I can certainly bring up the memories of the places.

We had some European slides from my in-laws, taken in the 50s when my FIL was in the Canadian Air Force. When we had friends over, and wanted to go to bed, my husband would say “Martha (not my name). bring out the European slides for our friends to see.”. That was code for “we’re tired, and want to go to bed. Don’t let the door hit you in the… on the way out. Everybody had a laugh, no one opted for the slides, and we headed to bed.

It's really about balance, take photos AND take in the sights too. Don't think you have to impress the folks at home, it's not the '50s anymore most people are pretty well traveled (and there's this thing called the internet).

I've become MORE of a picture taker nowadays because of digital, I shoot first and really edit later. Just whittle the album down to the good shots and photoshop/crop them to look their best.

Same here, phred. I've always been a shoot first, ask questions later sort of guy. Also, better to seek forgiveness than permission. It's worked OK so far.

For us, it wasn't slides, it was Super 8 movies. I have a box full of reels from my first birthday in 1971 through to the summer of 1979 when we drove cross country from Virginia to Washington in a VW camper. I would love to be able to view them now.

Interesting discussion here. Full disclosure: I am in the picture-taking camp.

I am hearing two themes: (1) Does taking pictures detract from the experience of travel? and (2) is a phone camera sufficient for travel?

As to the first question of whether taking pictures prevents one from being in the moment, I think that the answer depends on the person. Some people make sense of a place verbally, maybe by writing entries in a journal, and others make sense of a place visually by taking pictures or sketching. If someone carries a notebook and jots down notes about their reaction to a place, I wouldn't consider them to be less "in the moment." Likewise, I don't consider taking a photograph to be less in the moment --- as long as one is concentrating more on observation than on gear (and that's a big caveat).

The second question is whether a dedicated camera makes sense in the world of phone cameras. The answer, I think, depends on two factors: the shooting envelope and shot discipline. The shooting envelope is basically how well a camera can handle challenging situations like low light, motion, dynamic range, lens reach, and environmental challenges like rain and dust. For example, I wouldn't want to shoot a horse race with an iPhone. The shooting envelope of the phone camera has expanded dramatically in recent years, and is probably sufficient for most travel needs. Shot discipline is the amount of care that goes into making a photograph. If you are shooting, say, medium format film you are probably going to set up each press of the shutter with care and consideration, and then you will most likely process each image carefully. With a phone camera, it's really easy, maybe too easy, just to push a button and get a decent photo. However, there is nothing to preclude using the same discipline with a phone camera that one would use with a dedicated camera; it's just that most people don't make the effort. If the phone camera has a sufficient envelope for your needs and you are disciplined enough to treat it like a dedicated camera, then, yes, a phone camera can work perfectly well for travel.

My next big trip is coming up in October, and I am debating whether to take a dedicated camera. I most like will take the dedicated, more because it's my security blanket than because I truly need it.

And, by the way, my general dumping ground for miscellaneous images, including travel pictures, is here: https://mariematthews.smugmug.com. Some are taken with my phone and others with a dedicated camera; some are typical tourist shots, others not.

Probably the Swedish bikini team

:-) Yes, the idea of ​​it is good, but the reality is often different. I don't have anything against it, but you see so many things that you never wanted in your life... not good things.

Beautiful Marie!

I take way too many photos and have not disciplined myself to culling and curating. My husband and I often have fun competing on a particular shot (e.g., Kew Gardens) Photos really help my memory. It is a delight to go down the rabbit hole once we pull up a photo and then view the surrounding ones of a trip.

Our kids gave us a digital photo frame on Mother's Day with many (hundreds?) of rotating photos of the family members (including the grand dogs and cats. I was pleased to see that our daughter uploaded photos of me, and also of both my husband and I, from the UK trips we recently shared. I often feel I'm the one always capturing everyone else so it was nice to know I was indeed there! (I have started taking a few selfies). It's been fun to discover new ones as the kids continue to upload.

I may get another frame so we can be reminded of our trips this way.

I take way too many photos and have not disciplined myself to culling
and curating.

I think this is a core issue in the matter at hand. I have a friend with whom I always trade off trip slideshows. I'm not super indiscriminate snapping pictures, but do take a lot. And then I find a little bit of time nearly everyday to look at them, cull out the majority, and do a bit of cropping and editing of the keepers.

My friend conversely takes a whole lot of photos, culls none of them, and edits none of them.

One slideshow is interesting, the other is tedious.

I suppose if you are not interested in showing your photos to other then snapping off a thousand uncomposed frames a day is fine. But to me that feels like a sort of detachment, wherein I am neither focusing on the place I am in by really concentrating on composing a passable photo, and I am also detached from the actual experience in front of me because I'm looking at my phone.

But that could work for other people of course

In the olden days I would take 10 rolls (36 exposure) of Kodachrome for a 10 day trip. Self regulating that was for sure. Now with a DSLR and 3 batteries there is no effective limit, and I tend to take 1500 or so in the same time frame. Some are carefully composed photos, others are just snappies. When I get home I download and delete the obvious mistakes (pictures of feet, etc), then cull the duplicates and just plain bad pictures (exposure, focus, what not) then I keep everything else - storage is cheap.

However if I am going to bore someone with my vacation photos (can't help myself sometimes) i do curate (a now popular word that) what I think are the really good, interesting images - a MUCH smaller number. This conversation is for sure a "whatever makes you happy" topic. My Covid project was scanning @ 20,000 slides taken over 40 years to digital. Truth is I did not delete many, some of the most precious were "bad" photos.