Stop taking photos

[Woody]

Are you one who can't see the forest for the lens?


Travel photography | Look beyond the lens

Maybe I'll stop taking photos, not.


Cheers,

John W

[JFSanders]

His second sentence gives him away.

I have always been bad at taking them.

Read more: Travel photography | Look beyond the lens

Then he goes on to say that he "thinks" that those who choose to make photographs miss out on the things he remembers. The trouble with his thinking is that he will one day lose those memories and have no recollection at all of the dew and the lionesses passing him in the predawn light. Although he would have if he had been able to make a decent photograph... Silliness to be sure.

Jim

[mad editor]

Ha! What a stupid column. I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was thinking when I shot my favorite travel photos. And I often find things that no one else even notices - with or without cameras.

[Izzy]

Rubbish. He should travel with me into Detroit later this summer. He would get great photos provided he can manage them which it appears he can not and have to be VERY aware of his surroundings.

[faeriegodess612]

Agree with the statements above. Also, these "photographers" that he's most likely mainly targeting are the tourists with P&S camera's. ( I'm not discounting P&S's, just they they're easier to pack, and not everyone is going to have an SLR.) That, and sometimes, you can shop out the people, and most tourists arent going to know how to do that. If it's impossible to get the shot you want without special before or after hours access, then don't take it. It's probably been shot from that point of view umpteen gillion times anyways. Or put camera on tripod, set settings really low, and take a long exposure so that people are blurred. Just not too long. If you want to see Africa without all the tourists on a bus,..then dont take the damn bus! Hire a private guide.

But eh,...*shrug*

[RichardTaylor]

The author of that article has no idea.
Maybe if he took a few more travel pics he could "illustrate" the article with his own pics instead of relying on other peoples pics

The other thing is when you are PPing your travel images, or editing a movie, it reinforces the experience.

@faeriegodess612
As far as pics go of places that have been shot before, do not forget it is your pic and personal viewpoint - not something out of a travel brochure.

Personally for me people in a scene can sometimes really make an image, besides adding scale.

[NgaiHill]

What a tosser! Because, by his own admission, he can't take decent photographs himself, he belittles others who can, or who choose to take pictures. He makes the statement "I think photography stops you looking properly and interrupts the emotional experience of seeing new and exciting things." How many people have I seen here say that they find that they look at the world differently and notice things more since they took up photography? I know I certainly do!
When I go away with my kids I always take my camera, in fact we all have one each now. I take twice as many snapshots as 'photos' and especially of the things we do together. Those photographs mean that later on down the track we can share the experience together - "Hey remember when that happened?" instead of me just remembering it, alone, in my head.

[andyw]

He is both totally correct and totally wrong at the same time.

He is absolutely correct about the tourist snapshot brigade, those who take a snap ever 20 seconds and continually have the camera to their eye from the moment they get off the coach to the time they are herded "back on the bus".
Those people don't even know what country they are in let alone actually properly see anything when they are there.

I see them everywhere I go, they go on about the amount of pictures they took rather than the place itself and you can guarantee they will not have a single decent shot.

A good photographer however will have spent time looking at the scene, seeing how the light is falling for the best shot, looking for the best/most interesting angle etc etc. Thus they are/should be seeing more of a scene than the snapshooters.
The pictures they take should be able to bring back a memory of everything about the scene and circumstances rather than just a record of being there.

[sk66]

Well, I will say that trying to be a "serious photographer" while traveling can certainly interfere with the experience. And it's even more true for that "someone else" who may be traveling with you.

If you are always looking critically for "the picture" it can prevent you from "just being there"....But, then again, I'll often see the "details" most others will miss.

[mosgood]

I've travelled both with & without a camera on trips. I feel that by having a camera along, one has a record of what was experienced or a moment in time. Afterall, that's why cameras were invented in the first place as a tool to make a record. Unfortunately, memories of my trip to Europe have faded greatly due to the passage of physical time. Because I didn't have a camera along, I missed opportunities to shoot not only icons in the cities I visited but also to record the beautiful countryside in many of the countries. That's exactly why I travel with a camera now. I don't think I miss anything by viewing scenery through the view finder. Before I put my eye to the camera, I'm scanning the area first anyway. Now where ever I go, I see lots of young people travelling around with their eyes solely focused on their smart phones with ear buds firmly in place. Now there's a way to miss out on life! What kind of memories are they going to have? Facebook, some game, twitter?

It sounds more like the author of this column is experiencing sour grapes just because he has never taken a decent photograph, & chooses to only carry a camera phone at that. Not that there's anything wrong with his choice...but he sounds jealous of other photographers. I guess he doesn't like our hobby or choice of career. I'm not sure what he hopes to accomplish by telling photographers to put down their cameras. Personally, I think anyone who carries a camera experiences life more fully since we are all checking out our surroundings at all times.