Pictures, To Take or Not to Take?
April 15, 2008 – 5:34 pmWhen you’re traveling, you want to capture every memorable moment. Some prefer to do that with their eyes; some prefer to do that with the eyes of their cameras.
I’ve been a long-time advocate of taking it all in with my eyes instead of taking some of it in with my camera. That is what my economics teacher back in high school senior year, one of the first people I met who had traveled extensively, told us when we asked him about travel tips.
This is also the now-conventional wisdom among younger circles of travel enthusiasts. Don’t be in such a rush. Instead of taking a whirlwind tour through half a dozen European countries within a week, just try to be there, wherever you are. But lately, after clicking through some of my old travel photos, I realized the camera really did capture a few details I had either forgotten or never noticed in the first place.
It’s all about balance. After my first few trips abroad, I got pretty sick of taking pictures. Not because I had taken too many pictures (I don’t think I ever did that). I just got lazy. And my excuse was that I wanted to soak everything in with my own eyes.
The pictures never live up to the images in my head anyway. But pictures aren’t meant to replace those images in our heads. They’re meant to trigger memories that may not be in the topmost layer of our conscious thoughts.
More importantly, life is supposed to be shared. And since I think travel is an integral part of life, your travels should be shared as well. And one way to do that is through pictures you take yourself (in addition to videos, blogs, e-mails, and other fun stuff the Internet has given us).
But how much of your surroundings are you missing when you’re trying to take that perfect shot? Trust me, I’ve tried holding my camera in one direction and just snapping away as my eyes were concentrating on everything but the display screen of the machine in my hand. Those pictures don’t come out looking very good.
If you’re going to take pictures at all, make sure they’re good ones. To make sure they’re good ones, you have to focus your entire attention on each and every shot. In that process, you can miss out on a lot.
If you’re on an organized tour, the tour guide might’ve told a worthwhile story about the location. If you’re not on an organized tour, you might’ve missed something one of the locals across the streets did that you’d be dying to tell the people back home.
Honestly, I wish I had taken more pictures during my travels in Europe (I think I’ve got enough from my trips in Asia). Luckily, for the purpose of this blog, I’ve got the permission of my friends to use their photos. 
Speaking of friends, you may be fortunate or unfortunate enough to have travel buddies who just must have a picture of themselves with every single monument you come across. And guess who’s going to have to take those pictures for them? But being a picture whore is a whole other discussion.
Ultimately, to take or not to take is a question you will have to answer for yourself. And different times will most likely bring different answers.
3 Responses to “Pictures, To Take or Not to Take?”
To capture the fleeting moment.
That’s the function of photographing. What we saw and the camera captured are different. So pictures are really there to tell us a story. That we were somewhere doing some things that we’ve perhaps forgotten through time.
Ever had the problem that you can’t recall every single detail of your most recent trip?
By Sherxr on Apr 16, 2008
My friends say I have a frighteningly good memory. At one point, I could recall exactly what I did on each weekend and with whom during my time in Japan. But although I think memories stay with us forever, the picturesque details do fade with time.
By Terry on Apr 16, 2008
Good for you!
I wish I have that memory!
By Sherxr on Apr 17, 2008