Coucou, mes amis! When this post goes up, I'll be on my family holiday in France! Spending time away with other people, makes it so noticeable how different everyone's camera-habits can be!
Here are 7 styles of holiday photography that I have come across. Are you one of these people?
1. The Photo Connector
At the time: You're wandering around having a fab time, when you spot something that makes you think "Oooh, so-and-so would love that!" You rummage out your phone to take a shot of the thing, then you put it back and carry on with your day. You may share the picture with the person there and then, or you may leave it until later.
Afterwards: You may get around to sharing the photo with the person, or you may not.
Tip: Share it with the person! They will love to know you were thinking of them while you were away, and it is a lovely excuse to connect with someone you care about if you haven't seen them in a while.
2. What camera?
At the time: You are having a fantastic time soaking up the sights, the sounds and the smells. You are enjoying the company of the people you're with. You're happy and relaxed, and the time just flies by.
Afterwards: You carry on with your life. When one of your fellow travellers later shares the photos they took at the time, you are delighted to be reminded of what a lovely time you had!
Tip: If seeing photos of your trip makes you happy, then be ready to capture them as the are coming in. If you are receiving them from different people, through different channels (WhatsApp, Facebook, email etc) then think about putting them all into one place.
It is usually a good idea to keep track of who the photographer was in each case too. This is in case (a) you later want higher quality images - say to print out and frame - and they got compressed on their way to you, or (b) in case you want to do or make something with the images, so you can get the copyright holder's permission!
3. Photography as a way of seeing
At the time: Your camera is always in your hand (or at least, dangling round your neck). You love to take photos of nearly everything you look at; its a way of creatively engaging with what you're seeing.
Your eye is trained towards the beautiful, the strange, the unfamiliar, the quirky and the unusual. Photography is your way of - just for a moment - focusing your whole attention entirely on each wonderful thing.
Afterwards: You may look through it all. You may not. You may have plans to create something from your images. You may get around to that, or not.
Tip: Your struggle is going to be storage space! Having lots of stuff is going to make everything a little bit more difficult in the long run - backing up; sharing images with other people; finding a particular image that you are thinking of. My tip for you is little and often. At the end of each day, make a drink, and enjoy having a scroll through your photos. Delete the rubbish ones and, when you took multiple attempts at the same shot, choose the best and delete the rest.
As you're going through, you could also tag your favourite photos, or the ones you're most proud of. This is to help you if - down the line - you decide you want to save space by only keeping the absolute best images. Then you could just keep your Favourites and weed out the others in just a few clicks. 10 years down from now, you'll thank yourself!
4. The Instagrammer
Beforehand: After thoroughly researching the photogenic spots, events and locations at your destination, you plan your itinerary to take it all in!
At the time: You love the treasure hunt of scouting out beautiful backdrops and views for your shots, and you proudly share your beautiful photos on Instagram as you're going along.
Tip: Remember that social media are best for sharing - not storing - your creations. If you want to make sure you always have access to your images, you'll need to put a couple of minutes extra work in. But if the joy of it for you is in the planning and creating, and you're not fussed about keeping the resulting images forever, then... carry on!
5. Doing it Backwards
At the time: You're too busy having a wonderful time to remember to get your camera out. But when you're bored, it is your go-to thing for amusing yourself.
Afterwards: You remember what a great time you had, but all your photos are of the inside of the coach, or of piles of suitcases at the airport.
Tip: Do yourself a favour and delete that nonsense! No one is ever going to want to look at that again! Do something else to help you remember what you did on your trip. Maybe jot down your itinerary, while it's still fresh in your mind. Or brain-dump your favourite moments, or things that made you laugh. Or draw a cartoon or a sketch. Whatever you like!
6. The Whipper-Snapper
At the time: Whenever someone does something a bit stupid - you're there! You whip out your phone and mercilessly capture the moment.
Afterwards: You're only too happy to show everyone the picture, even share it and tag your victim.
Tip: What can I say? You're a horrible person! ;)
7. The orchestrator
At the time: You spot a beautiful moment, or you appreciate that everyone is finally altogether. Everyone all huffs and puffs, while you make them stand just-so, or pose in front of something, but then....
Afterwards: ....they are all happy enough to clamour for copies of your photograph once everyone is home. It is so rare to get a nice picture of everyone all together!
Tip: You do you! If you want to go one step further, tag the photo with the names of the people in it, or if you are printing it out, then write the names lightly in pencil on the back. Future generations will thank you for it!
Which one are you?
Do you see yourself in any of these little descriptions? If so which one are you? I think I am a bit of a hybrid of 1 and 2. Particularly if I am travelling with someone who is a better photographer than I am, I will just leave it to them, and hardly remember to take any pictures at all!
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