Why I Limit Photography While On Vacation

Vacation is on my mind this week (okay, you got me. Travel is always on my mind) as Isla and I are heading to Texas to visit my bestie for the weekend!! Yippee! And in honor of that, I thought I would write a post where photography, family and travel collide…

Eleven.

That’s the number of photographs I have from our last week-long vacation to Disney.

(Okay, plus a few phone snaps, but even those are minimal).

What? But how? Nicole, aren’t you a photographer?! How could you let that happen?

But you see friend, I didn’t let it happen…I made it happen.

And I recommend on your next trip to keep your photographs down to a bare minimum.

So why then?

In today’s culture, it is no problem for us to snap 100 photos per minute and think nothing of it. And before you think I’m shaming our hyperuse [totally made that word up] of photography… I’m a photographer! So of course I’m guilty of this! And I don’t believe our motivation for doing so is nefarious- we want to preserve as many moments as possible, and we have the capability at our fingertips, so why not?

Because I don’t want to be so caught up in catching a moment, that I forget to live the moment! That’s why not! I want to preserve moments for Isla to be able to look back on, but I don’t want her to only remember mommy with a camera glued to the front of her face. It’s a fine line, friend!

So how do I accomplish this?

I’m glad you asked! First of all, I don’t know that I necessarily do accomplish it…but I certainly try! I love photography. Passionately. There are times I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it! So of course I can’t just leave my camera at home altogether, but I do set aside specific times to have it out. Using Disney as my example, if I know we’re going to be going to the park during golden hour for a while one night, it pacifies me to know that I can bring my camera along and have that opportunity to get the shots I have envisioned. But then, it goes back in its bag in the stroller to be used only in exceptional circumstances. On this last trip, my exceptional circumstance was Isla’s love for Daisy- we went through the line at Epcot in the morning to see her, and that was all Isla could talk about for the rest of the day. So, later that afternoon, we went back to see Daisy, and that’s when I pulled out my camera and took this one picture…

And then my camera went back up. I believe this helps to give a better appreciation for the photographs I do get, as well as real, undistracted time with the people I love most! This also forces you to be very intentional about what you capture, so chances are, your photographs will turn out better! Win-win!

This strategy is transferable to other vacation destinations, of course! I recommend setting aside one specific time to have your camera out for your vacation, and then put it up for the remainder! And then keep it near, (but not readily accessible- too much temptation!) in case an exceptional photo op comes along. It may be difficult not to reach for the camera at every move, but I promise that truly being able to enjoy the people and destination will be worth it!

So that’s it! Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Best,

Nicole

To see more of our travels, follow me on Instagram @lavenderroadsphotography