IS YOUR CAMERA RUINING YOUR HOLIDAY?

Friday, December 09, 2005

There are times I have wondered if people with photography as an important hobby give too much importance to it. Sometime we give so much importance to it when we are out, that we forget to enjoy or dwell in our surroundings. I have often realized this happening to myself, and hence I consciously leave my camera behind in a few trips. Hasn't it happened to you that you spent more time photographing a beautiful mountain than sit quietly and enjoy its beauty? Haven't you ever been to a beach side and spent more time with your camera than in the water? I think many people go through this problem. I was recently reading a Steven Alter's book - Sacred Waters, which made me think of this again. He writes about some one he encounters in the Himalayas:

..His eyes were wide with alarm and at first I thought there had been some sort of accident. Waving his hands anxiously, he blurted out, "Have you got any camera batteries? Mine have gone dead and I did not bring any spares."

Startled by the intensity of his gestures I shook my head.

"Damn it! Trip of a lifetime," he said in a flustered disappointment. "Now it's completely ruined."

Alter goes on to comment on the incident:

…the assumption that the success of his journey depended on the photographs he might have taken was altogether ridiculous. If he had been less concerned about his camera, he probably would have discovered that his own eyes gave him a much greater appreciation of the mountains and a more vivid set of memories... …I made a conscious decision to leave it behind. ...worrying about shutter speeds, f-stops, and depth of focus, the inner beauty of the scene is often lost

I find it difficult to fall in line with him, but have to admit that he has a point!