Enjoy your Holidays

We’re just back from our annual holidays – so apologies to anyone who was looking for me in the last couple of weeks – I’m back now and rapidly catching up!

Holidays are a great time take pictures: more time, new locations, everyone relaxed and happy.

I’ve always been an avid watcher of people – I think that’s a big part of my photography – and holidays are always a great time for that too.  Combine that with the camera geek in me and you get someone who enjoys watching people using cameras and observing their behaviour.

This is normally passive enough – I’m not judging, I’m observing and sometimes learning. But more than once this holiday I got a little dumbfounded by people chimping.  Now I’ve nothing against chimping per se. The great thing about digitial is the ability to check your settings instantly.

My problem with it is that while you’re doing it you’re not doing anything else – and personally I didn’t come on holiday to chimp.  I came on holiday to take pictures, to spend time with the family and to experience somewhere new (although not necessarily in that order).

So if you’re going away this summer, think about what you might be missing going on around you before you spend too much time looking at the back of your camera.

Take a look when you’re back in the Hotel: not while standing in the middle of road; not while standing in the middle of something really interesting (if you think you missed the shot, take another rather than missing it again while you check).

OK, I’m glad that’s off my chest.  I should really post some more pictures.