Sunday, March 31, 2019

Photography & Vacations ~ The Friends & Family Plan

Wormsloe Plantation by Sheen Watkins
It's almost that time.  Vacation!  You've planned, packed, researched and are ready to venture on to your vacation destination.

Camera's, lenses, filters ~ check.

Transportation schedule and documents ~ check.

Clothes, shoes, personal care items ~ check.

Shooting plan ~ check.

Are you sure?  Hold on a minute.  

As a photographer, traveling with friends and family can be rewarding and fun.  But what happens when you - the more serious photographer of the crew - wants to spend quality shooting time at various destinations?  Or you see something that just begs to be photographed?

Iceland, Metal Sculpture of Ship Bones by Sheen Watkins
Your travel companions are thinking, "Why is he/she taking so many photos of that?  We need to hit our next spot or we'll miss the next destination on our plan."

You're thinking, "Why don't they understand that I need at least 20 - 30 shots of this subject!  It's so unique, so interesting and there's so many different ways to capture it?"

Some may take their frustrated thoughts to words and they may not be nice ones at that.  After all, it is both yours and their vacation.

The Human Element by Sheen Watkins

What can you do to make vacations fun for all while including time for your photography?  
  • Communicating and agreeing to a plan in advance.
  • Dedicating a set amount of personal time each day or at each location for photography.
  • Waking up earlier than the crew to go shoot and have a meeting time for you to join the group.
  • Planning to stay an extra day or a few days if possible to go back and shoot those areas that require extra time.
  • Involving your friends and family in the the scene.  Adding the human element provides a different feel.  Plus, if they are involved they become more engaged in the location and moment.  Sometimes the memory of making the photo happen is just as good as the photo itself! 
  • Encouraging them to take photos with their smartphone.  You might convert someone.
  • Creating and sharing a vacation photo book makes a wonderful gift that can be revisited over and over.
  • Having a few pictures with you in them.  You are part of the family and should be included!

My Husband and me


Summer is almost here with family vacations on the horizon.  

How will you plan your time that creates opportunities for you and keeps group harmony - from a photography perspective?

Happy Shooting!


Sheen 





1 comment:

  1. Sheen, nice article and great suggestions. This conflict certainly comes up on most of our trips. Taking off for a sunrise shoot and let the gang sleep in is my favorite workaround.

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