5 ms·

General rule of tourist photography: When you look at photos you took 10 years ago, you discover that photos of places are boring. Photos of people you know a

General rule of tourist photography: When you look at photos you took 10 years ago, you discover that photos of places are boring. Photos of people you know are precious. Aim your camera accordingly.

blubb-fish 9y ago
I made the same observation. If I want to take a pic of a building or a monument, I try to get my girlfriend somewhere on the photo. It does make a difference.
- mrisoli 9y ago
  I have the same feeling, I consider I don't usually need a picture(or a bunch) of a place by itself, these days you can Google better pictures of anything TBH, but pictures of you and the people you're with are unique.
  - blubb-fish 9y ago
    It's really weird that people take pictures of something that they just have to google and they'll find hundreds.
saiya-jin 9y ago
That is your perception, but for example not mine. It all depends on quality of the photo, what it covers, what kind of memories it brings back. I have above my bed a big panoramatic picture taken from 5000m altitude in nepal in 2008, on a hike around Annapurna massif. Not a single pixel covers any living person nor animal. But it means so much to me, brings so many memories that I smile every time I look at it (actually glad I didn't include my ex-gf in it, fiancee probably wouldn't enjoy staring at her every morning :)) The problem I see, most people can't take half decent pictures (ignoring golden ratio, blurry, lack of general composition etc.) so unless the picture captures something extraordinary, it's not that interesting to come back to it.
KineticLensman 9y ago
It's complicated. Part of me, as a (very serious hobbyist) photographer agrees with the relevant xkcd [1]: that in some cases an entire trip can be structured around taking a particular set of photographs, and I have done this many times. I also have many old photos that are anything that boring; they are snapshots (pun intended) into my own history and in some cases now form my primary way of accessing some of my formative experiences. Some of my best photographs have also happened when I have spent several hours in the same place (not crowded tourist sites, admittedly), understanding the light, or what the people are doing (and gaining their trust), or waiting for that animal to do something wacky. [1] https://xkcd.com/1314/ https://xkcd.com/1314/ [Edit: fixed incorrect wording]
SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
I don't find this to be true at all. It always takes me back to that place, the feelings, smells, noises and everything. Maybe I just have a particularly good memory or maybe it's a side effect of taking the time to actually take everything in rather than just stopping for a quick photo. Certainly not arguing on the "Photos of people you know are precious" part though.
m-i-l 9y ago
> photos of places are boring. Photos of people you know are precious If you have children you may find yourself losing interest in taking photos without them too. I've many photos now of nice sunsets or rainbows or views with a child awkwardly placed just into frame, because it seems a bit of a waste to take the photo without them in it.
slifin 9y ago
To expand on your point I find videos of loved ones more precious than photos of loved ones A video encodes such much more information about personality and state of mind, the kinds of things that are much more interesting further down the line Those things can be difficult to discern from a still image
zelos 9y ago
Exactly. I (like most people) went through the "photograph everything" phase when I first got a digital camera. Then you have the realisation that when you're looking at your album, you skim through the empty scenes to find the photos with people in.

General rule of tourist photography: When you look at photos you took 10 years ago, you discover that photos of places are boring. Photos of people you know are precious. Aim your camera accordingly.

blubb-fish 9y ago

I made the same observation. If I want to take a pic of a building or a monument, I try to get my girlfriend somewhere on the photo. It does make a difference.

mrisoli 9y ago
I have the same feeling, I consider I don't usually need a picture(or a bunch) of a place by itself, these days you can Google better pictures of anything TBH, but pictures of you and the people you're with are unique.
- blubb-fish 9y ago
  It's really weird that people take pictures of something that they just have to google and they'll find hundreds.

saiya-jin 9y ago

That is your perception, but for example not mine. It all depends on quality of the photo, what it covers, what kind of memories it brings back. I have above my bed a big panoramatic picture taken from 5000m altitude in nepal in 2008, on a hike around Annapurna massif. Not a single pixel covers any living person nor animal. But it means so much to me, brings so many memories that I smile every time I look at it (actually glad I didn't include my ex-gf in it, fiancee probably wouldn't enjoy staring at her every morning :)) The problem I see, most people can't take half decent pictures (ignoring golden ratio, blurry, lack of general composition etc.) so unless the picture captures something extraordinary, it's not that interesting to come back to it.

KineticLensman 9y ago

It's complicated. Part of me, as a (very serious hobbyist) photographer agrees with the relevant xkcd [1]: that in some cases an entire trip can be structured around taking a particular set of photographs, and I have done this many times. I also have many old photos that are anything that boring; they are snapshots (pun intended) into my own history and in some cases now form my primary way of accessing some of my formative experiences. Some of my best photographs have also happened when I have spent several hours in the same place (not crowded tourist sites, admittedly), understanding the light, or what the people are doing (and gaining their trust), or waiting for that animal to do something wacky. [1] https://xkcd.com/1314/ https://xkcd.com/1314/ [Edit: fixed incorrect wording]

SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago

I don't find this to be true at all. It always takes me back to that place, the feelings, smells, noises and everything. Maybe I just have a particularly good memory or maybe it's a side effect of taking the time to actually take everything in rather than just stopping for a quick photo. Certainly not arguing on the "Photos of people you know are precious" part though.

m-i-l 9y ago

> photos of places are boring. Photos of people you know are precious If you have children you may find yourself losing interest in taking photos without them too. I've many photos now of nice sunsets or rainbows or views with a child awkwardly placed just into frame, because it seems a bit of a waste to take the photo without them in it.

slifin 9y ago

To expand on your point I find videos of loved ones more precious than photos of loved ones A video encodes such much more information about personality and state of mind, the kinds of things that are much more interesting further down the line Those things can be difficult to discern from a still image

zelos 9y ago

Exactly. I (like most people) went through the "photograph everything" phase when I first got a digital camera. Then you have the realisation that when you're looking at your album, you skim through the empty scenes to find the photos with people in.