Last night I returned home after spending a week in glorious, sunny, warm Arizona with wonderful friends, both old and new. Vacations are a delicious way to forget all your troubles and worries and just be happy. After several years of not vacationing due to my husband's illness, I am now able to get back on the road and see the sights once again. Some sights I've seen before in my renewed travelling, some I have not. Now that I have the added benefit of a good camera and lenses by my side, places and objects I have seen in the past now look differently through the eyes of a lens and I look forward with eager anticipation to brand new places my lens has never seen.
I began my journey of "serious" photography almost 2 years ago with the purchase of my first "big girl" camera. Prior to that, many vacations were generally dedicated to locating the best shops and purchasing trinkets, clothing, or household items. Now I would rather visit a botanical garden, a zoo, or the neighboring sites and landscapes to bathe in the surrounding beauty rather than spend time inside shopping. Funny how your perspective changes when your love affair with your camera and the beauty it is able to capture outweighs your need for another trinket hanging around your neck (not that there is anything wrong with trinkets, especially around the neck). The most expensive item I purchased while in Arizona was another card for my camera....I was filling them up so quickly with the amount of pictures I was taking, I didn't want to miss a single shot.
I remember vacations in the past that I would love to re-visit knowing how differently I would see the surroundings now. Hawaii, Alaska, England, Scotland, Washington D.C., New York City, and Charleston, SC are places that are among my list of re-visits. However, I am not sure I will have time for re-visits when there are so many new places to see on vacations through the eye of the lens.
Do you look forward to vacations differently now? Am I the only one that finds myself deliberating more about the lenses that I will pack rather than the clothes I will wear? Are you as anxious as I am and take your laptop with you so you can see all the images you have taken that day rather than wait until your return home? Please share with us some of your favorite vacation images on our flickr page.
"If you come home as happy as you leave, you have had a good vacation." ~ Anonymous
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14 comments:
I just had this discussion with my kids! I find myself spending almost no money on vacations anymore, because I'd rather see things. And the pictures bring back the memories better than the trinkets. That's a good thing because I have way too many trinkets anyway. I also find my new perspective is helping me clean out stuff from my house - I'm craving cleaner lines. Is it my age or my camera? I reallly think it is the camera. It's teaching me beauty and awareness.
Oh, Deanna! You have hit the proverbial nail on the head! Yes, this is me to a "T". For a week before the trip, I obsess about which camera gear I'll take and how I'll pack it. Then the night before, I throw some clothes in a suitcase. Travel does indeed take on a whole new perspective when paired with a passion for photography. Like Carol, I find myself wanting cleaner lines in my home which I attributed to age but I like Carol's suggestion that it's because of my photography. :D And, I love your Arizona pictures, so lovely, each one. My favorite though is the shot of you, Terri and Barbara. You all look happy as clams! (Do they have clams in Arizona?)
Wonderful collage of your trip and wonderful insight into the mind of a photographer! I was always the "shopper" in the family and spent many an hour on vacations finding things to buy to remember the trip. Now, like you, I just want to be out with my camera capturing all the sights. And as far as revisiting places now that you have a good camera, I have felt that so many times. And yet, last week I had an absolute blast taking photos in my home state, having only driven two hours away from home, and had a wonderful time. Just having something a little different than my everyday shooting possibilities was enough to completely inspire me! And, yes, like you, much more thought goes into what camera equipment to take on a vacation than on my wardrobe! Thanks for this wonderful post, my friend.
I rarely go on vacations, but I do go to scrapbook retreats! My sister and I don't get as much done as the others, because we've packed our cameras and lens and spend a good deal of time outside taking photos! The time outside and fresh air clears my brain and I'm more productive when we return!! Love this post!!
I'm the same way as you Terri...focusing more on making sure I have all my camera equipment then the proper clothing! I look forward to vacations (not that I take that many) in a different way now because I get excited about a new location and new things to photograph.
Deanna,
Looks like your trip was beautiful. Your photographs certainly spell "I'm having a glorious time." One day recently after taking a bath I put on my trusting old art shirt (jean shirt that looks cool when it has stains), I put on a pair of slacks. I grabbed my camera and lens and ran out the door before the morning light changed. I sat in the car smiling. Thinking how things go full circle. When I was little I would wear plaid and polka dots and think nothing of it. Now in my sixties and I am back to wearing plaid and polka dots and more worried if my camera is charged.
I spent years worrying about what I should wear, pack and bring on even the shortest trip. I don't know if it is the being in love with photography, or being older. All I know is that this chapter is way more fun.
I dream of going to Europe again, but for now my trips will be to nearby places. Living in the Boston are, I can be in Cape Cod, Maine, New Hampshire, Newport Rhode Island and Vermont. There is so much to see and photograph. And people around here don't mind if I show up wearing plaid and polka dots. I figure when people see me carrying my camera they will forgive my appearance thinking I am an artist.
Karen
Beautiful images! So glad that you got to meet Terri! :)
I completely relate to spending more time packing my camera gear than clothes. We all know where our priorities are! :) xo's
Your pictures are lovely! So many different memories from each one. A few weeks ago I happened upon this blog...I have now forgotten the links I went through, but the name really caught my eye, so I added it to "Blogs I Follow" list. Here I am reading this exciting post and recognizing how many here are similar ages, and how everyone loves photography more than a full suitcase full of clothes for vacation. I'm chuckling! We're going on vacation in May and I am so excited to be taking my "big girl" camera for the first time, and all I am thinking about is what lens do I need (to buy) before I go, because I don't want to miss out on any pictures because I don't have the correct lens. This is a wonderful post, and very entertaining. Great job ladies!
Thrilling to read and to see the three of you together. Thrilling.
I think my camera bag is now bigger than my suitcase. I recently took a road trip with my mom and her sisters and got upset because they wouldn't stop every few miles so I could take pictures! They just didn't get it! They spent hours in gift shops or taking pictures of museum displays and all I wanted was to be outside with my camera. I am now planning to go back at the end of the month just so I can photograph all the sites. I love the memories that each image I keep elicits. I spend very little, if any, money on 'stuff' but plenty on printing my pictures. I look at each vacation as a photo opportunity as much as I do time away.
What a wonderful post, Deanna!! Love all the photos in your collage and how wonderful that you got to meet Terri! I'm planning a vacation this summer and my first thoughts are about all the cool things I can photograph! My perspective on a vacation has definitely changed since falling in love with my camera!!
Beverly, it sounds like you're in the right place, with people of a like mind. That's what I love so much about it here. Welcome and we hope to see a lot more of you.
We are so happy you stumbled upon us Beverly!
I agree with you....every vacation is another fun photo opp!
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