Why can't I stop taking taking pictures?

[robndani]

I love pictures! Family pictures at the parks, my kids with every character we see, magic shots, character dining and rides!!!!

My husband says lugging my camera around and making us stop for so many photo pass shots takes away from just "being there" and enjoying the moments.

We usually go twice per year and my kids are almost 6. I love capturing pictures of them every chance I get. Sometimes they don't want to stop and smile, sometimes they do, but I always try. We're going in two weeks and again in April. We're going to MNSSHP so of course I need LOTS of pictures!

Is there a way to find a balance? Do I even need to? What do you guys do?

 

[stormer]

I am like you . I come home with anywhere from 3000-5000 photos per trip. I take pictures of everything. I use the pictures to make a scrapbook for every trip. My boys are 13 and 11 and have been to Disney 16 times. They love looking at the scrapbooks of the previous trips!

 

[qv09vvp]

I can't really help you. I'm the exact same way and I'm probably going to make this worse but my kids are now 18 & 21 - and I love my Disney pictures and scrapbooks. We go in 10 days, first time just the hubby and I and I'm taking my brand new Nikon. I guess I'll see if I still take as many pictures! Good Luck! maybe you could try designating 1 day...or morning or afternoon without a camera...see how that goes for you??

 

[emeraldmom]

I'm just as bad. I take tons of pics AND but memory maker. I love MM because then I actually get to be IN the pics. The first few trips we went on, you basically wouldn't know I was there. I tell me boys the fact that we have pictures shows I was there, since I am basically the only one who takes them.

A few years back I did switch cameras. I had a pretty good sized one, not a DSLR, but similar in style. Now I have one that takes better pictures than my old one, has better zoom, and yet fits in my pocket. It's small enough that I am no longer "lugging" my camera around. I love taking pictures from relatively far away with my zoom. They are nice candids because they don't know I'm taking them.

I tell my kids that smiling nicely for me is the price they pay for getting to go on such an awesome trip.

 

[MataHari22]

I've always taken my camera on every vacation, and take a ton of pix. I also make scrapbooks. After getting Memory Maker last year (which worked out very well), I am contemplating leaving my camera at home this year. I am hoping it will make me be a little more in the moment. If I feel I have to take a photo, I'll still have my iPhone.

 

[Boski]

I am like you . I come home with anywhere from 3000-5000 photos per trip. I take pictures of everything. I use the pictures to make a scrapbook for every trip. My boys are 13 and 11 and have been to Disney 16 times. They love looking at the scrapbooks of the previous trips!

I love taking photos as well but 3-5k per trip?!?!?

 

[5Hfan]

take more in the moment, candid shots. Less posing and asking for smiles! But yeah my kids know that if mom didn't get a photo of it, it didn't really happen lol.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I still take family photos but I do NOT take the kind where you have to "stop and smile". They just seem to fake to me. Instead, I take pics of them already doing something. Much more meaningful to me. I also no longer take pics of "scenery". Too easy to find those in multitudes online now days.

 

[cgattis]

If you enjoy it, and if you don't feel like you're "missing out in the moments," don't stop. (She says as she's weeding through 18GB of DD's volleyball pics from this season....) I LOVE capturing those special moments and I'd miss it terribly if I didn't do it. Like PP, I tell DH and the kids that the pics are MY souvenirs (and my reward for planning them an awesome trip), and they indulge me

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Nope. I feel the need to take roughly 8000 pictures of every parade and wishes each trip, even though I'm there all the time. I just can't help myself!

 

[emeraldmom]

Nope. I feel the need to take roughly 8000 pictures of every parade and wishes each trip, even though I'm there all the time. I just can't help myself!

Oh good, I'm not the only one that does that. I always say I'm not going to take a ton of pictures of parade and fireworks...and I always take a ton of pictures of parades and fireworks.

Does anybody else *try* to take pictures on dark rides, without the flash of course. Sometimes I get lucky and some of them come out okay.

 

[emeraldmom]

Here's another reason I take so many pictures. I like to see the progression as my children grow. I have pictures of them in front of the castle (okay multiple pictures) for each trip that we have taken. I can look back on our early trips, when they were so little, and then see them now as teenagers. There are certain spots that are iconic, and I have these types of pictures from all of our trips. I'm too lazy to make actual scrapbooks, but one of these days I'm going to print a castle picture from each trip and show them.

 

[stormer]

I love taking photos as well but 3-5k per trip?!?!?

I take pictures of everything - the kids in front of the ride, on the ride, the sign to the ride, the ride without the kids, etc. I wind up with a scrapbook with approximately 100 pages per 8 day trip. It is a great keepsake, but a little bit of an obsession!

 

[DemonLlama]

Part of my vacation is how much enjoyment I get out of photography.

My husband still recounts my facial reaction the time we were heading out for a trip and my camera stopped working, he stupidly said, "Well, you have your phone..."

It's a miracle he's still alive. And yes, we replaced my camera before we ever hit the parks.

 

[cgattis]

Part of my vacation is how much enjoyment I get out of photography.

My husband still recounts my facial reaction the time we were heading out for a trip and my camera stopped working, he stupidly said, "Well, you have your phone..."

It's a miracle he's still alive. And yes, we replaced my camera before we ever hit the parks.

Heh heh.....

I just also had to mention, on seeing your username, if you haven't read it, you need to read a book called "Llama Llama Red Pajama." It was one of my kids' favorite, and I loved reading it to them. There's no demon llama, but he does throw quite a fit at one point

 

[Lumiere Lover]

Your kids will never be that age again. Take tons of pictures.

 

[DemonLlama]

Heh heh.....

I just also had to mention, on seeing your username, if you haven't read it, you need to read a book called "Llama Llama Red Pajama." It was one of my kids' favorite, and I loved reading it to them. There's no demon llama, but he does throw quite a fit at one point

hehe, thanks! My user name actually came from The Emperor's New Groove, possibly the most underrated Disney movie of all time:

 

[aprincessatlast]

This post reminds me of an article I read earlier today about living in the moment.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/picture-pensioner-living-moment-not-6520311

I have taken loads on loads of picture at wdw, ironically though they are not my favorite vacation picutures outside of seeing the kids at different stages. Like the post above. Awesome photo! I still do it though as it does make things a bit more fun while there.

 

[Robo]

My user name actually came from The Emperor's New Groove, possibly the most underrated Disney movie of all time...

Why do we even HAVE that lever?

 

[jwolfpack]

Taking photos is one of my favorite part of vacations, and I often feel MORE in the the moment, when I'm taking photos than I do when I am not. I always say that taking photos makes me pay attention. I do very little asking the kids to turn and smile because when the trip is over, those photos don't mean a whole lot to me. But capturing my son's expression the first time he sees Mickey, their squeals of delight as Daddy spins them on the tea ups, the pure bliss of eating an ice cream cone in a princess dress in front of the castle?? Those moments are magic, and I MIGHT just forget them if I don't take photo of them.

Snap away and enjoy your trip!