How do you travel with non photographers?

How you travel with them? Do you just treat it like a business trip and take some snaps on the beaten track when you can between coffee and food breaks?

 

We had a family trip, we're from New Zealand it is the outdoors and scenery and adventure activities if you are into that. So we went to the South Island which is also what attracts international tourists.

 

At times they try to be nice. Landscape photography is about being out at dusk and dawn, they just stayed indoors. The thing with NZ is that the remote tourist towns apart from the outdoor activities there is nothing else there. You may have 1 or 2 cafe / bars and a gift shop, maybe a visitor centre and that is about it. Many towns don't even have a proper supermarket but a larger convenience store. In the past there were a co brand supermarket to a large chain supermarket but they have packed up and a (expensive) convenience store have moved in. Other times they say it's a village, no shops, no proper supermarket, a rip off, in a middle of nowhere; just mountains, hills, expansive farming land, sheep, cattle and vineyards with no one around.

 

 

Like to hear you feedback.

Edited May 2, 2017 by RaymondC

It depends. If you get up to take sunrise shots, you should go to bed when the others go clubbing. If you are hiking with others, you have 2 options: Either you are almost as fit as late Ueli Steck, so you can make up the time for needed lens changes, tripod and similar with (almost) running or you should mount tourist zooms and barely stop to shoot things on your way handheld.

As a bottom line: Check out what freedoms the trip and modern tech can offer you. If you have radio or cell phones you can wander of from the group... Can you grab a vehicle and move to interesting subjects while others are doing their thing? Is there an option that they'll catch you later and maybe put your bike on the back of the camper or a trailer?

I'm not much into serious landscapes, so I am content with trying to shoot my co-travelers and what I see on the beaten track. - I might also reduce my need for coffee breaks by packing essentials and wander around during that time.

 

Basically: Traveling with others is a way to sketch mental notes about what you haven't shot properly. But still: there is a lot to see and shoot and even if the results aren't outstanding they are at least something.

"Dusk and dawn" is a pretty restrictive regimen unless you do the "Ansel Adams" thing and study your subject for a year, set up a view camera and take one shot. I recently visited Iceland, and had a week to cover as much ground as possible. Fortunately at 64 deg latitude, "golden hour" is nearly all day, the days it wasn't raining or snowing anyway. My hiking days are over, especially with a load of camera gear. I follow the "200 yards or not photogenic" rule postulated by Ansel Adams.

 

This was a "photo" vacation with my brother, so we stopped every 200 yards or so when something looked interesting. You can't do that with a family, although now that the kids are grown, my wife is fairly tolerant of the "stop and shoot" activity, and willing to explore side roads for things of interest. With kids, you are lucky to get on the road before 10 am, or even noon. Even now, most of our family travel is to get somewhere, not doddle along the way. Besides, there's nothing much interesting about cornfields.

 

Not all zooms are "tourist" quality. While I carry a set of prime lenses, I used a 24-70/2.8 for most shots, or a 70-200/4. I had a vest with really large inside pockets to hold the lens I wasn't using. Walking around Reykjavik, I used a 25/2 for size and convenience.

 

I wish I had carried a GPS unit so that I could geotag photos in Lightroom. It's hard to take notes when towns are few and far between, with names I can't pronounce (or even spell, due to the archaic Icelandic alphabet). Fortunately I used a cell phone to send photos home at many stops, which are tagged. With due consideration of the weather, I made frequent use of bracketed HDR images. This will bring out details in nearly featureless clouds, while preserving details in the foreground. A three-shot bracket, +/- 2 stops, was usually sufficient, executed automatically in about 3/4 second.

 

Black sand dunes and gabbro (basalt) peaks at Vestrahorn, Iceland

Sony A7Rii + 24-70/2.8 GM OSS

It depends upon the "non photographers." Traveling with easy-going folks who enjoy pausing on trails to take in the scenery might be just fine. But team up with people who want a few quick snaps on their phones so they can go shopping or lunch at a pub might be miserable for a photographer. The ideal situation is to travel alone or with other photographers. But life isn't often ideal, is it? So the best advice is to seek ways to do both - spend time with the people you're with and also make time for your photography. For example, professional photographer Jeff Cable explains in a B&H video that a lot of his images deal with nighttime simply because that's when he has a chance to venture out on his own ... after meetings and other obligations during the day. I've been known to negotiate personal side trips that allow me time to photograph while the non-photographers go do their things. You know what they say ... where there's a will, there's a way.

For me, traveling with others is usually about just that, enjoying time with others while traveling. I will make photos accordingly, but it's generally not my prime focus when I'm out traveling, enjoying scenery, and breathing in nature.

Choose good travel companions and do not abuse their good nature!

Most of my travels with others has usually been on extended hiking trips. Occasionally the group would stop for something particularly photogenic so everybody could snap a shot, but I found that many of my companions were open to photos of them during hiking activities, which I would share with them a few weeks after the treks - for instance the doctor's wife who found a large animal jawbone as we were fording a stream. Caught her against the glacier background holding the jawbone while everybody was guessing what animal it belonged to (best guess was a pack mule used to transport goods in the area). Occasionally I'd lag a little behind for something special I saw which others didn't, then it was usually a bit of an effort to catch up with the group and guides. Sometimes I'd get a little ahead of the group and photograph them navigating a difficult passage against a stunning background. IMHO it just depends on your companions and their willingness to indulge your photography.

In NZ unless one stays at large city and then travel out from there, the nicer international visitors visit the more remote towns. To get to the proper city it's at least 30min drive away on the highway or as much as 2hr. Tour bus tourists stay at the 1 or 2 hotel there which is really just a 1 or 2 floor unit for the single night before they move on, 1 or 2 cafes, a convenience store etc.

 

Yeah .. I did/do the annual planning for the different seasons this trip I was looking for the fall colours over here and over the other side it is a wetland so early morning fog ie the autumn time and be out by 6.45.

and do not abuse their good nature!

 

That's critical. If you can't adapt to not holding other people up, you need to travel with photo tours where everyone "understands"

When Im doing candid street they usually walk twenty paces behind me;)

I can see street photog is diff and easier b/c you are still in a city with all the comfort and convenience and amenities. They could go and eat an drink and shop while you go for a wander. But it can be quite different if you are going to spend a week in a "national park" and stay in a lodge.

I guess I managed because I was with my wife who gives me a long lead or leash. I have done bus trips with a tour group and fooey I would rather rent a car and be off on my own then have to rush. All I can offer is plan for some free time for yourself and inisist on it. Use that free time as you see fit. If it means you say screw the hoi polloi gang and go with another shooter,then you do that...if compromise is out, then be on your own and plan it. If a wild and crazy city boy like me can do a landscape outdoors and and manage my time, you can too. Yes, you may have to use some elbows, Fie on those who will not let you do your art. (Hide their cel phones/ ply them w gin and do other sneakya. Wear a red beret to display your free spirit. Firmness . the price we pay Edited May 3, 2017 by GerrySiegel

Lupine trail Mount Cook New Zealand (1984) | Photo.net

Edited May 3, 2017 by GerrySiegel

That may be a bit hard, Maybe it would be city visiting and photography of the people and the buildings or it's about going alone.

 

They said next time don't take them there. It's a village. A middle of no where. Expansive empty farmland where people cannot be seen, sheep and cattle, mountains and hills. What do people here do for a living.

 

While the other member was still sleeping in......and the rain stopped. Who needs amenities when you got mountains.

When Im doing candid street they usually walk twenty paces behind me;)

Bribery? Threats? Inducements? My Wife and Daughter are often ahead and "in the frame", though both are attractive, don''t care to expose them, even here! They are not into "walk behind"!

My lot walk in front also. Last time in HKG, they waited impatiently, with a wide angle street lens even at 35mm you can see them staring at your camera while standing aside at the pedestrian pathment clutching her handbag. It might even rule out street photography but more walk and about with a mirrorless maybe. At times I told them you guys head back to the hotel first or I'll see you a the gardens a bit later in 15mins I will you call kinda thing.

I agree with Fred G. If you're traveling with non photographers snap what you can and enjoy the group company. You should enjoy the scenery even if you don't get an opportunity to photograph it. I travel with a fixed lens camera and hope for the best.

It's family and not a photo trip so a little give and take from all as usual. You obviously cant be taking hours at a time with them waiting but they should be willing to tolerate some shooting. Perhaps they can schedule other activities while you shoot. Can you give one a camera and encourage them to shoot? Learn to get shots other than at either ends of the day, the type of shots that lend themselves to that. For example, indoor touring/shooting mid day. Cloudy afternoons.

Thanks! They are a smartphone crowd. They don't even want to touch a proper camera. They have gone beyond SMS and calls now and wanting WeChat and WhatsApp on the go outside.

I don't know. We travel, I take pictures, none of my non-photographer friends mind when I take a picture. Really don't know why they would. But then I'm generally a grab what's in front of me photogapher.. If I want to go to a special place just to photograph, then I may have to work with schedules. Depends on the trip, how much time we're going to be there, etc, etc. Never been a real problem.

When I travel with my family, they usually appreciate me taking the time to take good snaps on the trip and with that in mind don't care if I spend some time doing more serious photography. My family tends to be pretty laid back when we travel, so I'll often go for a walk or a short trip when other folks are taking an afternoon nap or whatever. Also, if we're going somewhere specifically for the scenery, it's pretty much expected that we'll be stopping frequently anyway so it's not much of a problem.

 

With that said, I travel a lot lighter on family trips than I do if I'm going for a photography trip. I will bring my DSLR(I often times don't even carry it when I'm doing a photo trip) and typically toss in a 35mm body and a Rolleiflex. The Rolleiflex gets most of my "serious" work, and sometimes I'll eliminate the 35mm cameras entirely.

 

I do recall my dad and I making a trip out to the country to take a photo of the house that my 90 year old aunt had been born and grew up in. I needed him to go with me so that I could find it, but he got rather irritated at me when I started packing up my LF gear. In the end, I did pair it down and take my Speed Graphic and a couple of film holders(along with a tripod) but also took my DSLR. When we got there, the house was in such bad shape that I ended up only shooting digital, giving it the "FP4+ treatment" in SilverEffex along with a red filter(what I would have done in LF) then bumping the contrast and burning the porch a bit to hide the toilet on it :) .

I guess these days, with a grown up family, I find it easy to divide my travel into two. First is when photography is the prime objective. The only person getting an invite ( and mostly she'll say yes) is my wife who long ago learned that I tend to photograph in visually interesting places, though she's normally still abed if I go out early. There is normally a little non photo activity built in, but we're both pretty clear why we're there. Then there is travel to be with other people, maybe old school or college friends meting up in Rome or Paris or wherever. Then I simply don't take a camera and enjoy the trip for totally different reasons.. If I want to photograph those locations we'll stay over a couple of days before or after.

 

When the kids were young and travelled with us I would photograph a bit early and late but it would normally be alone and normally carried out alongside things like buying breakfast if we had rented a house. Few photographs from those times survive as honestly they weren't generally too good-too much compromise. Virtually every photo I've got that I value has come out of a trip specifically arranged for photography rather than as a by product of vacation travel.

It is interesting my photo buddies shoot mostly pictures in daytime. I think I need to separate the trips up, go by myself or with other like-minded people. I recall we were in Hong Kong after the waterfront sunset shoot with the laser lights, they wanted to eat the more local places tucked to the side but those places were closed by the time we got there. We then just had dinner at a local char chaan teng.

Allen Herbert said: ↑

When Im doing candid street they usually walk twenty paces behind me;)Sandy

 

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Bribery? Threats? Inducements? My Wife and Daughter are often ahead and "in the frame", though both are attractive, don''t care to expose them, even here! They are not into "walk behind"! Sandy.

 

Nearly missed your post, Sandy. Dripping with innuendo's; about another culture religion.

 

If you actually tried to read the post it was about non photographers not about your family. So, have a little read of the actual post. You can do it, Sandy..

My answer was simple non photographers feel intimated by me taking candid photos of strangers, and they feel there might be some sort of confrontation....why, because they have read so much nonsense on the internet which fools sprout out.... fools who have never taken a candid street photo in their lives.

 

So, Muslim women you are implying walk behind their family as they feel they are lesser human beings according to their faith. I live in a mixed community and can assure you that its the Muslim men who walk 10 paces behind carrying the shopping...like most of us men do.

 

I believe in you Sandy you are better than this...

 

You can see the Kremlin on a clear day from Alaska.

And I'm sure Iraq is somewhere in South America near Peru..

All Muslim women have to walk 10 paces behind their husband.

God is a white man or perhaps a paler shade of brown..

Immigrants are destroying our country of immigrants.

 

Just a few thoughts , Sandy.

 

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