A Trip To Europe Then and Now

After much hoping, dreaming, attracting and saving, my wife, daughter and I have decided to take a trip to the south of Spain. In part to visit my other daughter, Carly, who is finishing up a semester abroad. We are all very excited. While we have taken several family vacations, this will be the most extensive and the first time we will all be going to Europe together.

This will be my first time back to Europe since 1983 and my first time to Spain. A lot has changed since then and not only the color and length of my hair. The mode of travel, the lodging, going with my family rather than journeying solo are all aspects that will be very different but the biggest change for me and the one that is causing the most anticipatory excitement is the change in both photography equipment and just as big...is the change in me as a photographer and my approach to taking pictures.

See, when I was young and traveling extensively, I was not "into" photography, as a hobby. I did have a camera though, a crappy, Kodak Pocket 110mm Instamatic. That and the arrogance of youth (believing that my memory was perfect and would never fail) had me convinced that I had my bases covered. Even the times that I knew that I would want to document with photos were limited by the high cost of film and developing. Film, for a starving student traveler, was a luxury item frequently low or even at the bottom of the list of priority spending.

But, it was in fact, some of those few but treasured photos of Bedouin in the Sinai, the Sphinx & Pyramids, the golden dome of Jerusalem at sunset, the Greek Islands set against the deep blue Mediterranean, even with the low res of the late 1970's and early 1980's, that helped me discover my passion for photography that continues to this day. So, what's changed since my last trip to Europe, 25 years ago, besides me? Hmmm, was there any technological change that would have revolutionized the field of photography? Hmm, let me think? Oh yeah, how about going digital? Talk about a paradigm shift. I mean, from not having enough storage media (film) and poor resolution to unlimited storage capacity (since I will bring my laptop in order to upload my photos from the storage cards) and 12 megapixels of resolution! That should be different.

Now my big issue will be to not overshoot. My family is already dreading me being completely absorbed in my personal photographic workshop and embarrass them by looking like the typical tourist. Frankly, I'm a bit concerned about this myself. I certainly want to get as many "trophy shots" as I can, but I don't want to be so self-absorbed with my gear and "the shot" that I miss the bigger picture. That being the gift of having this wonderful experience to share with my family. I think I can do both if I remain conscious of my goals and keep in mind that the others have goals and expectations as well.

Well, those are my initial thoughts on this upcoming event. I will continue to blog it out as I have many things on my mind...Raw vs other formats, equipment to take, I even have a list of photographic techniques and types of shots I want to try.So, I will "think out loud" here.

Tags: Travel, journal

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Comment by CameraClicker on April 12, 2009 at 3:33pm: I think it depends on the expected mileage of your battery... My Nikon CoolPIX only gets a couple of hours to a battery so I take three batteries and a charger. My Canon 30D has a battery grip which makes the camera bigger but gives some extra buttons for comfort when holding the camera in portrait orientation. The grip holds two batteries and came with a plastic piece that allows replacement of the Canon batteries with half a dozen AA cells; I have yet to require AA cells, the double batteries provide three thousand plus shots so two or three charges a year usually suffice. I take a charger for both cameras in checked luggage.

Comment by DrHank on April 11, 2009 at 4:40am: I hear you Michael, I will pick one up this week! Thanks, you have made a deposit in the good karma bank. I will learn from your mistake and not repeat it.

Comment by Michael Hayden on April 10, 2009 at 6:11pm: No, really..... get the extra battery. When I went to England last year, I took my DX and 4 batteries. If you use the viewscreen to compose your photos or take video, you WILL go through your battery faster than you think, and there is nothing that will spoil a trip like not being able to get a photo because the battery died - This is a lession I learned the hard way, I left my camera bag at the hotel while we went on a day trip with a family friend to visit where my mom grew up. I thought the battery I had was fully charged. The rest of the photos for that day was taken on my wife's pocket digital that used AA batteries (we went through 6 of 'em)

The only other thing, besides the rain bag (which you can mcGuyver with a uv filter and a clear bag if need be) is a Gorillapod ® - one of those tiny bendy leg tripods. They work great for getting shots on uneven surfaces, or taking a group photo with the entire group in it (the legs can bend around a tree branch or fence post)

Comment by Susan Khan on April 10, 2009 at 11:13am: re: extra battery.... since you're going in the summer, battery drain won't really be an issue, but i find that in the winter, in cold regions, my fully charged batteries can drain much more quickly than anticipated. So, i carry my spare, fully charged, in my pants pocket to keep it warm. It has saved me more than once!

Comment by DrHank on April 10, 2009 at 10:57am: I was thinking the same thing about splitting up the group periodically. We have done this on other trips and it works well to keep the group dynamic fresh. I am also the early riser in the group so I plan to take a few early morning hikes. With one daughter 21 and the other 16, I know I can be back, have a leisurely breakfast with my wife and still have to rouse the girls for the day.

As for the back up battery, I actually don't have one yet, but 1) am planning on bringging my charger and an adapter and 2) have a back up camera in the form of a very nice, little 10 megapix Olympus point & shoot. But, if I can afford it I may just break down and get the batt too. Thanks for you comments/thoughts.

Comment by Susan Khan on April 10, 2009 at 9:43am: Oh, Doc... i understand your dilemma.... my family solved this problem by spending a lot of time visiting in places where i wouldn't be distracted with shooting... like coffee shops, LOL. Altho, i even got them to help me set up my tabblo at Costa near the end of our stay. The other thing we did, when i got absorbed with the camera was to split up and meet back together later. Inevitably, one of my guys would choose to hang with me and we'd chat as i shot, and shot, and shot. And that one on one time, chatting, even tho i was shooting was WONDERFUL!!

2 recommendations- if you don't have a rainsleeve for your camera, get one, just in case. And if you don't have a backup battery, get one. I bet you already have one, don't you? ;) You strike me as a well-prepared man.

We went to Italy in the mid-90's with film camera... i took (and developed) about 1000 shots in 2 weeks.... my husband said developing the pictures cost as much as the trip! At Christmas, this past year, we went to London for 10 days- also to meet a kid studying abroad, and i took thousandS of shots. But we, obviously, didn't develop them all!! That's why i love digital... I don't feel like I have to limit myself on how many shots i take b/c i don't have to "pay" to see each one.

Good luck!! and have a ball!!!