Photographic Holidays – My Views

by Lyn Jenkins

Do you find yourself in the situation where you want to stop and take a photograph, but your wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend/other (delete as appropriate) has other ideas? If you’re like me, you can get away with so much, but then there is a limit! I feel rushed and manage to get a quick ‘snap’, as he moves further ahead and I have to rush to catch up with him. Don’t they realise you can’t hurry a good photograph and you have to wait to get the person in the right position or wait to compose the picture according to ‘the rules’ and with the right settings or wait to get the light just right to capture that moment?

Land iguana eating fruit of cactus

The answer, I have found, is to go on a specialised photographic holiday/tour/trip. All your fellow travellers are of the same ilk, so you can discuss exposures, tripods, lighting etc to your heart’s content and have an honest opinion afterwards, when you look at the output from the day, from someone that knows what they are talking about. Generally I have found that because everyone has a common goal and are like-minded, even though the group have probably never met before, they soon bond because they have so much in common and all after the same thing – super photos.

Waved albatross in flight

Then there is, of course, the fact that as part of a photography group, you will be up early waiting for the first light (whilst others are still dozing or having breakfast) and later waiting for the sunset and returning after dark. And the strange looks you get carrying around, or setting up a tripod, especially in the dark, but at least you are all in it together! Yes, there must be a joke there somewhere…what do you call a group of photographers walking around all hours of the day with tripods in hand and cameras around their necks….?

Portrait of Nazca Booby

You would think the way I have been singing the praises of this, that I have been on loads, but that is not the case. Apart from long weekend photographic workshops locally, I have only been on the two.

My first experience was to the Galapagos and Ecuador with Andy Rouse last year. As PCC had previously arranged a presentation given by Andy, I thought I knew what to expect, as I had experienced his sense of humour first hand. The tour was nearly 3 weeks and Andy doesn’t do ‘singles’, so you share accommodation with someone you have never met before and in Galapagos it was in a cabin on a boat. Luckily we got on fine. The local reps soon got used to the fact this was not a normal holiday, but a photographic trip – we had different requirements from the usual tourists! We didn’t want to stand around for ages on each island waiting to be told all the relevant history and information. Our cameras were getting impatient and raring to go, our fingers were fidgeting. The reps soon got used to getting up early and staying out late. Our itinerary, although tightly controlled by the authorities, was put together to be in the right place in the right light for the best photography. We were lucky that our reps were very understanding and soon realised we were not a threat to the wildlife or environment, we were there to record it. We watched tourist groups come and go within the hour, whilst we would stay the best part of the day, but I guess unless you are a fanatical photographer an hour is probably enough!

Man smoking cigar in Cuba

My other experience was to Cuba in March/April this year, with the tour being led by Lee Frost who has written several photography books and writes columns in photography magazines. Lee was quite different to Andy, but again we all got on really well within the group. This tour was for 10 days which was long enough to do what we wanted to do – photograph the old cars, architecture and the old characters with their cigars. This time we had singles accommodation, so it was nice that although we were part of a group most of the time, we still had some privacy.

Tobacco drying hut in Cuba

Both Galapagos and Cuba were places that I had wanted to go, and go before they changed, which I thing is going to be inevitable. I am glad I went as part of a photographic tour, even though it meant leaving Pete at home – he would have liked to have seen the wildlife on the Galapagos, but I think he would have gone insane if he had been with a group of photographers all the time. Likewise I know I would have been frustrated if I went as part of a normal holiday.

Old car in Cuba

Of course it does mean that you come back with loads of photo, which if you shoot in RAW, like I do, takes ages to process them all!

I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to go on another photographic tour, even though they are more expensive than a normal holiday and if you are always having the urge to get your camera out to take photographs on holiday, I would certainly recommend it – just don’t blame me though if you get served with papers for a divorce!

Lyn

And if anyone does know what you call a group of photographers walking around all hours of the day with tripods in hand and cameras around their necks, I would be interested to hear.